Will Deion Sanders Reunite with Former Hog Jerry Jones?
He is Arkansas' most famous alum. He's surely the richest former Razorback player ever. He's a guy who loves attention and is getting lots of it today -- creating headlines and discussion across the country -- by flirting with someone he's danced with before.
The Arkansas native is Jerry Jones, the highest profile owner in the NFL. The guy he's flirting with through the media is Deion Sanders, the highest profile coach in college football.
Truth is, in so many ways, Jerry Jones and Deion Sanders are made for each other. They're two of the best self-promoters on the planet, and whether you view that as good or not, everybody in sports knows their names.
Jones is billionaire boss of the Dallas Cowboys, an eccentric owner with two(!) weekly radio shows who also conducts a press conference after each game at the same time his coach is doing a press conference. Jerry loves the limelight but that adds pressure to any coach under his thumb.
Is he willing to share that spotlight with Sanders, and would he give him free reign to run the team and have meaningful input on draft day, trades and free agent signings? All good questions that Sanders will ask if he gets an offer to move back to Dallas.
As of Monday, Jones is looking for his ninth coach since buying the Cowboys in February 1989. He's supposedly considering Sanders, who led the Colorado Buffaloes to nine wins and a bowl game in his second season at the Big 12 school. Before that, he was successful at Jackson State.
Jones likes to acquire shiny things. For a coaching splash, none is shinier than Sanders. Jones traded for the future NFL Hall of Fame cornerback in 1995 and they had five years together, winning the Super Bowl that first season.
Now, Jones and Sanders could reunite, pairing "America's Team" with "Coach Prime," seemingly a match made in marketing heaven. It would put the Cowboys in the spotlight for every national talk radio program, podcast, and off-season show on the NFL Network. Jones and Prime would dominate the airways.
Sanders is the ultimate showman, known as "Prime Time" when he played at Florida State, in the NFL, and for 641 games with four Major League Baseball teams. Now, he's recreated himself as Coach Prime while making millions doing TV commercials and being linked with about any big-time coaching position, mostly in college.
Question is whether Jones is reaching out to Sanders only because people in his ear tell him it's a good thing to do. It could be window dressing, with a serious offer never coming from Jones. Still, the interest shown would increase Sanders' credibility and up the ante for whoever calls next.
My guess is Jones would love to have Coach Prime repping the Cowboys again, strutting the sideline wearing sunglasses and a ball cap with the Dallas star. He'll create more attention for Jones and the Cowboys' brand.
But would it work or be a disaster? Jones desperately wants to be known as a winner again. He started on the offensive line for the Razorbacks' 1964 national championship team. He became a millionaire, then a billionaire. He bought the Cowboys for $190 million in '89, the highest ever paid for an NFL team. Now they're sports' first $10 billion franchise. But his 'Boys haven't won a Super Bowl since Sanders' heyday.
Jerry and Prime would be the most interesting and volatile owner-coach dynamic since New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner hired and fired manager Billy Martin an incredible five times during the 1970s and 80s.
Jones has to hire an offensive-minded head coach, or a "genius" offensive coordinator to get highly paid (guaranteed $231 million) quarterback Dak Prescott back on track. The Cowboys can't win unless Prescott is exceptional. Prescott was far less than that in his injury-shortened 2024 season.
Another scenario is Sanders signs with the Cowboys with the agreement they'll trade Prescott for a draft pick high enough to draft his son, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. That'll simply move the Sanders' family show from Boulder, Colorado, to Big D.
Sanders has earned a reputation as a good CEO-type coach, crucial to leading a top college or NFL team. He's known as a disciplinarian. My guess is he'd be respected in the Cowboys' locker room and would bring in an All-Star coaching staff.
That could result in the Cowboys' resurrection as a playoff team and a relevant contender. It could return legitimacy to Jones as an owner and make Coach Prime one of history's most successful as both player and coach.
It 's a fascinating potential pairing. Jones must talk to other candidates but if Sanders blows him away in an interview, the owner will open his vault and make Prime the highest-paid coach in history. It would be an intriguing sequel to their first go-round.