Deion Sanders’ split from his first wife, Carolyn, didn’t draw as much public attention as his messy divorce in his second marriage. But behind closed doors, the children of the Sanders household felt the impact. For Deiondra Sanders, Coach Prime’s daughter from his first marriage, the aftermath of her parents’ separation remains foggy. And she has mixed feelings about it.

“I’m going to be honest. I have a bad memory,” Deiondra said on the June 4 episode of the Lecrae podcast when asked about how her parents’ divorce affected her. “And I always say it’s like a blessing and a curse because I don’t remember a lot of stuff from my childhood like my brother does.

“And since I don’t remember, it’s like I don’t hold on to something I need to be healed from. So that’s why I say it’s a blessing. But then I say it’s a curse because it’s like a lot of stuff I really wish I did remember that I really don’t. But then I have the good side, where if I remember, I probably know it’s a lot of healing I would have needed to do,” Deiondra continued.

Coach Prime married Carolyn Chambers in 1989, and the couple separated in 1998. They share two children, Deiondra and Deion Jr. At the time of their parents’ split, they were 5 and 6 years old, respectively. Now that Deiondra is a single mom herself, she understands the depth of having a close family and wishes she had experienced it herself.

“I think just as I got older, I got to see people in the same home, and I just always wanted to experience that. Like, I grew up great. Like my mom, great mom, dad, great dad. But it’s like, what would it have been like if I was in the same home? Yeah, that’s all. The only thing that was a lot was like traveling so much. As I said, I could never really go to, like, birthdays and stuff because I was always going out of town.”

Even Deion Sanders Jr., nicknamed Bucky, has recently spoken about growing up without his father’s constant presence. Last month, in an interview, Bucky revealed that he and Deiondra lived with their mother on the other side of the town from her father. However, that doesn’t mean Coach Prime wasn’t present in their lives.

“But my dad was always there, though,” Deion Jr. said. “He always showed up to everything, every game, every this, every that. He still was a present father, so I don’t want people thinking he wasn’t. He was always there.”

After his second divorce, there was a period of turmoil in the family with the public nature of the split. Both Deion and his second wife, Pilar, made accusations and fought a tense custody battle for their three children. Things have settled down, but they still don’t see eye to eye. Fortunately, it hasn’t affected the equation between his five children. In a way, Coach Prime’s presence shaped how all five relate to each other.

Deiondra’s brothers didn’t like her pregnancy decision

Deiondra gave birth to her son, the first grandchild of the Sanders family, in August 2024. While Deion is a very proud and affectionate grandfather, Deiondra feared how he would react to the news that she was having a baby with R&B singer Jacquees. Surprisingly, Coach Prime was the only one who understood his daughter’s stance and was never mad at her.

“Of course, my dad wasn’t; I mean, everybody felt some kind of way, but my dad knew the issues I had with fibroids and stuff like that,” Deiondra said. “So he knew I always wanted a family. So he was like, okay, I understand that he actually wasn’t as mad as I thought he would be.”

But Deiondra’s relationship with Jacquees was very messy and toxic. Shilo and Shedeur were extremely angry with her for starting a family with him, since they knew how he had treated their sister.

“But my other brothers, they were just like, ‘You gonna let this n***a in our family?’” Deiondra said. “So, they only [did it] because they’re very protective of me. Like, I’m their sister.”

Coach Prime has inculcated family bonds, which are much more appreciable than his career. So, even through tough divorces and continued family drama, the Sanders family is as strong as ever.