The “Prime Effect” should not be ignored.
Deion Sanders, who first received the nickname “Prime Time” by a former high school teammate — with it later morphing into “Coach Prime” while coaching at Mississippi’s Jackson State University — has the title for earned reasons.
The night the nickname was born, he scored 37 points and had back-to-back dunks for his basketball team, he recalls during an interview with Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show.” Sanders proved himself to be talented in various sports and would ultimately be chosen by the Atlanta Falcons as fifth overall NFL draft pick in 1989, per StatMuse. He played for 14 seasons in the NFL and walked away with two Super Bowl rings, Pro Football Hall of Fame states.
Sanders’ background would lead him into the world of coaching. Between 2012 and 2019 he took on several coaching jobs at Texas high schools, including Prime Prep Academy (which he co-founded), Triple A Academy, and Trinity Christian High School.
In September 2020, he would be named Jackson State University’s 21st head coach, the school website mentions. His three-year tenure was successful. The Jackson State Tigers football team clinched two back-to-back SWAC championship titles, as reported by Sports Illustrated. Notably, under his leadership, the team achieved a university attendance record during both 2021 and 2022 football seasons, with more than 42,000 fans in attendance at home games, per the team’s website. Adding to their accolades, the Tigers secured their first undefeated regular season, as highlighted by Bleacher Report.
In a surprise exit, Sanders made his way to lead the Colorado Buffaloes football program at the end of 2022 alongside his son Shedeur Sanders. The team closed out its first season losing six consecutive games and logged a 4-8 record, reports CBS News.
Despite what could be labeled as an upset, Sanders does not see it that way. Upon his arrival at the school, the university saw a major uptick in ticket sales, merchandise sales, donations, and national media coverage, as AFROTECH™ previously told you.
“We ain’t losing. We may have lost several games on our scoreboard, but in life we ain’t right. While we’ve been doing this they doing a whole study. It just came out today, right, in Harvard Business School they just did a whole study on the Prime Effect on what we’ve done to change the whole game and change the economy here,” Sanders said on the podcast, “All The Smoke.”
He’s right. According to a report, the University of Colorado Buffaloes and Coach Sanders helped Boulder’s economy significantly. In fact, from six home games during the Fall 2023 season, an estimated $113.2 million in economic impact was generated in the Boulder region.
“I know what we doing… We’re bringing unity because when we out there on that field man we the Buffalo,” Sanders explained on the podcast. “We ain’t white. We ain’t Black. We ain’t Hispanic. We ain’t Asian. We just the Colorado Buffalo. They don’t see the color of my son or Travis [Hunter] or anybody else. They just see the Colorado Buffalo. Now the objection for me is to make sure they continue seeing that when we off the field right, because you just seen the Colorado Buffalo when we on the field and everybody happy, packed the house. Everybody making money now. When we get outside the stadium let’s continue.”
