Colorado's Deion Sanders: 'I Couldn't Coach Pro Ball' After Cowboys, NFL Rumors

Deion Sanders, who was tied to the Dallas Cowboys' head coaching vacancy before the team promoted former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to the role, says he wasn't cut out for an NFL head coaching job.

Sanders discussed his candidacy in a conversation with former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman on his Tubi talk show "We Got Time Today," per Reuters.

"I couldn't coach pro ball," Sanders said.

Sanders continued: "I couldn't coach pro ball, because the way they practice, the way they go about it, I couldn't take it. As a man, and as a football enthusiast, and I care about the game. The game is still providing for Troy and I, so there is no way I could allow that to happen on my watch. That would be tough."

Sanders has previously given similar answers when asked about potentially coaching in the NFL. He told Bri Amaranthus of Sports Illustrated in 2023, ahead of his first season with Colorado, that he didn't "have any desire or ambition to coach in the NFL."

"I have a problem with men getting their checks and not doing their jobs," Sanders said in 2023. "I would be too tough as a coach in the NFL because I still have those old-school attributes."

Although the Cowboys only officially interviewed Schottenheimer, Leslie Frazier, Robert Saleh and Kellen Moore for the open head coaching position, owner and general manager Jerry Jones also reportedly held a "informal meeting" with Sanders, per DallasCowboys.com's Nick Eatman.

After that talk, Sanders told ESPN's Adam Schefter in January it had been "intriguing" to hear from Jones.

"I love Jerry and believe in Jerry," Sanders said, per Schefter. "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."

Sanders' sons, Shilo and Shedeur Sanders, are joining two-way Colorado star Travis Hunter in leaving Colorado for the 2025 NFL Draft. If Sanders remains in Boulder without them, the third-year Buffaloes head coach will be tasked with rebuilding his team around a new quarterback this fall.