Mac Engel: For Deion Sanders to become the Cowboys' head coach, it'll require a 180-degree spin

Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Jan 19, 2025

Published in Football

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FORT WORTH, Texas — There has been no announcement that the Dallas Cowboys have, or want to, interview Deion Sanders but the thought of that conversation even happening has done what both Jerry Jones and Deion wanted.

From gambling sites to sports media, the CGI of Deion coaching the Dallas Cowboys has broken Google.

So far, Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has formally interviewed with the team, conducted via Zoom on Friday. Scheduled for interviews are former Jets head coach Robert Saleh, and current Seattle assistant Leslie Frazier.

Other potential candidates still include Detroit assistant coaches Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson.

Unlike NFL teams that have to follow protocols to interview current NFL coaches, there is no such red tape to navigate when a franchise wants to chat with a college coach. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones could have Deion over to The Star, or a Starbucks, and that’s an interview.

According to longtime NFL and Dallas Cowboys reporter Ed Werder of WFAA, Jerry is “enamored” with the idea of Deion coaching the team; Werder also reported that Deion’s friends are telling him to take the job if offered.

As much fun as this scenario is, the odds of this happening remain 0.00000001. If that. There is the matter of Deion’s pricey buyout at Colorado, reportedly in the area of $8 million to $10 million.

For this to happen, Deion would also have to high step around some of his previous, and passionate, declarations that he has absolutely no interest in coaching today’s NFL. Because he has no interest in coaching today’s NFL player.

While he was the head coach of Jackson State, 60 Minutes aired a flattering profile, in Oct. of 2022, of Deion’s efforts there and the subject of the NFL arose.

He was asked, “You don’t want to coach in the NFL?”

“No one bit,” Deion told 60 Minutes. “It’s hard for me to coach a person that makes a lot of money that does not truly love the game that blessed me, and I don’t want to go to jail.

60 Minutes: “What are you going to jail for?”

Deion: “Because I’m going to jump on somebody. I will come out of halftime with half the team.”

He made similar statements, and further explained his feelings about this topic when he appeared on the popular podcast, “All The Smoke,” hosted by former NBA players Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes.

The episode aired on Apr 25, 2024, and Deion made it clear to both hosts that there is no way he coaches in the NFL.

“It would be hard for me to know this man is making this X number of dollars, (and) he don’t really don’t want to play no football. Yeah, I can’t take that,” Sanders said on the show. “See, I’m going in half time (with) 53 (players) and I’m coming out with 24. Yeah, it’s gonna be some adjustments at halftime.

“I just don’t feel like I could do it, because I have too much respect for the game. That’s it. If it weren’t for the game, we wouldn’t be here, right? I got too much respect for the game. ... Man, that stuff bothers me. Man, it hurts my heart to see somebody making it and they don’t respect the game.”

The most likely scenario here is that Deion uses the “interest” from the Cowboys to further along a new contract from Colorado, as well as promises of future improvements for the team there.

It should also be noted that what a college head coach says on Monday is apt to change by Tuesday. Whether it’s God calling, or the chance to put a few more zeroes on their check, high-profile college coaches have earned their reputation of possessing a wandering eye.

Looking at you, Senator Tuberville. And Nick Saban. They all leave.

Deion has made it abundantly clear what he thinks of today’s NFL player, and that he doesn’t want to try to coach them.

His previous statements have not stopped anyone from “hiring” Deion as the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Because it’s Jerry. And, despite what he has said previously, because it’s Deion, too.