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Despite recent speculation about Deion Sanders going to the Dallas Cowboys if Mike McCarthy doesn’t return as head coach after this season, Coach Prime isn’t looking to leave the college ranks.
On the latest episode of the Scoop City podcast (starts at 17:20 mark), The Athletic’s Dianna Russini said the feeling among people in the NFL right now is that any speculation about Sanders is “all just chit-chat” because he wants to stay at the college level.
Sanders himself dismissed the talk when asked about it during a Tuesday appearance on FS1’s Speak with his former Cowboys teammate Michael Irvin.
Sports Illustrated‘s Connor Orr noted on Thursday there’s not much of an appetite right now “for college coaches at the NFL level” and there isn’t “any seriousness” to a Sanders-Cowboys pairing.
Jim Harbaugh’s success with the Los Angeles Chargers is different because he previously had a successful four-year run with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to ’14 before going back to the college ranks at Michigan.
The college environment does seem to suit Sanders’ personality much better than the NFL would. He is in control of everything at Colorado and retools the roster every offseason by utilizing the transfer portal as well as any coach in the nation.
Sanders wouldn’t have that type of roster freedom and control at the NFL level, especially for a team like the Cowboys with Jerry Jones wanting to make himself the focus at all times.
Colorado is up to No. 17 in the College Football Playoff rankings with a 7-2 record. The Buffaloes’ seven wins are their most in a season since 2016 with their final three regular-season games against sub-.500 teams in Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys have lost four straight games that has dropped their record to 3-6. They will look to end the skid on Monday Night Football when they host the Houston Texans.