Deion Sanders Says He'll Stay With Colorado, But What If the Cowboys Call?

Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes directs his team during a game against the Utah Utes at Folsom Field on Nov. 16 in Boulder, Colo. Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

Amid a stunning turnaround that has his Colorado Buffaloes in contention for a Big 12 championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff, head coach Deion Sanders has become a hot commodity for open, and even not-yet-open, coaching jobs. That goes for higher-profile college programs as well as NFL jobs, including the Dallas Cowboys, his employer from 1995 to 1999. However, Coach Prime, as he’s known, has vowed to stick with the Buffs and addressed the speculation that he’ll leave head on.

“I’m happy where I am, man. I’m good,” Sanders told reporters on Tuesday. “I’ve got a kickstand down. You know what a kickstand is? ... That means I’m resting. I’m good, I’m happy, I’m excited. I’m enthusiastic about where I am. I love it here, truly do.”

Buffs Nation also clearly loves him being in Boulder, Colo., based on the remarkable job he’s done since stepping foot on campus prior to the 2023 season. Before his arrival, Colorado posted a 1-11 record in 2022, which was both the worst record in the 121-year history of the program, and the worst record among the 131 FBS teams that season. Sanders went 4-8 in his first season last year, and the Buffaloes are sitting at 8-2 in his second season.

The eight wins are already the most by Colorado since 2016, and the team is two wins away from clinching a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game, in its first year back in the conference after spending the last 13 years in the Pac-12. Additionally, Sanders has the Buffs at No. 16 in the latest CFP Rankings, released on Tuesday, putting them in prime position to clinch a spot in the inaugural 12-team playoff, considering many of the teams ahead of them will face each other over the next few weeks.

Prior to Colorado, Sanders spent three years at Jackson State, an HBCU, where he also engineered a turnaround. JSU had six straight seasons without a winning record before Coach Prime’s arrival, but he ended that drought in his first year, going 4-3 in a COVID-affected season. He would then go a combined 23-3 over his next two years, winning the SWAC Championship in both seasons and being named the conference Coach of the Year in both seasons as well.

With that type of resumé, it’s no surprise that Sanders will be in high demand for numerous coaching jobs in both college and the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys job potentially looms as the biggest opportunity as the team already appears to be looking to 2025 after dropping five straight games, with current coach Mike McCarthy in a lame-duck year in the final season of his contract.

Sanders starred for the Cowboys on both sides of the ball for five seasons in the 1990s, winning a Super Bowl with the team, making four Pro Bowls, and being named an All-Pro three times. He still owns a home in the Dallas area and got the start to his coaching career at various high schools in Dallas-Fort Worth.

But Sanders, at least publicly, apparently prefers the mountains of Colorado over the ranches of Texas, at least for now. He wouldn’t be the first coach to plant a kickstand at one location and then leave for another. But Colorado is one of the hottest teams in the sport, and Coach Prime also gets to do what only a handful of other coaches at this level get the opportunity to do—and that’s coach his kids.

His son, Shedeur, is the quarterback, while another son, Shilo, is a starting safety. However, Shilo’s eligibility ends after this year, while Shedeur is widely expected to take his talents to the NFL. Shedeur, along with two-way player Travis Hunter, are forecast to be top-five selections in the 2025 NFL Draft, and perhaps Colorado wouldn’t be as appealing with talents like those elsewhere.

One Cowboys great, who was a teammate of Deion Sanders in Dallas, believes that would be the case if the team was to draft Shedeur next spring. Hall of Famer Michael Irvin was asked if Sanders would bolt the Buffs for the Cowboys if Dallas were to land his son.

“I believe 100 percent, and I can tell you, good sources have told me that,” Irvin responded. “Great sources have told me that. That’s all I can say without violating anything else.”

One could assume who Irvin’s “source” is as he didn’t specifically mention Sanders, but another Cowboys great did explicitly bring up Coach Prime’s name as the next coach of the Cowboys. Amid Dallas getting blown out on Monday Night Football in an in-state battle with the Houston Texans, Dez Bryant posted on social media that the Cowboys should fire everyone and consider Sanders as the next head coach.

More success from the Buffaloes this year will only make Sanders even more in demand next year. It will be interesting to see if that kickstand stays in place or if he lifts it up and continues his coaching journey elsewhere.