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Deion Sanders Gives Jackson State Emotional Pre-Celebration Bowl Speech (Video)

Sanders has his eyes on leading the Tigers to a bowl win before leaving for Colorado.

Patrick Andres

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Jackson State coach Deion Sanders may be on his way out the door, but one final task awaits him before his departure for Colorado.

The Tigers are taking on NC Central in the Celebration Bowl, seeking Black college football national championship honors for the second year in a row and fifth season all-time. Before the game, Sanders addressed his Jackson State team for the final time.

“Not tomorrow. Now. Not the next day. Now,” an emotional Sanders told his Tigers, who entered Saturday with a 12-0 record, before the game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Sanders is 27-5 with two SWAC titles in three seasons with Jackson State. He will take over as coach of the Buffaloes’ after the Celebration Bowl.

"I'm a football coach and a darn good one,” Sanders said Friday, reflecting on his tenure with the Tigers. In recent weeks, plenty of chatter arose concerning him leaving a HBCU for a Power 5 program. “Name one thing in football that we haven’t accomplished that I said we would. But it's bigger than that."

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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