Jackson State football was a force with Deion Sanders as head coach, and new head coach T.C. Taylor is ready to take that baton and continue the success. Taylor spoke at the SWAC/MEAC Media Day about the Tigers moving forward in a post-Coach Prime era.

“A lot of those kids that was there for him are not here no more. They're playing for T.C. I like to play as out front. You look at what we did this spring. Under Armor came in and did a mini-documentary for us, and it was more about the players. That's no knock against Coach Prime. He had a great career here at Jackson State,” Taylor  said, via WAPT.

For the inside story on the 7 players banned from the NFL, listen below:

Deion Sanders indeed had a tremendous career with Jackson State football before leaving for Colorado. His teams won two back-to-back SWAC championships and didn't lose a game in the conference in 2021 or 2022. They had the No. 1 defense in the FCS last season, holding teams to only 13.5 points, 135.3 passing yards, and 117 rushing yards per game. Sanders also saw two of his players on the defensive side of the ball, LB James Houston IV and DB Isaiah Bolden, make it to the NFL.

But Taylor knows a lot about success at Jackson State. Taylor played for the Tigers from 1998-2001, playing quarterback before switching to wide receiver. Taylor broke the JSU single-season record with 84 receptions for 1,234 yards and 11 touchdowns. Taylor returned to coach at Jackson State after a successful stint with North Carolina Central as offensive coordinator from 2014-2018, where he led the offense to set a record for total offense in a single season in 2016 with 4,614 yards.

T.C. Taylor looks to bring that same success to his new-look Tigers team. Jackson State football starts the season off with a rematch of the 2021 Celebration Bowl against South Carolina State University on August 26th at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air on ABC.