Actions and Words: Coach Deion Sanders Edition

               

You guys know my thoughts on motivational speakers. They're unaccomplished slick talkers who speak empty words for exorbitant amounts of money.

I've been around this talk for most of my life. Football, boxing, and in the military. Especially in the military. You'll find this type of talk from your motivational masculine guru's as well.

They all repeat the same cliches: 

"God confirmed it." 

"There's going to be a different energy." 

"No hats." 

"No earrings." 

"No phones." 

"Look to your right, look to your left, half of you will be gone." 

"I Won't accept mediocrity." 

Sounds nice, but to people like me, who've heard this time and time again, they're just empty words.

Except, when the person has the credentials to back it up.

Deion Sanders, back in the day, was a phenomenal athlete. I won't post his accomplishments, a simple google search should suffice, but he has the credentials. He's done the work. So, the words have more weight behind them. He's not some unaccomplished motivational speaker. He's got accolades, he's got a foundation. Good players don't always make good coaches, in fact, I'd say good players rarely make good coaches, however, the point I'm trying to make is motivational speeches carry more weight when they're spoken by someone that's actually done something.

Sanders coached at Jackson state for the past 3 seasons, finishing the 2022 season with an undefeated record of 12-0, which is the first undefeated season in program history. Additionally, and even more impressive, was the fact that before Sanders took over the head coach position, Jackson State didn't have a winning record for six consecutive seasons.