Coach Prime claims Jacksonville ignored his expert insight on managing the Heisman winner’s two-way workload as the franchise navigates the phenom’s recovery and high-stakes role.
Prior to being selected No. 2 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Travis Hunter had only played for one coach during his college career.
This coach convinced the two-way phenom to become the first-ever five-star high school prospect to sign with an HBCU (Jackson State) and then helped him reach his full potential at Colorado by overseeing one of the greatest individual seasons in college football history, culminating in Hunter becoming the first player ever to win both the Biletnikoff and Bednarik awards in the same season to go along with the 2024 Heisman Trophy.
Along with his leadership, Hunter’s former coach—NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders—knows a thing or two about starring on both sides of the ball. A fact that Sanders said might be beneficial for Hunter’s current team.
However, “Coach Prime” recently said on “The Barbershop” podcast that Jacksonville has not reached out for advice on using his special abilities.
“Even a guy like Travis Hunter, being drafted to Jacksonville, and I’ve had him for the last three,” Sanders said. “Don’t you think you would want to talk to me to let me know, to ask me how—what gets him going and what backs him off and what, like, you wouldn’t want to know that?”
During his rookie season Hunter fulfilled his promise of playing on both offense and defense in seven games before suffering a season-ending tear of his lateral collateral ligament (LCL) in his right knee during practice on Oct. 30. Before the injury Hunter had logged 324 snaps on offense with 28 catches on 48 targets, 298 yards and a touchdown. On defense, he had 162 snaps tallying 11 solo tackles and three passes defended.
This offseason speculation began swirling among analysts and NFL media that Hunter would play exclusively on defense in the 2026 season in an effort to help keep him healthy. Jacksonville general manager James Gladstone and head coach Liam Coen later squashed the rumors by confirming Hunter would play both ways.
"The plan has not changed at all. He’s going to play both sides of the football just as we drafted him to do," Coen said. "But the plan to play him on both sides of the ball as much as possible has absolutely stayed the same."
During his Heisman campaign for the Buffaloes, Hunter played 688 snaps on offense and 672 snaps on defense. As a wide receiver he caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns, while racking up four interceptions and 11 passes defended.
Jacksonville will host its OTA offseason workouts on May 26, May 28-29, June 1-2, June 4 and June 15-17. The mandatory minicamp for veterans will take place June 9-11.
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