ESPN Places Deion Sanders On ‘Retirement Watch’ List

Sander's health issues have been a topic of discussion is recent years

Former NFL player-turned-college coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders has been listed on an ESPN list predicting which college coaches may not last for the full upcoming football season.

The list was compiled by the publication, and amongst 13 other football coaches, the Colorado Buffaloes head coach was placed on the “retirement watch” section of the article. Of the three coaches named, Sanders is the only one with fewer than 10 years of coaching experience and the only one under 70. Bill Belichick will be 74 in April, while Kirk Ferentz turns 71 in August. So, age would be a factor in these two coaches’ decision to hang it up, but that’s not the case for Sanders, who is turning 59 in August.

Yet, it’s not because of Sanders’ age or even his program losing a step in his third year with the team, which lost nine games this past season, after winning nine the previous season. Sanders has suffered multiple health issues in the last several years, and the writer, Adam Rittenberg, feels that if Sanders doesn’t make it through the year, the health problems would be the reason.

Last year, Sanders did miss some time, with speculation at the time that he wouldn’t be returning due to the then-undisclosed health issues. When he announced to the public that he would be returning in time for the new season, he then admitted to having his bladder removed, after a cancer diagnosis, along with undergoing reconstruction surgery. So, it wouldn’t be that the school doesn’t want him or he’d be leaving to go to another school; it would most likely be the reported health issues that have affected the former Dallas Cowboys player.

Sanders’ health struggles started while he was coaching Jackson State University when he had two of his toes amputated in 2021, due to poor circulation. Two years later, he stated that he had a big blood clot removed from his thigh and also had some tissue below his knee taken out. He admitted last October that he was suffering from blood clots again.