Praxis: A Writing Center Journal • Vol. 19, No. 1 (2022)
Coach Prime and Me: Deion Sanders’ Impact on My Academic Self
Karen Keaton Jackson
North Carolina Central University
kkjackson@nccu.edu
Recently, I have been finding my academic inspiration from a most unlikely place: a college football coach. It’s Deion Sanders --- former National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) player, Deion Sanders. While he dominated professional football far more than professional baseball in the 1990s and early 2000s, he remains the only athlete who has competed in both an MLB World Series and an NFL Super Bowl. Often called by the name “Prime Time,” NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders was known during his sports career for his bodacious ego, flashy attire, and his ability to back up his swag on the football field. Sanders has built his career and his entire reputation on being a winner and dominating his crafts. While it may feel like somewhat of a stretch, I see that we can learn much from Coach Prime in the field of Composition and Writing Center Studies. There are several scholars and thought-leaders in our field who have built their careers and developed successful writing programs and writing centers at large R-1 universities and other institutions with stable financial support, high visibility, and tangible resources. What they can learn from Coach Sanders is it is time to use their status and resources to create new experiences and opportunities for reciprocal success at other institution types.
Deion Sanders has brought an expectation of authority and success to the HBCU sports realm. Currently, Sanders is championing the idea of exposure for HBCU football teams on mainstream television channels (such as ESPN) and ultimately access to the NFL Combine and into the League. His strategy includes hiring film crews to document his team and the teams they battle each week. He believes that with more scouts having access to see these athletes, they are more likely to have a chance at being recruited. Overall, his goal is to give voice, recognition, and tangible opportunities to those who often are excluded from mainstream athletic conversations. Connected to that, his broader goal is to give respect to the spaces, HBCUs, that create these athletes.
In 2019, Deion Sanders accepted a position as the head football coach at Jackson State University (JSU), a public HBCU in Jackson, Mississippi. Many questioned his decision, noting that he had been a commentator on CBS and the NFL Network and certainly had many options to go to larger programs for his coaching career. And yet, he chose a historically black university in a small town in Mississippi. In several interviews, he has noted that for him, this is not just a job, but a calling. He sees it as a mission beyond helping the student athletes just at JSU, but as a way to provide exposure for all HBCU athletes who often are overlooked because they do not get as much airtime on television and because NFL teams rarely send scouts to these institutions.
In May 2021, Sanders was questioned on the YouTube show I Am Athlete by other outstanding African American former NFL stars, many who went to large or “Power 5” colleges known for their football programs. Specifically, they questioned the quality of the talent on his HBCU team, the conditions of the facilities and resources available at the institution, and the value of the reputation of the institution. Sanders confidently responds that those Power 5 institutions only got those reputations when the top black players left HBCUs to go play for those institutions. In the I Am Athlete episode, he touts the historical legacy of top football players who specifically came from Jackson State University; that institution had four (4) players be awarded Hall of Fame status, more than any other university in Mississippi (Go JSU Tigers), and more than most top large football programs. (most occurring before top players began to more frequently join large PWI programs) In addition, he argues that if you were to take the top player from any HBCU team and place him on the field from a top player from a larger program – no resources, no facilities, no supporting team or established play system – just one man against another, he believes you will see very little difference between them in terms of raw talent and potential.
What I find most inspiring by Sanders’s attitude is that he is requiring action on both sides. He has identified the gap and is calling on both HBCUs and the NFL to step up their game so that ultimately, the students, their institutions, and the NFL all benefit. In my 2016 Writing Center Journal Community Series blog series and even more recently in the 2019 CCC article I co-authored with Hope Jackson and Dawn Hicks-Tafari, “We Belong in the Discussion: Including HBCUs in Conversations About Race and Writing,” the primary message in both pieces is a call to action. I am clear in challenging mainstream professional organizations and R1 institutions with the resources to be inclusive of the colleges that actually teach the demographics many of their academians study. Similarly, here, I am challenging more HBCUs to speak up and demand respect and action. I must caution everyone here to note that demanding respect does not equate begging for inclusion. In other words, I am not looking for projects where the inclusion of HBCUs helps others check a diversity box, where they benefit from access to our students, yet our institutions or learners get nothing in return. These should be projects taking place that provide benefits to both sides.
