Deion Sanders may never escape rumors about him potentially coaching in the NFL, but the Hall of Famer is back to insisting it is not going to happen.
Sanders has said in the past that his personality would not be suited for coaching at the professional level. Despite that, the 57-year-old had a conversation with Jerry Jones when the Dallas Cowboys’ head-coaching job was available last month. One report even claimed Sanders would have taken the job had it been offered.
Many believe Sanders was simply using the Cowboys situation for leverage in potential contract extension talks with Colorado. That seems more likely given what he said about coaching in the NFL during the latest episode of his “We Got Time Today” talk show, which aired on Tuesday.
Troy Aikman, Sanders’ former teammate with the Dallas Cowboys, was a guest on the show. When Aikman and Sanders began reminiscing about how hard they used to practice during their NFL careers, Sanders said that is one reason he “couldn’t coach pro ball.”
“That’s the way we practiced. I know it’s cute but I couldn’t coach pro ball,” Sanders said, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “The way they practice, the way they go about it, I couldn’t take it as a man and as a football enthusiast. I care about the game. The game is still providing for Troy and I. There’s no way I could allow that to happen on my watch. That would be tough.”
For what it’s worth, Aikman responded by talking about how he believes Sanders would succeed at the NFL level.
“I think Deion would be great. There’s a small handful of people that I know that I just simply would not bet against, and Deion is one of those handful of people,” Aikman said. “He’s proven it at every stop. He would be successful in the NFL. It may not be the impact, like he mentioned. You’re not impressing upon young men the way that you are in college. But to suggest that he wouldn’t be good at it or successful at it, I don’t think people really know Deion’s story.”
Sanders recently claimed there is only one scenario that would tempt him to coach in the NFL. He has also repeatedly spoken about how happy he is in Boulder.
Even if he had legitimate interest in the Cowboys job, it sounds like Sanders would only consider coaching in the NFL if the stars were to align perfectly.
