“Didn’t Pan Out”: Deion Sanders’ WR-Turned-Coach Opens up on Injury-Prone Early Retirement & CU Buffs

Not every college football player’s destiny is to enter the professional league. But the story about Colorado’s WR transitioning to coaching is more of a necessity than a choice. After all, with several injuries and multiple surgeries, there’s only so much that a body can put up with. 

Former Baylor WR Jaylen Ellis flipped his commitment from West Virginia to Deion Sanders’ Colorado for the 2023 season with two years of play remaining. An original 4-star recruit to Baylor from Cedar Ridge HS, he struggled with injuries during his time with the Bears from 2019 to 2022. After playing for seven games for the CU Buffs, he’s making a major shift. 

Jaylen Ellis is set to coach rather than play

Darius Sanders of Reach The People Media is doing a great job connecting the Buffs players with the public. Recently, he got in touch with Jaylen Ellis who has a big revelation to make. After playing one season under Deion Sanders, he is making a unique career decision. He said, “Everybody’s main goal in this professional sport is go league. I’m just no different than anybody else but it didn’t pan out due to injuries.”

According to what Jaylen Ellis reported, he is supposedly working his way up training as a coach as his statement revealed, “I’ve been helping Trevor [Wood] and doing some special team stuff.” The 6’3 junior showed promise as an explosive player but his playing career has been overshadowed by his injury-prone high school and college football run. In his playing career, he had to undergo multiple surgeries including two knee surgeries and a shoulder surgery. 

Jaylen Ellis as an offensive player

The Texas native joined the Bears in 2019 but he didn’t see any action in his freshman season. From his debut to 2022, he played in 16 games where he started once, completing six receptions for 198 receiving yards and one TD. Before transferring to Boulder, he played his last season at Baylor with three catches for 154 receiving yards and a TD in five games played. 

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The 6’3 WR primarily contributed to the special teams in 2023. He recorded a total of two solo tackles in seven games. Even so, his eyes on the players are already a contributing factor to his pursuit of a coaching career. Ellis’ speculation on the Buffs WR Omarion Miller as a potential “best WR in CFB” comes from his unhurried yet continual assessment of the players, which is one of the qualities of a coach. 

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