True freshman Deion Sanders has a chance to contribute for SMU at receiver and on punt returns in 2013 (photo by PonyFans.com).

Many were not quite sure what to expect from Deion Sanders when the SMU football team began spring workouts. Everyone knew his name, but were the Mustangs adding a player with a famous name, or adding a player?

The son of the former NFL cornerback with the same name does not have his famous father’s height or top-end sprinting speed, although reports that circulated early in his recruitment suggested that he was significantly slower than he is (Sanders stands 5-7 and is listed at 170 pounds on the SMU roster, and his listed 4.5 time in the 40-yard dash seems a lot more accurate than early reports that suggested his 40 was almost a half a second slower.

Growing with such a famous father, Sanders has had to deal for years with questions about comparisons to his dad. He deftly eludes such queries, acknowledging that he’s not as tall or as fast as his father but has ample confidence in his own abilities to make plays on the field. He isn’t trying to be his dad, the younger Sanders says. He’s just himself.

But the similarities between Sanders and his father are undeniably evident. One of three new scholarship players (along with receiver Nate Halverson and running back Traylon Shead) to enroll in January in order to take part in the Mustangs' spring drills, Sanders looks a lot like his dad. He has the same body language, the same long arms that allow him to play bigger than he is. Like his dad, he’s a very smooth runner, he does not slow down even a little when he changes direction and he has very good hands. Granted, there was not much hitting going on during the Ponies' spring workouts, but Sanders showed that when the ball is near him, he has a good chance to come down with it.

Sanders is on his third team in three years, having finished high school at Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas, before playing a post-graduate year at Atlanta (Ga.) Sports Academy. He also has a varied position background, having played cornerback and quarterback, meaning his decision to enroll in January to get a jumpstart on learning to play receiver in the Mustangs’ offense could prove vital to his success.

“I’m still learning, but good players are always learning,” Sanders said after the Mustangs’ final spring practice. “(Receivers) Coach (Jason) Phillips is a great coach because he’s a great teacher. He sees everything. You ran run the same drill over and over, and he always sees a way to help you do it better.

SMU receivers coach Jason Phillips offered Deion Sanders a scholarship in two consecutive years ... and at two different schools (photo by SMU athletics).

“My dad has known Coach Phillips for a long time — they played together — and he is exactly what my dad said he would be. He and my dad know each other really well, but that doesn't matter when we're out here on the practice field. When we’re out here, he’s not my friend — he’s my coach.”

Sanders was not as heavily recruited as some of his teammates — he had an offer a year ago from Phillips to go to the University of Houston, and an offer to sign this year with North Texas — but in spring workouts, he didn’t look out of place on the field with the rest of the SMU offense. Almost as soon as the Ponies began their spring practices, Sanders was among the players who caught the eye of head coach June Jones, who cited Sanders’ quickness and “obvious ability to make plays.”

So while Sanders might have been among the newest, youngest and smallest players on the field, he said he never doubted his ability or whether he deserved to be on a college field. His father was known throughout his career for his unbreakable self-confidence ... another trait that he seems to have passed along to his son.

“Never,” Sanders said when asked if his ability to adapt to a new team, new position and new system, and his ability to make plays on a daily basis had surprised him. “I never doubt my ability. I have a lot to learn, but I never doubt my ability. You have to believe in yourself, and I do.”

Sanders spent the spring working behind starting slot receivers Jeremy Johnson and Darius Joseph, although he got more and more repetitions as spring drills went along and he became more comfortable with the offense, the Mustang quarterbacks and the routes he was expected to run.

But in addition to playing slot receiver, Jones said this spring that Sanders could be in the SMU rotation in the fall to return punts — a skill at which his dad had a fair share of success. Sanders said he gets considerable input on the topic from his father, who is one of the most famous punt returners in the history of college and professional football.

“He teaches me everything he knows,” Sanders said of his father. “We talk or work out every day. He’s a great father and a great coach.”