Regardless of the win-loss record, senior day is always an emotional one in college football.
For Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, though, it’s going to be particularly emotional when he says goodbye to two players who have been with him for a while. CU will honor its seniors Saturday when it hosts Arizona State at Folsom Field (6 p.m., ESPN2).
Among the seniors are linebacker Jeremiah Brown and kicker Alejandro Mata, the only two on the roster who have played their full collegiate careers with Sanders as their head coach.
Brown played two seasons for Sanders at Jackson State, while Mata was at JSU for one year. Both followed their head coach to CU after the 2022 season. (Offensive lineman Tyler Brown also played at JSU in 2022 before coming to CU, but began his career at Louisiana-Lafayette).
“I saw them come in at Jackson, man, and they bet on me,” Sanders said of Brown and Mata. “They took a chance on me and I applaud that. And I pray to God that I have not disappointed them as a man, as a coach, as a leader.”
Both have often spoke highly of Sanders as a mentor, with Brown reiterating his appreciation this week.
“We’ve been together five years and grateful for every moment,” said Brown, who has already started an electrical contracting company to jump-start his post-football future. “Just all the wisdom I’ve learned from him, just everything he’s taught us. It means everything. I write down everything he says. Just a great person. So, I try to take down all those little pieces and apply them to life after football.”
Brown, who is from Carrabelle, Florida, said he committed to JSU out of high school because his parents wanted him to play for Sanders, a Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback.
“It was like, man, that’s Coach Prime, now that’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Brown said, adding that the rich tradition of HBCUs was appealing to him as well.
A backup in 2021, Brown exploded in 2022, with 53 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and seven sacks. During his first two seasons at CU, though, he played sparingly.
Last December, Brown put his name into the NCAA transfer portal, briefly looking to play his last year elsewhere. A few days later, he pulled out of the portal to stay at CU.
“I was just emotional, just in my feelings,” he said. “I just had a look myself in the mirror and I had to be better, play better, overall.”
This year, he has. Brown has started seven of 10 games at inside linebacker, ranks second on the team with a career-high 65 tackles, is tied for the team lead in tackles for loss (seven) and has two sacks.
“My resilience,” he said when asked what he’s most proud of in reflecting on his collegiate career. “No matter what, I always put my head down and I worked.”
That’s one of the many lessons Brown has taken from Sanders throughout the years.
Mata, meanwhile, has always been a Coach Prime favorite, and his primary kicker from the time the Buford (Georgia) High School product stepped foot on the JSU campus in 2022.
“When he first got to Jackson … he was a little scared when he was out there, man,” Brown said with a laugh.
Mata’s never had the strongest leg – his career-long field goal is 47 yards and he’s never attempted one from beyond 48 – but he’s accurate. He made 12-of-13 field goals at JSU in 2022, along with 50-of-51 extra points, earning Sanders’ trust.
In three seasons at CU, Mata is 30-of-36 on field goals, an .833 success rate that is on pace to be the best in program history (Cole Becker has the current record, at .758 from 2021-22).
Mata broke the CU record for most consecutive successful extra points, with 104 – a streak that ended Nov. 8 at West Virginia. He also ranks fifth in CU history for most career points by a kicker (197, three away from moving to fourth) and sixth for made field goals (30).
Like Brown, Mata has enjoyed his journey with Sanders.
“As a person, definitely, I feel like I’m a better man because of Coach Prime and all the preaching that he does, and all the team meetings that we have with him,” Mata said during the summer. “I’ve definitely learned how to be a better man, how to be a better son, how to be a better brother, better cousin. I’m more than thankful for that.”
Along the path, Brown and Mata have become close, too, adding to the emotions going into Saturday.
“Mata, that’s my guy, man,” Brown said. “My little fishing partner back in Jackson. We still fish together and stuff. So that’s going to be emotional. … Just to see how much he’s grown and matured is amazing.”