Cowboys Ex Deion Sanders 'Old-Fashioned' EXCLUSIVE: 'I'll Never Coach in NFL!'
FRISCO - Deion Sanders has been a newsmaker for his entire adult life, as an icon as an athlete and a businessman. He's now in the headlines for an unfortunate circumstance as the Pro Football Hall of Famer is dealing with an ailment that might result in the amputation of his foot.
“I want to do it this summer, because when we get rolling, I’m not going to have time to do it,” Sanders told his doctors. “This is the best down time I have.”
That obviously suggests that "Coach Prime'' - the former Dallas Cowboys star who this year moved from building a program at Jackson State to taking over at the University of Colorado - plans to continue coaching.
But not for the Dallas Cowboys. And not in the NFL. Not ever, Sanders has said via an exclusive visit with CowboysSI.com.
"I don't have any desire or ambition to coach in the NFL," Sanders told our Bri Amaranthus.
That came as a bit of a surprise to us. And here's a surprise for those who might guess wrongly at his reasoning, because, nope, it has nothing to do with the Cowboys' also-headline-grabbing owner.
"I am cut a little different. I love Jerry Jones. I tremendously love that whole family,'' Sanders said of the Joneses.'' (Deion shares his best Jerry Jones story here.)
So what is Deion's reason? He said, "I have a problem with men getting their checks and not doing their jobs. I would be too tough as a coach in the NFL because I still have those old-school attributes."
Coach Prime's' "old-school attributes" are proving successful at the college level. As head coach, Sanders turned the Jackson State program around in just a year and dominated the recruiting trail with unprecedented success at the FCS level. In 2021, Sanders put together the first 11-win season in JSU history on the way to the SWAC championship, earning the FCS Coach of the Year Award. He continues to promote the HBCU cause even as he moves to Colorado, taking over a program that was 1-11 last season.
So, one more stab at this ... How about the greatest cover cornerback of all time with ties to DFW joining as a Dallas staffer?
"I'm not an assistant coach. That is not me," said Sanders, 55. "I am a head coach ... I don't settle for mediocrity whatsoever. You are going to do it this way, we are going to work our butts off, we are going to be a team. The only thing that is individual about you is the way you play."
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