Cowboys Considering Deion Sanders For Head Coaching Job

10:35pm: Sanders acknowledged that Jones reached out to him about the Cowboys HC job, but the coach also reiterated his commitment to Colorado.

“To hear from Jerry Jones is truly delightful, and it’s intriguing,” Deion Sanders said (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). “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.”

7:50pm: While Deion Sanders has been mentioned as a potential candidate for a handful of NFL jobs, the Colorado head coach has yet to garner definitive interest from an organization. It sounds like that’s about to change, as the Cowboys apparently have their former star player on their radar.

[RELATED: Mike McCarthy Will Not Return As Cowboys’ Head Coach]

According to Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has spoken with Sanders about the team’s head coaching vacancy. “Discussions are expected to continue,” and Prime is considered a top candidate for the position. At the same time, Schultz cautions that the organization plans to interview other candidates as part of their process. The two sides haven’t scheduled an interview, but they’re expected to continue the dialogue, per Schultz.

Sanders, of course, had a standout five-year stint with the organization after the Cowboys won the “Deion Sweepstakes” during the 1995 offseason. While Sanders was limited to only nine games during his debut season in Dallas, he had a productive three-game postseason run to a Super Bowl championship (his second-straight after his one-season stop in San Francisco). Sanders proceeded to earn three-straight first-team All-Pro nods with the Cowboys between 1996 and 1998, but he was released due to salary-cap constraints following the 1999 campaign.

Close to two decades after his playing career ended, Sanders returned to the sideline as head coach of his own Prime Prep Academy. After coaching his sons for a year in high school, he was named head coach of Jackson State University, where he spent three seasons. He parlayed that performance into a gig at Colorado, where he had a chance to once again coach his son, Shedeur Sanders. Colorado’s run this past season solidified Sanders as an up-and-coming head coach, and it didn’t take long for the Hall of Famer to be connected to NFL coaching vacancies.

That included the job in Las Vegas, which Sanders was reportedly eyeing. The coach has a relationship with Tom Brady (who is spearheading the Raiders search), and there’s a chance the organization could make a move for Shedeur in the draft. Ultimately, the Raiders denied their interest in Sanders, but it didn’t take long for Prime Time to pop back up as a candidate in Dallas.

The Cowboys announced today that they’re moving on from Mike McCarthy, opening the door for a potential Dallas return for Sanders. The coach previously said he’d only consider a move to the NFL if he had the opportunity to coach his son, and with Dak Prescott attached to a newly-inked extension, it seems unlikely that Shedeur would land in Dallas. However, perhaps Deion would change his tune considering his relationship with the Cowboys organization. Schultz echoes the sentiment that Sanders has generally dismissed a move to the NFL, “but this was one call he wasn’t going to ignore.”

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