Head coach Deion Sanders gets interviewed during the game for ESPN on April 22, 2023. The Buffaloes spring game was the only school to be broadcasted on ESPN. (Kara Wagenknecht/CU Independent)
With the end of the Sanders’ family era with the University of Colorado Boulder’s unexpected yet dominant football season, the Coach Prime era may also be coming to an end as well. Multiple reports have emerged in the last few weeks suggesting head coach Deion Sanders may be headed toward the National Football League.
Despite adamant statements from Sanders and his close circle that he is committed to Colorado, there have been reports that interest has been extended to NFL teams who are currently in transitions for their head coach position.
Teams such as the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders have been topics of conversation for potential places Sanders has expressed interest in. They coincide with the latent teams his son, Shedeur Sanders, would be drafted to after he made it clear that his interests would only be actionable if the possibility of coaching both sons was on the table.
This move would be a shocking announcement, but the undeniable ties with the Cowboys and the Sanders family provides a connective element that may prove to persuade either party more than Colorado expects, especially following rumored rejections toward Sanders’ request to increase NIL funding for the CU football program.
When Coach Prime was a player for the Cowboys himself, he played as a cornerback for five seasons and set high standards for the level of athleticism achievable by a professional football player. After being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons and before his time with Baltimore, Washington and San Francisco, Sanders became a Super Bowl Champion with the Cowboys against in Super Bowl XXX. He would later earn a second ring with the Forty Niners.
Sanders himself did recently try to quell rumors in an interview with ESPN last week. But he did not give a definitive no on if he’d take the head coaching job.
“To hear from Jerry Jones is truly delightful, and it’s intriguing,” Sanders said. “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.”
Although the future of Sanders and the Colorado program seems to be up in the air at the moment, just before the end of last season, Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter made it clear where he believes the coach will be in the future.
“I got a lot of insight. He ain’t going nowhere, he’s going to be right where he’s at right now,” Hunter said.
Sanders has made it clear that he does not follow his sons in order to coach them, but rather they follow him to play under his system. He has coached his sons, Shilo and Shedeur, throughout their football careers dating back to high school and has always had a close relationship with both of them both on and off the field.
The continued speculation about the future of Colorado’s football staff and program has been developing since the revelation of both sons moving on to the professional level, but only time will tell what decisions Coach Sanders makes regarding his role as a Buffalo or as a Cowboy.
The CU Independent reached out to CU Athletics but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Contact CU Independent football writer Julie Torten Rabinowitz at julie.tortenrabinowitz@colorado.edu
