National Football League

Could Deion Sanders be the Dallas Cowboys' next head coach?

Published Sep. 8, 2023 6:30 p.m. ET

It's a possibility, according to "Undisputed" cohost and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, who believes that Sanders could make a jump to the NFL if Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy gets canned after the 2023 season.

"It would perfectly work," Irvin said about Sanders and owner Jerry Jones working together. "Both guys are deep into loyalty. Both guys are great at promoting. … Both of these guys want to win. They can get together and be together and get along just fine.

"The more and more I think about this, the more and more I say, ‘Wow, this absolutely would be incredible and absolutely would be insane.’ Yes, Deion could be the Dallas Cowboys coach. Yes, Deion could win as the Dallas Cowboys coach."

Sanders, who spent 16 years in the NFL as a player from 1989 to 2005, is an eight-time Pro Bowler, two-time Super Bowl-champion and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He began his college football coaching career in 2020 at Jackson State before joining Colorado this year. Prior to that, he coached at charter and prep schools in Texas starting in 2012.

The Buffaloes, currently the No. 22 ranked team in the country, are off to a blazing hot start this season after upsetting then-No. 17 TCU in Week 1.

On the other side, Skip Bayless sees no way Jones and Sanders can coexist alongside one another.

"There is no way that man (Jones) is going to cede the control and the spotlight he would have to cede to this man [Sanders] because this man we're talking about in Deion Sanders is as much his own man as any man who ever walked," Bayless said. "That's why he's doing what he's doing at Colorado because he did it his way from Day 1 at Jackson State that led to what just happened, the greatest turnaround I've ever seen in the history of college football overnight at Colorado.

"My point is Jerry, he went along with Jimmy [Johnson] for a while; they began to clash, Jimmy insulted Jerry, and it just blew up. It was predictable. It was only going to last so long. It was great for a while. Mike should have five or six Super Bowl rings, but that's water under that bridge. And then he said, ‘Bill Parcells, come on down here.’ You [Keyshawn Johnson] were gone, and he forced Terrell Owens on Bill Parcells, and Bill's out; he won't even call the man by his name."

Sanders and Colorado aim to start the 2023 college football season 2-0, as they take on Nebraska on "Big Noon Kickoff" (12 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app) this weekend, while the Cowboys begin the 2023 regular season on the road against the New York Giants on Sunday and hope to reach the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1995.

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