Deion Sanders Shares the Real Reason He Stayed at Colorado Instead of Becoming an NFL Head Coach

Deion Sanders is building something special at Colorado. He transformed the Buffaloes from a 1-11 unit to a 9-3 program in just two seasons. Now he’s embarking on sustaining that success without his children and not giving the NFL a second glance.

Sanders spoke with former NFL Network colleague Rich Eisen on Friday’s episode of The Rich Eisen Show. He told Eisen the timing just wasn’t right for him to take an NFL head coaching opportunity.

He also insinuated he’d have to be able to coach his son, Shedeur, to truly consider an NFL job.

“I’m at that point in life right now where I’m not doing nothing I don’t want to do… why would I go to the NFL and not coach my son or coach against my son? That don’t make sense for me. For a lot of people it may, but it don’t make sense for me.”

Eisen said Sanders used to scream “cut him” when a player wasn’t performing well at the NFL level. Sanders confirmed Eisen’s story, then said that’s why he couldn’t “ever actually coach” in the NFL.

He believes heart is in short supply around the league these days. And he considers heart to be more critical to success than any potential physical ability.

“I can’t withstand what I see sometimes because you could measure all the measurables like you do at the NFL combine so profoundly, but you can’t measure the heart and that’s somewhat what we’re missing now. Heart.”

Regardless of these beliefs, Sanders was in the running for one NFL position this offseason. However, no matter how hard Michael Irvin wished, Sanders apparently wasn’t going to be the Dallas Cowboys’ solution.

Deion Sanders recaps consideration of Cowboys’ coaching job

Sanders joked Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is listed as “direct deposit” in his phone contacts. He said Jones “is his man.” Despite Sanders’ label for Jones, the two didn’t get terribly deep in their vetting process for the Dallas job.

That said, Jones’ conversation sparked intense internal debate for Sanders. Coach Prime revealed:

“It was great. It made me think… Jerry’s one of those guys, like myself, that you got to have an opinion, you got to make a statement, you got to respond because he provoked so much thought… so when he calls and we [have] our little discussion… you hang up and you start thinking, ‘hey, wow, that’s something.’ You just weigh everything.”

The Cowboys, to much of their fanbase’s chagrin, eventually hired offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer as head coach.

3Admittedly, things look a bit bleak for them at the moment. However, as the Washington Commanders showed this year, an unexpected turnaround can happen in a flash. Dallas is hoping for something similar to unfold as they begin the post-Mike McCarthy Era in 2025.