Deion Sanders has consistently said he has no interest in leaving the Colorado Buffaloes for the NFL, unless he could coach his sons.

But if there is one job that could tempt ‘Coach Prime’, arguably college football’s biggest star, into the bright lights of the pros without his family it’s the Dallas Cowboys.

That’s why he took the call from Jerry Jones this week after the Cowboys announced there would be no new contract for Mike McCarthy. 

Sanders’ attachment to the ailing franchise – he was part of the last Dallas team to win a Super Bowl – makes him a contender. Add in his brash personality and ability to turn teams around quickly and he could be an ideal fit for Jerry’s World.

It says a lot about the brand Sanders has created for himself off the field in the past five seasons as a college coach that he is even in the running to lead the most valuable sports brand in the world.

His success as an athlete is undeniable. Sanders helped Jones and the Cowboys to win a Super Bowl in 1996, having also won one with the San Francisco 49ers a year earlier.

Deion Sanders has held talks with Jerry Jones over becoming the next Dallas Cowboys coach

Sanders (pictured with Jones right) was part of the last Cowboys team to win the Super Bowl

Sanders remains the only athlete to play in both the Super Bowl and World Series (pictured)

Read More Cowboys open talks with Deion Sanders over head coach vacancy after ousting Mike McCarthy

Sanders, a cornerback, played 14 seasons in the NFL. He was named defensive player of the year in 1994 and was selected to the Pro Bowl eight times.

But most impressively he also made it in Major League Baseball. Sanders is still the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and World Series.

An outfielder for the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants, he was part of the Braves team that lost the World Series in 1992.

But it is his coaching credentials that are under the microscope now as the Cowboys weigh up a reunion with a man who vowed he ‘would never do pros’ in response to NFL interest just over a year ago.

Both of his college coaching jobs have been captured by Amazon Prime’s cameras for the docu-series ‘Coach Prime’. His personality and methods have attracted mixed reviews but the results are clear.

At Jackson State, he led them to consecutive Celebration Bowl appearances and the school’s first-ever undefeated regular season while contending with a water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi. 

The second and third installments then followed Sanders as he moved to Colorado and the attention on the program, and him, grew exponentially. 

ESPN’s College GameDay cameras were live in Boulder, TV ratings soared, LeBron James stopped by at games and merchandise sales went through the roof.

Sanders transformed Jackson State, leading them to an unbeaten season amid a water crisis

Interest in Sanders had never been higher and a perfect start to his first season with three straight wins only fueled desire for more ‘Coach Prime’.

Momentum soon halted and just one win from the program’s final nine games, plus disturbing reports about the culture within the team, led to scores of players fleeing.

‘It’s like a real-life Grand Theft Auto video game,’ one anonymous former player told Athlon in August 2024. ‘There are many distractions with fights, guns, and money floating around. The environment is unlike any I’ve come from before.’

One alleged 2023 altercation purportedly involved Deion’s son Shilo slapping fellow defensive back Cormani McClain, who later transferred to Florida.

‘After the Oregon State game [on November 4], Shilo slapped him several times, which left Cormani screaming “I’m going to kill you” repeatedly,’ one anonymous former player told Athlon. 

‘After that, you could tell [McClain] wasn’t mentally there. It’s hard when the coaches you trust are calling you derogatory names on the practice field.’

Athlon also reported another instance in which now-former Buffaloes offensive lineman Savion Washington and five-star recruit Jordan Seaton got into a fight, which one alleged witness likened to ‘two bears scrapping for food.’

Furthermore, receiver Kaleb Mathis was accused of punching quarterback Colton Allen over a $10,000 gambling debt.

He was then hired by the Colorado Buffaloes, turning them into a must-watch college program 

Deion previously said he’d only go to the NFL if he could coach sons Shedeur (L) and Shilo (R)

Read More Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes are compared to ‘Grand Theft Auto’

It was also reported that Deion required his players to attend a Lil Wayne concert because son, and NFL-bound quarterback, Shedeur would also be rapping at the show.

In April 2024, former Buffaloes safety Xavier Smith told The Athletic that Coach Prime told him to transfer away after just a year in the program.

‘I was actually getting mad, like tears coming to my eyes,’ Smith told The Athletic. 

‘Because, bro, you never even tried to get to know me. He was destroying guys’ confidence and belief in themselves. The way he did it, it could’ve been done with a little more compᴀssion.’

In August 2024, Colorado banned Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler because the school’s media department took issue with Sanders being described as the ‘Bruce Lee of B.S.’ and a ‘false prophet’.

The publication also questioned Sanders’ use of phrases such as ‘Planet Prime,’ ‘the Deion Kool-Aid’ and ‘circus’.

Those sort of bold proclamations and Sanders’ relentless presence on TV and social media have turned some fans off.

Regardless of what may have been going on behind the scenes in Colorado, Sanders’ reputation continued to grow. 

Despite turning the Buffaloes around, Sanders never competed against college football’s elite

Sanders’ famed recruitment strategy would not work in the NFL and particularly the Cowboys

So much so he beat the likes of Lionel Messi and Novak Djokovic to be crowned Sports Illustrated’s ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ for 2023. 

They described Sanders as ‘a transformative figure not just in Colorado, but for the entire realm of college sports’ and someone who ‘represents a new model for the modern college coach.’

But despite his success at Jackson State and Colorado, Sanders has never coached on the biggest stage in college football.

Those troubling reports of what life is like on a Sanders team will also worry Jones, who praised Mike McCarthy for the culture he’d built in his farewell statement to the outgoing coach on Monday. 

Three of the Cowboys’ last four head coach hires have had previous head coaching experience in the NFL and Sanders doesn’t have that, either.

One pillar of his success at the college level has been his ability to recruit future stars but the Cowboys will have to move mountains to reunite him with son Shedeur in this year’s draft, especially with Dak Prescott becoming the highest-paid player in NFL history four months ago.

There will also be no quick turnover of players in Dallas, another plus of Sanders’ time in Colorado, meaning he’ll have to transform a team that still boasts a large number of McCarthy’s players. 

There will certainly be challenges for Sanders to overcome if he takes the job and his strong relationship with Jones will be tested.

Cowboys owner Jones is hunting for a new coach after parting ways with Mike McCarthy

Sanders clearly still has a good relationship with the billionaire Cowboys owner, even releasing a gushing statement once news had broke of their talks.

He said: ‘To hear from Jerry Jones is truly delightful, and it’s intriguing.

‘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.’

It would certainly be a huge gamble by the Cowboys to hire Sanders. But ‘Coach Prime’ knows what it takes to win in Dallas and has proven he can handle the spotlight.