GettyCowboys longshot coach candidate Deion Sanders (left) and his son/quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
The sum total of the coaching career of former Cowboys defensive back Deion Sanders is less than impressive. He has a 31-14 record at the collegiate level, but that includes a mark of just 4-8 at Colorado last year, having done well (27-6) running the show at the HBCU Jackson State before that. Despite the less than impressive backlog as a coach, Sanders remains highly respected in game—maybe so much so that he could be an out-of-left-field candidate to replace lame duck coach Mike McCarthy in Dallas.
Maybe not so far out of left field, though.
On ESPN this Friday morning, the topic of potential coaches to replace incumbent Mike McCarthy, who is in the final year of his contract and not widely expected to be in Dallas beyond 2024, arose on the “Unsportsmanlike” program with Freddie Coleman and ESPN NFL insider Courtney Cronin.
And while Coleman focused on presumed frontrunner Bill Belichick as a McCarthy replacement, Cronin zeroed in on the possibility of Sanders returning to Dallas—somehow with his son—as the head coach to replace McCarthy, who has gone 67-42 in five seasons with Dallas.
After Coleman mentioned Belichick as a “splash” pick for Jerry Jones, Cronin responded, “I am surprised you did not say that splash would be Deion Sanders.”
Deion Sanders a Package Deal With Shedeur Sanders?
Sanders has been connected to the Cowboys as a potential coach going back Dallas’ January playoff loss to the Packers, when the 12-5 division-winning Cowboys were well embarrassed by the Packers in the opening of the postseason. Of course, it was Belichick that got the bulk of the attention then, and has done so since as a potential McCarthy replacement.
But Sanders, too, would be an interesting option, having shown an ability to connect to modern players even if the question of whether that translates to wins remains.
Sanders would surely welcome an NFL job, but getting his son to join him would depend on the draft, which he can’t necessarily control. Still, the focus was on both Deion and Shedeur Sanders coming to Dallas in tandem.
Shedeur Sanders, despite an inconsistent season with the Buffaloes last year, is likely to be a first-round pick this season, perhaps even a Top 10 pick. The Cowboys would only make a move for him, presumably, if they were getting rid of star Dak Prescott.
Said Cronin: “Reading the tea leaves, it is hilarious to put a coach who just went 4-8 at Colorado, we have no idea what the season is going to look like, but we think that maybe him, and his son at quarterback, coming to the Dallas Cowboys—what a full-circle moment that would be.”
Cowboys Coaching History Is Spotty Under Jerry Jones
Cronin harkened back to the days of Cowboys coaches Bill Parcells and Wade Phillips—who both left for different reasons more than a decade ago—in warning Dallas owner Jerry Jones about where to go if McCarthy does not pan out in what will be a pressure-packed final year of his contract.
“I caution the Dallas Cowboys, having been in this spot before in the early 2000s, the grass is not always greener,” she said.
She also held out the possibility that the Cowboys will not only be rid of McCarthy after 2024, but that they will make the change during the season from McCarthy to assistant Mike Zimmer, who coached the Minnesota Vikings for eight seasons.
“All the pressure riding on your head coach with your new defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer, if at any point they struggle, with this team, I would not be surprised to see Mike McCarthy out and Zim taking over on an interim basis,” Cronin said. “At least for the time being, considering the history there with Jerry Jones.”
