Deion Sanders already won a Super Bowl in Dallas as a player. With his vastly improved Colorado Buffaloes in danger of qualifying for the college football playoffs, Coach Prime faces calls to return to Texas to lead a Cowboys revival.
“Other than Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys, no place needs people to encourage people to be better than they are,” Sanders’ former rival and teammate Michael Irvin told the Buffaloes’ coach on FS1’s “Speak.”
“I know you’re focused every day, you’re a day to day man, but can you…”
“Don’t start that,” Sanders interrupted. “I like where I am.”
Sanders then stood up from his desk during the video call and walked to the window with his laptop to show the Fox Sports panel Colorado’s Folsom Field via satellite.
“I like where I am,” echoed Sanders, whose team posted a 34-27 victory over Texas Tech.
Deion Sanders (left) didn’t want to hear any speculation about Dallas from Michael Irvin (right)
Dallas Cowboys teammates Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders prepare for the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on August 31, 1997 at Three Rivers Stadium
The discussion died down after that, but this likely won’t be the last Sanders hears about the Cowboys job.
Dallas is currently 3-6 under coach Mike McCarthy after losing quarterback Dak Prescott to season-ending hamstring surgery. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones opted not to trade established players for future assets before the Nov. 5 deadline and instead acquired Carolina Panthers receiver Jonathan Mingo for fourth- and seventh-round picks.
Meanwhile, after a disappointing first season in Boulder, Coach Prime has the Buffaloes at 7-2 overall and No. 17 in the college football playoff rankings.
But his top players — son and quarterback Shedeur Sanders and cornerback receiver Travis Hunter — are expected to be selected in the first round in 2025, leading to speculation that Sanders could leave Colorado for Dallas.
And he already has several supporters at ESPN, where they discussed Sanders’ chances at the NFL level on Wednesday.
“People want to be around him,” ex-Colts center and current Get Up co-host Jeff Saturday said of Sanders. ‘This man radiates success.
“He holds guys accountable,” Saturday continued. “That’s what Dallas needs. It’s not about the Micah Parsons podcast.”
The final comment from Saturday was a comment about the Cowboys’ star pass rusher, who was criticized by fans for working on his own podcast during the season.
Of course, podcasting is nothing new for Sanders, who makes regular guest appearances on a number of programs.
Dallas Cowboys guard Zack Martin (70) and offensive tackle Terence Steele
Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie, left, and Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jone
Domonique Foxworth, Saturday’s co-host and former NFL cornerback, called Sanders’ cozy relationship with new media the “Deion reality show.”
“He’s going to take that,” Foxworth said.
ESPN NFL Insider Kimberley Martin didn’t dismiss Sanders as a candidate in Dallas, but said the real problem is that the next Cowboys coach will still have to deal with Jones, who needs to change.
Jones has faced continued criticism this season for bringing back McCarthy, who has one playoff win since being hired in 2020, and his inability to build a defense. Dallas currently ranks 31st in points allowed and 26th in defensive yardage.
The 57-year-old Sanders may be best remembered for his five years in Atlanta, but it was in Dallas where he had perhaps his greatest success.
The former three-sport star from Florida State won his second Super Bowl with the Cowboys in 1995 after coming over from the world champion San Francisco 49ers and remained one of the best cornerbacks in the league well into his 30s.