Recent history shows that it’s rare for a quarterback to make the jump from a Football Championship Subdivision school to a starting job in a Power Five conference.
There also aren’t very many examples of a quarterback and his head coach/father leading Power Five teams to success.
In general, there aren’t many cases where a team goes from 1-11 to a bowl game – or better – in one year, either.
Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders is aiming to be the exception to the rules, as he leads a Buffaloes’ team guided by his father, Deion Sanders. Making history would be cool, he said, but he really doesn’t care about the history.
“I just focus on it as the next thing to do,” Sanders to BuffZone recently. “I let everybody do research and stuff like that. I just focus on that’s the next task at hand and that’s just what we’ve got to do.”
Per research done by CU and BuffZone, there have been only eight situations in major college football since World War II where a head coach had his son as the full-time starting quarterback.
Only five times has the quarterback son helped his dad’s team reach a bowl game, and it’s only happened twice at Power Five schools. Kansas State’s Darrell Dickey led his father’s team to the Independence Bowl in 1982 and Colorado’s Cody Hawkins took the Buffs, coached by his father, to the Independence Bowl in 2007. Perhaps history will repeat itself this year, as the Pac-12 has a tie-in with the Independence Bowl.
Sanders will be only the fourth quarterback in Power 5 history to be the full-time starter for his father’s team, joining Dickey, Hawkins and Minnesota’s Tim Salem in 1980.
Sanders found that bit of information interesting, but said, “We won championships two years in a row (together at Jackson State). It’s very rare for a quarterback to go to the SWAC and never lose a game. It’s rare for a freshman or sophomore to throw 40-plus touchdowns and have the numbers I did. There’s only three people in the country that did that last year. So a lot of stuff is rare, but it’s just, like, it’s normal.”
Normal to Sanders, perhaps, but not to everyone else.
From 2019-22, 11 quarterbacks transferred from FCS schools to Power Five programs, according to Herosports.com. Only one – Cameron Ward at Washington State in 2022 – won a starting job.
With Sanders coming to CU, there have been natural comparisons to Ward. Both are athletic quarterbacks who grew up in Texas. Both were sensational at the FCS level for two years before making the jump to the Pac-12.
Even their statistics are remarkably similar. In two seasons at Incarnate Word, Ward threw for 6,908 yards, 71 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. In two seasons at Jackson State, Sanders threw for 6,963 yards, 70 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
Ward and Sanders are also friends who have the same private quarterbacks coach, Darrel Colbert Jr., in Houston.
“We talk all the time,” Sanders said of Ward. “We just talk about anything. Anything I want to ask him I just ask him; just about this conference and everything like that and just how things are. We have a good relationship.”
In making the jump to Wazzu last year, Ward didn’t find the same level of success he had in the FCS, but still had a very good year, throwing for 3,231 yards, 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions in helping the Cougars go 7-6 with a spot in the Los Angeles Bowl.
“The biggest thing was the (defensive) line,” Ward told BuffZone about the jump from the FCS. “The DBs, the cornerbacks, they’re all gonna be the same wherever you are; linebackers are gonna be the same. The biggest difference is the trenches. The O-line, D-line are way bigger, they’re way more athletic than FCS.
“You’ve just got to find different ways to win in the pocket and also maneuver throughout the pocket when it’s time to get out, whether that’s running outside of them, stepping up in the pocket then getting out, so you’ve got to be creative on how you get outside the pocket.”
That was a tough adjustment for Ward, who was sacked more times (46) than any other quarterback in the country last year. WSU had a shaky offensive line, but Ward admits some of those sacks were his fault for not getting rid of the ball quickly enough.
Ward’s welcome-to-the-Power Five moment came early, as WSU traveled to No. 19 Wisconsin in Week 2.
“I took a shot – two shots actually,” he said. “It was a sack that I got hit on and my head just slammed on the ground. Then it was a third down, I think, in the final four minutes of the game, I got ear-holed. I was like, ‘Yeah, they be hitting.’”
Nevertheless, Ward led the Cougars to the 17-14 upset victory.
Last year, Ward was able to settle in with a Week 1 game against Idaho. Sanders won’t have that luxury, visiting last year’s national runner-up, TCU, in Week 1, and hosting rival Nebraska in Week 2.
Ward has no doubt Sanders will find success, however.
“He’ll be a great quarterback for Colorado. He’s gonna lead them to new heights,” Ward said. “Shedeur, he’s just a competitor. If you love to compete the team will follow you. He’s gonna lead the team the way he wants to lead the team. … (Sanders’ confidence level) is at an all-time high. He’s gonna compete in all aspects of the game until the clock runs out.”
All players go through that transition to a higher level of football at some point. It’s an adjustment the first time someone plays on varsity in high school. It’s an adjustment going from high school to any level of college football. That’s why Sanders isn’t concerned as he now prepares to face TCU, Nebraska, USC and Oregon as opposed to Alabama State, Campbell or North Carolina Central.
“I’m not fazed by names,” Sanders said. “That’s half the battle. People get defeated by just names or teams like that. I’ve just never been a person who really cares about names or anything, for real. Knowing the staff we’ve got and the preparation and the jump I personally made (this offseason) from just even conditioning and strength and stuff like that, I just know how it’s gonna be.”
One big difference between Ward and Sanders is that Sanders always seemed destined to play at this level.
When he graduated from Trinity Christian (Texas) School, Sanders chose to play for his father at Jackson State, but he was a four-star recruit with 26 scholarship offers, including 18 from Power Five schools. Ward graduated high school in 2020 as a no-star recruit with two offers, from IWU and Texas Southern.
CU defensive coordinator Charles Kelly was on the Alabama staff that recruited Sanders and he’s not shy about letting people know Sanders is special.
“I think Shedeur has done some incredible things in his career,” Kelly said at Pac-12 media day on July 21. “I think Shedeur has all of the attributes to be a productive quarterback in any level. I’ve known him since he was a freshman in high school. I’ve watched him develop. We recruited him at Alabama. I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen.”
What Sanders is trying to do this year isn’t common, but he’s not used to being common.
Sanders grew up with an uncommon father who was a Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback who also happened to be insanely talented enough to play nine seasons in Major League Baseball.
Guided by his father, Sanders posted remarkable numbers in high school and remarkable numbers at Jackson State. Colorado is just the next stop, he said, and Ward agrees.
“I know he will have a great season,” said Ward, whose team will host CU on Nov. 17 in Pullman, Wash. “Shedeur, he’s ready for the moment and I can’t wait to see him show out.”
