Colorado's Deion Sanders Shoots Down NFL Coaching Rumors: 'I Ain't Going to the NFL'
Having made Colorado the epicenter of college football after just two games, there's already speculation about Deion Sanders potentially becoming an NFL head coach at some point.
Appearing on ESPN's First Take, Sanders vehemently dismissed any notion that he would make the leap to the NFL.
"I ain't going to the NFL," he said in response to a question from Shannon Sharpe.
Before fans in Boulder start celebrating, it's worth pointing out Sanders made similar comments around this time last year when asked about leaving Jackson State.
After Colorado's 36-14 victory over Nebraska last week, The Athletic's Mike Sando spoke to multiple NFL team executives who said they think Sanders has the skill set to succeed at the next level if he wanted to make the jump.
There are a few key differences that could make it less likely Sanders leaves college for the NFL. For starters, there's more freedom to build rosters how you want in college without having to worry about a salary cap.
Sanders has also gone on the record before about why he doesn't think he would be a good fit for the NFL.
"I have a problem with men getting their checks and not doing their jobs," Coach Prime told SI.com's Mike Fisher in June. "I would be too tough as a coach in the NFL because I still have those old-school attributes."
Another potential issue is Sanders might not enjoy the same financial opportunities that are afforded to him in college. After Thursday's NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles, Amazon dropped the first trailer for season 2 of the Coach Prime documentary series that drops on Dec. 7.
While it's not unheard of for NFL teams to give access to documentary crews during a season, it usually only happens in special circumstances.
It wouldn't be a surprise if Sanders eventually leaves Colorado for another high-profile college gig, though. There may be a huge number of jobs available to him based on how much national attention he's already brought to Colorado after just two games.
ESPN is parked on campus this weekend with First Take, The Pat McAfee Show and College Gameday taking place in Boulder. Fox's Big Noon Kickoff was in the city last week for the Nebraska game and will be there again on Saturday for the Colorado State-Colorado matchup, even though the game doesn't kickoff until 10 p.m. ET and the network isn't broadcasting it because it will be on ESPN.
If the Buffaloes continue to play at this level over the course of the season, don't be surprised if other programs try to entice Sanders with big-money offers.
