With the Dallas Cowboys floundering amid Deion Sanders’ success at Colorado, Sanders was asked on Tuesday about chatter that he might leave the Buffalos for another job.
Sanders initially dismissed the question at his news conference, citing Colorado athletic director Rick George’s presence in the room. He eventually gathered his thoughts and provided an answer.
So Sanders isn’t interested in the Cowboys or anywhere else. Or so he says with two games remaining in a regular season that could end with a berth in the College Football Playoff. Why would Sanders kill those vibes by acknowledging that he’s considering employment elsewhere? If, indeed, he actually is.
Sanders wasn’t asked directly about the Cowboys on Tuesday. But a day after the Cowboys’ blowout loss to the Texans to drop them to 0-5 at home, the implication was clear.
Mike McCarthy’s job as Cowboys head coach is in serious jeopardy, so much that Jones addressed Monday night why he traditionally doesn’t making coaching changes during the season. Jones didn’t provide a direct answer about McCarthy’s job security, but a coaching change in Dallas in the offseason wouldn’t surprise anybody who’s been paying attention.
Sanders’ name has come up repeatedly amid the speculation about McCarthy’s job status. Sanders made four Pro Bowls, four All-Pro teams and won a Super Bowl in five seasons as a cornerback for the Cowboys. Since retiring as a Hall of Famer player, Sanders has produced success in two stops as a head coach.
He was a two-time SWAC Coach of the Year in three seasons as head coach at Jackson State. After a hot start in his first season at Colorado fizzled to a 4-8 finish, he now has the Buffalos ranked 16th in the country and in contention to win the Big 12.
Sanders has never been one to sit still as a player or a coach, and the Cowboys speculation is natural considering his established relationship with the team and the franchise’s penchant for the spotlight. Sanders joining the Cowboys would be a seismic story.
Sanders’ former Cowboys teammate turned NFL commentator Michael Irvin is cheerleading the idea of Sanders taking over in Dallas. And he asked Sanders directly last week about the Cowboys during an interview on FS1.
Like on Tuesday and any other time he’s been asked about leaving Colorado, Sanders said that he wasn’t interested. This time he picked up his laptop from his office at Colorado’s Folsom Field to show Irvin the Rocky Mountain view from his desk as if to say: Why would I leave this?
“I got to show you right here,” Sanders said while pointing his camera out his office window. “I love it where I am. I love it where I am. I love it.”
So Sanders genuinely appears happy in Colorado, where he’s beloved by fans and has a good thing going. He’s not going to provide any other answer but no when asked during the season if he’s thinking about leaving.
But the question will certainly be worth revisiting if and when McCarthy is dismissed.