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Deion Sanders Talks 'Intriguing' Cowboys HC Opening After Meeting With Jerry Jones

Taylyn HadleyJanuary 14, 2025

SAN ANTONIO, TX - DECEMBER 28: Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders talks to Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) and Colorado Buffaloes safety Shilo Sanders (21) before the football game between BYU Cougars and Colorado Buffalos on December 28, 2024, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Deion Sanders said he still needs to "think about" the "intriguing" conversation with Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones regarding the possibility of leaving Colorado to become the Cowboys' next head coach.

"To hear from Jerry Jones is truly delightful, and it's intriguing," Sanders said Monday, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. "I love Jerry and believe in Jerry. After you hang up, and process it, and think about it, it's intriguing. But I love Boulder and everything there is about our team, the coaches, our student body and the community."

On Monday, the Cowboys announced they were parting ways with head coach Mike McCarthy.

Before hanging up his cleats, Sanders won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys in 1995. He's now the head coach at Colorado, where he turned the team from an also-ran into a powerhouse in only two years. However, he's now facing a transitional period, as both of his sons (Shedeur and Shilo) along with other standout athletes like Travis Hunter are set to leave the Buffaloes and enter the NFL draft.

Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who was Sanders' defensive backs coach during his five seasons in Dallas from 1995 to 1999, expressed his belief in November that Sanders was not looking to leave Colorado anytime soon.

"Deion and I are obviously really good friends, and we talk weekly probably, but I'm not going to speculate on any jobs or anything like that because I don't think that's right," Zimmer said in November per, CBS Sports Garrett Podell. "I know that he's told me many times that he's really happy at Colorado. He likes it there. Obviously, they've done a great job. Trying to watch his games each and every week that I can to give him some tidbits and go from there."

Jones has been a fan of what Sanders has accomplished at Colorado since the beginning, often praising his exceptional abilities as a recruiter.

"One of his greatest skills, that he really brings to college, is that he almost has no peer as far as being a recruiter," Jones said in November on 105.3 The Fan." "Kids want to come play for him. And he has a way of selling that. That is one skill, that recruiting skill, that is not a huge prerequisite for NFL coaches. One of his greatest values is in that area of putting the team together and getting great talent to come play for him there at Colorado."

While Sanders and the Cowboys have not held a formal interview, there is "mutual interest" between the two, according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.