Heisman winner Travis Hunter charted his own path and validated Deion Sanders as coach

NEW YORK – After winning the Heisman Trophy, Colorado star Travis Hunter hugged his fiancee and then his mother. When he got to Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders, the hug lasted a little longer.

He even went back to another and put his head on Sanders’ shoulder. You could hear Hunter choking.

“We appreciate you, coach,” Hunter said.

Hunter thanked Coach Prime for changing his life, but the same can be said the other way around. Hunter is Sanders’ proof of concept.

His rise to stardom, fulfilling the promise of his five-star potential while playing full-time on both offense and defense, is Sanders’ most significant accomplishment as a college football coach. Hunter is the example Sanders can hold to every other blue-chip recruit in the country: Here’s what I can do for you. Come play for me.

More importantly, Hunter’s spectacular season should serve as an example to all the blue-chippers considering where to go to school: These coaches need you as much, if not more, than you do need them. Don’t be afraid to forge your own path.

“I wanted to be different,” said Hunter, who also won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver and the Bednarik Award as the top defensive player. “So you know me, being different makes me feel more comfortable than doing the norm.”

Coaches sell players on their ability to get guys to the NFL all the time. The numbers suggest that the states of Alabama, Georgia and Ohio are better than most at developing NFL players.

The reality, however, is that what really sets these programs apart is their ability to recruit more players with NFL potential.

A native of Florida, Hunter could have attended any school in the country after playing his high school ball in Georgia. He was committed to Florida State but flipped at the last minute to Jackson State, a historically black university in the FCS.

It was indeed a road not taken. In the modern era of recruiting, where the best of the best are identified and sorted earlier and better than ever, no player with Hunter’s pedigree had ever chosen to play in Division I’s second tier over the top.

For Sanders, taking Hunter from his old school in Tallahassee was the ultimate recruiting coup.

“He told me it’s going to be bigger than nothing before,” Hunter said. “It’s going to make the nation go wild. Younger kids are going to look up to you from day one. And that’s all this has been. So I made sure I stayed with him, stayed committed and stayed loyal to him.”

Sanders was selling something bigger than just getting Hunter into the league. During ESPN’s Heisman show, Sanders said he encouraged Hunter to be “unapologetic” about himself.

Hunter’s mother, Ferrante Edmonds, called her son a little silly. He wears onesies. He said he never really listened to music until his fiancée opened his ears to Lil Wayne, who appeared at Saturday’s ceremony to congratulate Hunter.

Hunter’s favorite thing besides football is fishing. He said he spent his Friday night in New York watching fishing videos to relax.

“Loves the game, loves the practice, loves his family, loves his mom, loves his dad, loves his fiancé,” Sanders said. “He wants to have a commitment to excellence in everything he does, including fishing.”

When Hunter signed up for this trip with Sanders, it seemed like he was taking a risk. Could he maximize his talents without all those football factory resources, the huge weight rooms, the crowded training tables, armies of analysts and trainers and a roster full of other blue-chippers to match up with every day in practice?

“I don’t think it was a risk,” Hunter said before the Heisman presentation. “It was God’s plan. You know, everything I wanted to do, I’ve accomplished now.”

After Hunter’s first season at Jackson State, Sanders became the coach at Colorado. He famously told his new players in Boulder that he had his luggage with him and that it was Louis Vuitton. It was Hunter.

With another chance to take the more traditional route to stardom, Hunter stuck with Sanders. He was now going to play Power 5 football, but it was the worst Power 5 program in the country.

Sanders took over a 1-11 program and pushed it to 4-8 last year. The Buffs jumped to 9-3 this season, with Hunter turning in a Shohei Ohtani-like performance on offense and defense.

How many coaches would have given Hunter the ability to play both ways to the extent that Sanders, who probably could have done the same when he played for Bobby Bowden at Florida State, did with Hunter?

Hunter, along with Sanders’ son and star quarterback, Shedeur, will play their final games for the No. 23 in Colorado on Dec. 28 in the Alamo Bowl against no. 17 BYU.

Sanders has been adamant about his intention to remain Colorado’s head coach when his sons — and he includes Hunter with Shedeur and defensive end Shilo when he says it — move on.

Hunter, who is expected to be one of the first players selected in April’s NFL Draft, said this week that Sanders is “not going anywhere.”

It’s fair to wonder how high the ceiling might be for a Sanders-driven program. The Buffs’ 2025 recruiting class includes four-star quarterback Julian Lewis, a late flip from USC, but it ranks No. 37 in the nation in the 247Sports Composite. Sanders is going to lean heavily on the transfer portal. He’s not going to be a grinder on the recruiting trail, visiting colleges and homes to win over players and their families.

However, he can tell these stars that he will allow them to shine, with Hunter as proof. Sanders’ program will remain one of the most fascinating in the country.

As for Hunter, a unicorn of a football player, the legacy he leaves behind will hopefully encourage more players to take the road less traveled.

“Remember to believe in yourself,” Edmonds said. “Never let anyone else dictate who you should be, what you should be, and how you get to where you need to go.”

(Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb / Athletics; (Ed Zurga/Getty Images)