Coach Prime: Deion Sanders and the Making of Men

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars | 43 ratings

Price: 18.89

Last update: 01-02-2025


About this item

An exclusive insider account with unprecedented access to Deion Sanders, his staff, and players, who are changing the culture of college football.

"A highly readable portrait of one of the most exciting coaches in college football." – San Deigo Union-Tribune

"You won't find a more competitive person than Coach Prime. At Jackson State, he wanted to dominate and win.... Nothing has changed but the address. He wants to dominate and win a national championship at Colorado." (from Coach Prime)

Known for decades as one of the NFL’s most iconic and spectacular playmakers, Deion Sanders remains college football's most intriguing newsmaker. In just three years, he has become the most talked about coach by recruiting elite players to moribund programs and reviving the spirit and pride of forgotten fanbases by winning. Along the way, he’s changing how we think about college sports while rejuvenating whole communities with the national attention that follows him and the fresh commerce a winning culture ignites.

First at Jackson State and now at Colorado, Sanders has displayed a knack for leading miraculous turnarounds of once-storied-but-long-irrelevant programs. Television cameras turn up for national broadcasts, gameday attendance skyrockets, economic impact reaches the tens of millions, and NFL scouts take renewed interest.

Meanwhile, off the field, Sanders displays an uncanny ability to connect with his players. Weekly chat sessions about life and love are the norm. His unyielding commitment to guiding his players to become exceptional men raises the bar on what parents and athletes expect from college coaches.

Now, with access no other reporter has been granted, veteran sports journalist Jean-Jacques Taylor takes listeners inside one season with Deion Sanders to show the heart, mind, and culture of America's most innovative football coach and his team of would-be champions.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Bryan hollis
    5.0 out of 5 stars It's a book
    Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2024
    Book arrived in good condition
  • Craig Johnson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff!!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2023
    This book was gobbled up and digested in about six hours! Whilst my expectations were high because of my affection for Coach Sanders and the person he's become, I was very happy with the author and his "step aside" writing style, and for keeping "the main thang the main thang". I highly recommend this book for anyone who has a love for Yahweh Sovereign, people and life, or for those who can't afford "MasterClass" seminars. Prime is a National Treasure, don't let his "tent" keep you from seeing the beautiful campsite that is people working together, regardless of which "hood" you're from...
  • reenum
    4.0 out of 5 stars Solid book
    Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2024
    This book is a solid accounting of Deion Sanders' last season at Jackson State. The book is comforting to read for a fan of sports books like me. Books that take the reader behind the scenes of a team's season should hit a few different points. Provide compelling characters, share insight that the average fan can't get from the news or Twitter and have an arc as to how the season went for the team.

    Some of the players on the team and coaches get a lot of focus. Prime speaks throughout the book, but it's really more about them. I had a great time getting to know more about these folks. Some of the stories are sad, but most of them show the camaraderie that existed amongst every one on the team.

    I wish there had been more of an inside look into the negotiations that brought Coach Prime to Colorado. This event is talked about fleetingly at the end of the book. It was interesting to learn that one of Prime's coaches, Dennis Thurman, was the one who initially talked to Rick George. I would have enjoyed more insight into this situation. But, I did appreciate the stories about the clashes between Prime and the JSU president. It's not surprising that Prime left, given how he felt disrespected.

    The season arc was the pursuit of the perfect season. I loved the stories about how practices were run, how players were disciplined, and how Prime motivated the team week after week. Jackson State was the most dominant team in the SWAC that season. By focusing on the angst that the coaching staff had about getting complacent, the narrative tension created by this pursuit was amplified. It might have gotten repetitive by the end of the book, but not in an unpleasant way.

    I recommend this book to any football fan.
  • #WASHED
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2023
    Great read
  • Matthew Robinson
    3.0 out of 5 stars A memorable season and a head coach were chronicled in this page turner.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2024
    Coach Prime was pretty much about Deion Sanders's last season as the head football coach at Jackson State University (JSU). The book also explored the backgrounds of some of the players and assistant coaches on that 2022 Tigers (the school's mascot) football staff.

    Coach Prime was a page turner for me because I enjoyed the constant football talk that encompassed just about every page of this book. When you are given year-long access to a football team, it is your job as an author to write an objective and engrossing book about that team and their season, and that's what author Jean-Jaques Taylor did with this book.

