10 college football coaches who were better off as big fish in little ponds

8. Deion Sanders

Deion Sanders is another guy who may be too early to call a "big fish who fared better in a small pond" but he had a ton of success at Jackson State and his Colorado tenure is off to a rocky start.

Sanders was 27-6 at Jackson State and he went 16-0 in conference play in his final two seasons there and 23-2 overall. The Tigers benefitted in just about every way from Sanders being the head coach. The HBCUs got a ton of coverage that they normally wouldn't have and it was just great for that level of football. Sanders fit perfectly at Jackson State, too.

But he decided to make the leap to the Power Five in 2023 with Colorado and he was taking over a program that won a single game in 2022. He got off to a hot start in his first month, beating the reigning national runner-up on the road and even cracking the top 25 before fading back into irrelevance, going 1-8 the rest of the way.

Yes, it's been just one season, but the roster turnover has been startling and there's a good chance Colorado misses a bowl game again.

Plus, Sanders has made headlines for all the wrong reasons in Boulder.