Deion Sanders Praised By Nick Saban After 3-0 Start

Alabama coach Nick Saban has become the latest figure to offer up praise to Deion Sanders. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Deion Sanders. First, he's a great person and he's done a great job of marketing the program to create a lot of national interest. But I see their team playing well on the field. They play with discipline, they do a good job of executing, they've been able to score points, playing decent on defense. So all those things, to me, are indicators that he's a really good coach," Saban told reporters on Wednesday.

Furthermore, Saban noted that this was an opinion he had held prior to Sanders' arrival in Colorado. "He's always been successful whether it was Jackson State, high school or now in Colorado. His teams have always been well coached." Sanders began his coaching journey at his Prime Prep Academy in Texas in 2012. He also coached at Triple A Academy and Trinity Christian Community College before landing the Jackson State job in 2020. He went 27-6 with the SWAC powerhouse.

Sanders Shows The Love For Saban

TAMPA, FL - SEPTEMBER 16: Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach Nick Saban watches his team warm up before the College Football game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the South Florida Bulls on September 16, 2023 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

However, the praise is by no means one-sided. Sanders praised Saban during a recent 60 Minutes interview. "I love and I adore and I respect and every time I do a commercial with Coach Saban -- it's a gift. Just sitting in his presence and hearing him and throwing something else out there so I can hear his viewpoint on it, because he's forgotten more things than I may ever accomplish. So I'm a student looking up to this wonderful teacher saying, 'Just throw me a crumb of what you know.'"

Both coaches are faced with ranked matchups this weekend. For Sanders, his #19 Colorado squad are 21-point underdogs at #10 Oregon to open Pac-12 play. Meanwhile, Saban has the #13 Crimson Tide up against #15 Ole Miss. For the first time since September 2015, Alabama is not ranked inside the top 10. The drop from #10 to #13 came after the Tide struggled against unranked UCF.

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