Deion Sanders already won a Super Bowl in Dallas as a player. Now, with his vastly improved Colorado Buffaloes threatening to qualify for the college football playoffs, Coach Prime is facing calls to return to Texas to lead a Cowboys revival.
‘No place needs people to encourage people to be better than they are besides Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys,’ Sanders’ former rival and teammate Michael Irvin told the Buffaloes’ coach on FS1’s ‘Speak.’
‘I know you’re focused day to day, you’re a day-to-day man, but can you…’
‘Don’t start that,’ Sanders interrupted. ‘I love it where I am.’
Sanders then stood up from his desk during the video-call interview and walked his laptop over to the window to show Fox Sports’ panel Colorado’s Folsom Field, via satellite.
‘I love it where I am,’ repeated Sanders, whose team is coming off a 34-27 win over Texas Tech.
Deion Sanders (left) didn’t want to hear any speculation on Dallas from Michael Irvin (right)
Dallas Cowboys teammates Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders prepare before the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on August 31, 1997 at Three Rivers Stadium
The discussion fizzled out from there, but this isn’t likely to be the last Sanders hears about the Cowboys job.
Dallas is currently 3-6 under coach Mike McCarthy after quarterback Dak Prescott was lost to season-ending hamstring surgery. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones opted against trading off established players for future assets before the November 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 as well as cornerback-receiver Travis Hunter – are both expected to be first-round picks in 2025, leading to speculation that Sanders could bolt 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 guy, he exudes success.
‘He holds guys accountable,’ Saturday continued. ‘That’s what Dallas needs. It’s not going to be about the Micah Parsons podcast.’
Saturday’s last comment was a dig at the Cowboys’ star pass rusher, who has taken criticism from fans for working on his own podcast during the season.
Of course, podcasting is nothing new to 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
Saturday’s co-host and former NFL cornerback Domonique Foxworth referred to Sanders’ cozy relationship with new media as the ‘Deion reality show.’
‘He’s gonna bring that with him,’ Foxworth said.
ESPN NFL Insider Kimberley Martin didn’t dismiss Sanders as a candidate in Dallas, but said the real issue is that the next Cowboys coach will still be dealing with Jones, who needs to change.
Jones has faced persistent criticism this season for bringing back McCarthy, who has a single playoff win since being hired in 2020, and his failure to build a defense. Dallas currently ranks 31st in points allowed and 26 in defensive yardage.
The 57-year-old Sanders is perhaps best remembered for his five years in Atlanta, but it was in Dallas where he may have had his greatest success.
The former three-sport star at 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 league’s premiere cornerbacks deep into his 30s.
