For a couple of weeks, there was flirtation between Deion Sanders and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and it surrounded the head coach opening for the club, following Mike McCarthy’s departure in January. Jones revealed that he had spoken to the Colorado Buffaloes head coach about the position—and anytime a global brand like the Cowboys and a global superstar like Sanders are in the same sentence, it generates plenty of headlines.
However, this proved to be just a flirtation and nothing serious as Jones never officially interviewed Sanders for the job. The opening was later filled by Brian Schottenheimer, formerly McCarthy’s offensive coordinator, who is getting his first head coach position after being a pro and college assistant since 1997.
Many thought that Sanders would have been the perfect coach for Dallas, as a former Cowboys player himself, a Hall of Famer, and someone who’s proven his coaching ability at the college level. However, Sanders, himself, is now revealing that he simply wouldn’t be an effective NFL coach because the game has changed so much from the one he played, mostly in the 1990s. He discussed why Coach Prime in the NFL wouldn’t work when he was joined by former teammate Troy Aikman on Sanders’ “We Got Time Today” TV show on Feb. 4.
“I couldn’t coach pro ball. That’s why I say, I couldn’t coach—I know it was cute,” Sanders said of his flirtation with the Cowboys’ opening. “But I couldn’t coach pro ball, because the way they practice, the way they go about it, I couldn’t take it. As a man, and as a football enthusiast, and I care about the game. The game is still providing for Troy and I, so there is no way I could allow that to happen on my watch. That would be tough.”
Earlier in the show, Aikman had talked about how his work ethic as a player has continued into his post-playing career. Sanders followed up by talking about how hard he, Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, and the rest of the ‘90s Cowboys practiced during their dynastic run. Sanders said that type of intensity just isn’t there at the NFL level anymore, with the rules and regulations scaling back how NFL teams can practice and how long they can practice for. Padded, full-contact practices are becoming rarer and rarer, with many teams opting for more film sessions, technique drills, or walkthroughs.
Sanders never even had an official interview with the Dallas Cowboys, who did interview several others before settling on Schottenheimer, including Robert Saleh, Kellen Moore, and Leslie Frazier.
Sanders’ comments this week are in line with what he’s been saying for years. Coincidentally, it was three years ago this week—the week before the Super Bowl—when Sanders was still the head coach at Jackson State, that he was posed with the question about potentially coaching the Cowboys one day.
While Sanders doesn’t think he’d be a fit in the NFL or with the Cowboys, his former teammate does. Aikman said Sanders’ charisma and persona would have made him a logical fit for a franchise that is now onto its ninth head coach since Jones bought the team in 1989.
“For Dallas, Deion would have been a really good fit because he would have commanded the room, and his personality is such that people would have known that he was in charge,” Aikman said on the show. “And I think that’s important for any organization to know that the head coach is the one who’s calling the shots and that he’s in charge.”
One could read between the lines of Aikman’s statement and conclude that Schottenheimer—much like McCarthy, Jason Garrett, Wade Phillips, and many Cowboys coaches before him—won’t be the one in charge in Dallas. Jones is in charge, and it’s been that way since he and Jimmy Johnson went their separate ways in 1994—save for a brief spell when Bill Parcells was in town.
Thus, Jones is known to pick men he knows he can work with, whether that be in regard to the roster, personnel moves, or even playing time. After getting his first head coaching job, at any level, after 28 years as an assistant, Schottenheimer may not exactly have the gravitas to stand up to Jones, and that may be why Schottenheimer was hired in the first place.
As a result, Coach Prime will be back in Boulder, Colorado, for the 2025 college football season, although he’ll be the only Sanders in town. His son quarterback Shedeur Sanders could very well be the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft. Another son, safety Shilo Sanders, has exhausted his college eligibility and hopes to be drafted as well. Then there’s Coach Prime’s unofficial son in Travis Hunter, the Heisman-winning wide receiver/cornerback. He has declared for the draft and is contending with Shedeur to be selected first overall.
