Deion Sanders stayed at Colorado after interest from the Dallas Cowboys in hiring the Hall of Fame cornerback to return the NFL as Mike McCarthy’s replacement.
But the pro game is, well, too “Primetime” for even Sanders these days, he said on “We Got Time Today” on Tubi in a discussion about contact from the Cowboys with Troy Aikman.
“I couldn’t coach pro ball,” Sanders said.
“That’s why I say, I couldn’t coach — I know it was cute. But 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.”
The sentiment is not new for Sanders. He told “60 Minutes” in 2022 he wouldn’t be interested by any NFL opening. He’s 13-12 in two seasons as head coach at Colorado. The Buffaloes went 9-4 last season and cornerback-wide receiver Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy.
The Cowboys last appeared in a Super Bowl in 1996, a roster that featured Sanders, Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith and Charles Haley.
“For Dallas, Deion would have been a really good fit because he would have commanded the room, and his personality is such that people would have known that he was in charge,” Aikman said. “And I think that’s important for (the) organization to know that the head coach is the one who’s calling the shots and that he’s in charge.”
Aikman said some of Sanders’ former teammates with the Cowboys are perturbed by owner Jerry Jones not pushing for a formal interview or making Sanders an offer.
“You didn’t need a call from me,” Aikman said. “I was … I was watching, wondering how this whole thing was going to unfold. I will say this: As you know playmaker Michael Irvin is a Cowboy apologist and you not getting an official interview, not being hired, even he, I’m not sure he’s on the train right now.”
Dallas hired offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer instead, an in-house promotion for the longtime assistant and son of late NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer.
