Shedeur Sanders recruitment revisited: How top NFL Draft prospect wound up at FCS Jackson State after high school

Shedeur Sanders is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL draft class. The Colorado QB hasn't always been ranked this highly, though. He was only a three-star recruit out of high school (per 247sports), having played at a small private school in Texas instead of the giant public schools in the state we always hear about. 

Sanders attended Trinity Christian High School in Cedar Hill, Texas, about 20 minutes southwest of Dallas. The small private school has a total enrollment between 550 and 650 students and is pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Playing at the smaller program likely resulted in his not getting more looks, but he threw for 3,702 yards and 43 touchdowns as a senior. 

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With Sanders looking to be the next great rookie quarterback to take over the NFL, here is a look back at his college recruitment coming out of high school. 

Shedeur Sanders Jackson State recruitment

Sanders played at Trinity Christian in Texas. By the time he was a senior, his father, Deion, had become his offensive coordinator. This was the first time that he had been coached by his father, and he didn't know it then, but his dad would become his head coach for his entire collegiate career. 

Sanders' first offer came from UCF, per 247Sports. His second offer came a day later from Florida Atlantic. Sanders also got offers from Marshall, Louisiana, Cornell and Utah State by the end of April 2020. On July 13, he committed to play football at FAU.  

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But then his father became the head coach for Jackson State on Sept. 21, 2020. The Tigers had a delayed season because of COVID-19. On Sept. 24, Jackson State extended an offer to Shedeur. The quarterback de-committed from Florida Atlantic on Nov. 6 and flipped to Jackson State the same day. Sanders signed his letter of intent on Dec. 16, and enrolled on June 1, 2021. 

The quarterback has talked about going to a small high school, then to the HBCU Jackson State. 

“I came from a private school so, at the end of the day I dealt with a lot of negativity. A lot of negativity, a lot of hate a lot of everything I done dealt with already, year after year. I came from a small private school. All the other kids was going (to) Power Five and they went to big, 6A Texas (high) schools and stuff. I always been against the odds in different ways."

Sanders entered a quarterback competition at Jackson State, and his father maintained that it was going to be a competition. Still, ahead of Shedeur arriving, Deion did express confidence in his son.

"We have guys on the roster, but when you're alluding to my son, he can spin it, man. He can do it, he thinks the games, IQ is off the charts, but it's going to be a fight. It's going to be a battle to win that starting job, I'm not going to hand the keys to nobody, but I've seen him drive."

It was co-offensive coordinator Michael Pollock who was the most vocal for advocate before he arrived on campus. 

"We didn't bring Shedeur in here to wait his turn. He's ready now, he's well-polished, he's got a good understanding of the game and the level of play is going to raise because of the competition."

Sanders would go on to follow his father to Colorado two years later. He played for the Buffaloes for two seasons, and now is waiting to see where he will land in the NFL to have another chance to prove his doubters wrong. 

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Shedeur Sanders Jackson State stats

Here are Sanders' stats from his time at Jackson State.