As of Monday, the Dallas Cowboys need a head coach.
The first big name to emerge as a candidate was Colorado’s Deion Sanders, one of the top players in Cowboys history.
Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reported Monday night that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has spoken to Sanders about the job after the team parted ways with Mike McCarthy.
“Discussions are expected to continue regarding the possibility of (Sanders) becoming the next head coach in Dallas,” Schultz reported. “Coach Prime is considered a top candidate, though the Cowboys plan to interview other candidates as part of the process, per team sources.”
The fact that Schultz first reported that news is no surprise, as he and Sanders are both represented by SMAC Entertainment.
Later on Monday, ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter posted a statement from Sanders, who confirmed he has spoken with Jones, but expressed his affinity for CU.
“To hear from Jerry Jones is truly delightful, and it’s intriguing,” Sanders told ESPN. “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.”
Sanders is 13-12 in two seasons as the head coach at CU, including 9-4 this season. On Sunday, he held his first meeting with the 2025 Buffs upon their return from the holiday break.
Leading CU to a remarkable turnaround – from 1-11 in 2022 before he was hired – has made Sanders an intriguing possibility for other jobs. He’s also been linked as a potential candidate for the Las Vegas Raiders, who are seeking a new head coach.
Sanders’ history with the Cowboys makes the connection to that job even stronger. A Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback whose career included five seasons (1995-99) with the Cowboys, Sanders was a key player on the last Dallas team to win a Super Bowl, in 1995.
Jones, 82, has owned the Cowboys since 1989 and has long had high regard for Sanders. Sanders has maintained a home for years just outside of Dallas and splits his time between there and Colorado. He was also a high school coach in the Dallas area before moving to the college ranks at Jackson State in 2020.
Coach Prime got into coaching to work with his sons, Shedeur and Shilo, when they were in youth leagues. He has been their coach every step along the way. Shedeur, CU’s star quarterback, and Shilo, a starting safety for CU, completed their college careers last month, however, and be will moving to the NFL.
Although he has often said he has no desire to coach in the NFL, Coach Prime opened the door a bit last week during an appearance on Good Morning America.
“The only way I would consider (coaching in the NFL) is to coach my sons,” he said, while putting an emphasis on the plural.
That would be difficult to do in Dallas. The Cowboys have the 12th pick in this year’s draft and Shedeur, who shattered every single-season record at CU, is widely projected to be among the top three picks.
To get Shedeur would require the Cowboys to not only make a big move up in the draft, but to figure out what to do with their current quarterback, Dak Prescott. Dallas signed Prescott to a four-year, $240 million contract before the season, with $231 million of that guaranteed.
Prescott, who missed the second half of the season with an injury, has a no-trade clause in his contract. Even if the Cowboys did trade Prescott, they would take a $90 million hit to their salary cap.
Coach Prime, meanwhile, has three years remaining on the five-year contract he signed with the Buffs when he was hired in December of 2022. If he were to leave the Buffs at this time to take a job in the NFL, he would owe CU a buyout of $8 million.
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