Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer chats with Deion Sanders weekly, reveals his mindset on potential NFL coaching future

FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones is answering questions about whether or not head coach Mike McCarthy has lost the locker room amid a 3-7 start to 2024. That means speculation is ramping up regarding who Jones’ next Cowboys head coach could be with McCarthy and his staff in the final year of their contracts. 

The Cowboys are in the midst of a five-game losing streak, and their 3-7 start matches their worst 10-game start of the McCarthy era. They also opened 3-7 in 2020 as quarterback Dak Prescott was out with a fractured ankle. Prescott is out once again this season after undergoing surgery to repair an injured hamstring. 

Among the names that have been floated around in the football world to be the next Dallas head coach — should McCarthy not be extended — is former Cowboys Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, currently the head coach at the University of Colorado. Sanders was on Dallas’ most-recent Super Bowl title team in 1995 and earned both Pro Bowl and All-Pro accolades in each of his five years with the Cowboys. Current Dallas defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer was Sanders’ defensive backs coach in all five of those seasons, and he remains a close friend of Sanders to this day. 

On Tuesday, Zimmer provided a little insight into Sanders’ mindset about his current position and whether or not he would consider a return to the NFL as a head coach. 

“Deion and I are obviously really good friends, and we talk weekly probably, but I’m not going to speculate on any jobs or anything like that because I don’t think that’s right,” Zimmer said. “I know that he’s told me many times that he’s really happy at Colorado. He likes it there. Obviously, they’ve done a great job. Trying to watch his games each and every week that I can to give him some tidbits and go from there.”

Sanders himself was asked about the NFL coaching buzz Tuesday, and he echoed what Zimmer said by expressing his happiness with his current job at Colorado. 

“I’m happy where I am, I’m good. I got a kickstand down,” Sanders said, via DNVR Buffs, on Tuesday. “I’m rested, I’m good, I’m happy, I’m excited, I’m enthusiastic about where I am. I love it here. I truly do.”