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'The Pay's Not Good!' Deion Sanders Hires Ex Cowboys Coach Mike Zimmer at Jackson State

Zimmer will surely make the program better ... even though his pay is now worse.

Mike Fisher

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FRISCO - Long-time NFL coach Mike Zimmer, who developed a tight relationship with Deion Sanders when they worked together with the Dallas Cowboys, is joining the coaching staff at Jackson State University for the 2022 season.

Zimmer will serve as an analyst on the staff of head coach Deion Sanders.

“He’s asked me about it a few times. The pay’s not good,” Zimmer said with a grin. “But I do love Deion and I’d do anything for him.”

Sanders hinted at the news on Tuesday morning, tweeting out a video of Zimmer addressing his team.

Zimmer spoke about his new job with Thee Pregame Show, adding about Sanders: “He can open up so many doors for these young men, but I’m extremely impressed with the way he’s teaching them about life and not just football. And taking care of them, and talking to them about the real things that go on in the world and not the fluff stuff.”

Zimmer, 66, spent the last eight seasons as the Vikings head coach, compiling a 74-59-1 record, including playoffs. He was fired in January after missing the postseason in two consecutive years.

Zimmer began his NFL career as an assistant coach with the Cowboys for 13 years. He was Sanders' defensive backs coach in Dallas from 1995-99, which is where their friendship began. Last season, for anyone who wasn't already aware, the friendship was put into the spotlight when during a live Vikings press conference, Zimmer answered a phone call from Sanders.

Sanders, the Hall of Fame standout, took over as the head coach at Jackson State in 2020, moving the program into the fore. Last season, Jackson State went 11-2 and won the SWAC. And now? Zimmer will surely make the program better ... even though his pay is now worse.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.

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