In past conversations and discourse with colleagues, a dominant perspective seemed to be a genuine sense of disbelief that the HBCU context brought a type of knowledge that other spaces could not. Thus, our intent with the 2019 CCC article was to lay the theoretical framework that justified why HBCUs bring unique knowledge to the table and why our spaces are worthy of study and respect. Yet, in my anecdotal conversations with colleagues from all institution types, I have yet to hear of many collaborative projects between HBCUs and PWIs. Granted, I realize that I am not the gatekeeper for all-things-HBCU. I also recognize that COVID has altered many of our institution’s plans over the last couple of years, so very few of us are operating in optimal ways.
But, the time for talk is over. Action is long overdue. Too many scholars have written works and given keynote speeches about being inclusive of HBCUs and other minorities serving institutions, or MSIs. Yet, when they are directly approached with project ideas or have the opportunity to connect, several do not follow through. Or better yet, when directly approached, multiple responses to me have been something to the effect of, “When you figure out what you need, you know where to find me.”
The implication in that response is that they are not interested in any meaningful collaborations, or intentional discourse about how we can both take part in this exchange. It’s dismissive, to say the least. Real work takes extensive time, energy, and commitment. That response essentially demonstrates a “blame-the-victim” mentality, highlighting that they are unwilling to assist in bringing about change. The reality is, I do not have all of the answers figured out. Do I have some ideas? Yes. But, I will never purport myself as someone who is all-knowing in this space. In addition, I recognize that my ideas can and should be strengthened, nurtured, and likely transformed into something even greater once they are paired with the ideas of someone from a different context and with a distinct set of experiences and resources.
Coach Deion Sanders’ team and other HBCU teams will benefit from his own personal brand and the attention that naturally brings. NFL greats such as Troy Aikman have been seen at his Jackson State football games, mentoring his players. Rather than hoarding the resources for his own individual gain, Sanders sees it as his responsibility to use those talents to uplift others. Not only does Sanders mentor his players, he mentors his staff. Recently, one of his own Jackson State assistant coaches was hired as an assistant coach in the NFL. Moreover, since Sanders announced his arrival at Jackson State University, former NFL players Eddie George and Tyrone Wheatley have accepted head coaching positions at Tennessee State University and Morgan State University respectively, both HBCUs. In a separate sport, golf, NBA star Stephen Curry recently agreed to fund personally the collegiate golf team at Howard University for the next six years in order to restore its status as a Division I sport.
Recently, I learned of two amazing colleagues who demonstrate what true and intentional collaborations can look like. Both are HBCU graduates. One, Dr. Hope Jackson, is the coordinator of the English Graduate Program at her HBCU alma mater, North Carolina A&T State University. The other, Dr. Khristen Scott, is an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. I first met Dr. Scott when was still a graduate student at the University of Louisville. She always maintained that she would not forget the value of her experiences at her alma mater, Tugaloo College, and that once she completed her doctoral studies she would intentionally connect with HBCUs. She followed through on that promise and recently reached out to Dr. Hope Jackson with a research and professional development opportunity that benefitted both A&T students and those at the University of Pittsburgh. I will not go into detail here about the project’s parameters, for I think the two of them should tell that story in their own way and in their own time. However, they are proof positive that when colleagues come together and plan proactively, they can bring out the best in each other in a way that they, their students, and their institutions benefit.
To bring it full circle to the purpose of our conversation today, those in the field of Composition Studies with healthy budgets and a plethora of resources at larger – those who genuinely and sincerely care about leveling the playing field (to keep with our sports theme) have an obligation to use their talents to engage in quality research and professional activities with those institutions that do not. It’s time to put up or shut up. Are you in?
Works Cited
“Deion Sanders.” https://www.biography.com/athlete/deion-sanders
“Deion Sanders: Head Coach.” https://gojsutigers.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/deion-sanders/152
Deprisco, Mike. “Curry Details Story Behind Funding Howard Golf Team.” 8 April 2021. https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/wizards/steph-curry-details-story-behind-funding-howard-university-golf-team
Jackson, Karen Keaton and Hope Jackson and Dawn Hicks-Tafari. “We Belong in the Discussion: Including HBCUs in Conversations About Race and Writing.” CCC Dec. 2019.
“A Prime Time Season Finale.” I Am Athlete. 31 May 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUmmLo9omE8