    One of the things about this book that I appreciated was that even though it was Sanders who was on the cover of this book, and that he was the star of that 2022 Tiger football team, the author took it upon himself to dig deep into other individuals on that team. You had stories about players who were dealing with some serious family, monetary, and even mental issues off the field. Just because that 2022 team was 12-1 didn't mean that they were without their share of on and off the field struggles, and the author of this book made sure you knew that. No football team is ever perfect even if their record is perfect or is near perfection.

    I didn't know this at the time, but through this book I learned that part of the reason why Sanders left JSU after the 2022 season was because of his relationship (or lack thereof) with the school's President Thomas Hudson. A good portion of chapter 11 was dedicated to that issue.

    Taylor also included a lot of Black history and life lessons for young Black men and women who cared to read this book, which I appreciated. Because how can you write a book on an HBCU school and not include Black history and life lessons for Black men and women in it?

    An interesting finishing touch of this book was how in the epilogue Taylor discussed the aftermath of Sanders leaving JSU for the University of Colorado. Plus, he added in that section where some of the players from that Tigers 2022 team ended up after they found Sanders was leaving.

    In closing, the football talk about the 2022 Tigers football team implored me to like this book, not who was on the front cover of the book or the hype surrounding Sanders from 2022 to the present. This book came out in 2023, but I didn't buy it until summer 2024. Meanwhile, I believe this book is the first book ever written on Jackson State football, and I hope all Tiger football fans read this book or will read it.
    Customer image
    Matthew Robinson
    3.0 out of 5 stars A memorable season and a head coach were chronicled in this page turner.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2024
    Coach Prime was pretty much about Deion Sanders's last season as the head football coach at Jackson State University (JSU). The book also explored the backgrounds of some of the players and assistant coaches on that 2022 Tigers (the school's mascot) football staff.

    Coach Prime was a page turner for me because I enjoyed the constant football talk that encompassed just about every page of this book. When you are given year-long access to a football team, it is your job as an author to write an objective and engrossing book about that team and their season, and that's what author Jean-Jaques Taylor did with this book.

    One of the things about this book that I appreciated was that even though it was Sanders who was on the cover of this book, and that he was the star of that 2022 Tiger football team, the author took it upon himself to dig deep into other individuals on that team. You had stories about players who were dealing with some serious family, monetary, and even mental issues off the field. Just because that 2022 team was 12-1 didn't mean that they were without their share of on and off the field struggles, and the author of this book made sure you knew that. No football team is ever perfect even if their record is perfect or is near perfection.

    I didn't know this at the time, but through this book I learned that part of the reason why Sanders left JSU after the 2022 season was because of his relationship (or lack thereof) with the school's President Thomas Hudson. A good portion of chapter 11 was dedicated to that issue.

    Taylor also included a lot of Black history and life lessons for young Black men and women who cared to read this book, which I appreciated. Because how can you write a book on an HBCU school and not include Black history and life lessons for Black men and women in it?

    An interesting finishing touch of this book was how in the epilogue Taylor discussed the aftermath of Sanders leaving JSU for the University of Colorado. Plus, he added in that section where some of the players from that Tigers 2022 team ended up after they found Sanders was leaving.

    In closing, the football talk about the 2022 Tigers football team implored me to like this book, not who was on the front cover of the book or the hype surrounding Sanders from 2022 to the present. This book came out in 2023, but I didn't buy it until summer 2024. Meanwhile, I believe this book is the first book ever written on Jackson State football, and I hope all Tiger football fans read this book or will read it.
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    Customer image
  • LaShanda
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fairly Good Read!!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2023
    There's no doubt about it, Deion Sanders is a captivating figure. People are just instinctively drawn to him mainly because of his personality.. This book dives into the everyday life of the Jackson State football team during what would become Deion's last season at J-State. It covered his personal relationship with his players, coaches & it also briefly touches on his challenges with then JSU President Thomas Hudson. I found this book quite interesting. At times, however, I grew frustrated with the writing because of the transition between topics. In several instances, I had to read several sections multiple times because I got confused with the transitions. Because of this, I gave this book 4 stars. All in all, this book is a fairly good read.
  • David M. Hubbard
    1.0 out of 5 stars Amos Alonzo Stagg
    Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2023
    Coach A.A. Stagg was famous for the quote: “Is this my best team ever? I won't know that for another 20 years or so.” He meant that it will take a while for you to recognize the impact you had on your players. Perhaps coach prime could finish one season before they write a book about this subject. ????
  • T. Matteson
    2.0 out of 5 stars Good subject; poor writing
    Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2023
    The author of this book is a columnist. There’s a distinction between writing a column in a newspaper and writing a book, and this book shows, in the negative, the difference between the two. It was so poorly written that I had difficulty finishing it.

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