The job of being the Cowboys coach means taking a back seat to Jerry Jones. But Deion Sanders could challenge the volume, and weight, of Jones’ words.
After virtually every Dallas Cowboys game, Jerry Jones, the team’s owner, general manager and center-of-attention, arrives in the hallway outside the team locker room and makes himself available for an assemblage of media.
He stands amid cameras and recorders, and fields any and all inquiries about the game, the players, the performances, the refs, the decisions and what he foresees going forward until, pretty much, the reporters are exhausted.
And if that isn’t enough transparency, every Tuesday he makes a weekly appearance on a local sports radio show to talk again, often creating a fresh media cycle.
This is how Jones runs the Cowboys and it is his right to do it — he owns the team after all.
It’s unique, but also deserving of credit. Sure, it is common for more media to be gathered around him than actually in the head coach’s formal press conference, but Jones is available and accountable, even after the most disappointing of results.
If you are going to coach the Cowboys, then, this is the reality you have to operate in — more now than ever since, at 82, Jones seems set in his ways and as eager as ever for camera time.
It’s not just the lack of a spotlight that a head coach has to adjust to — many would be fine without that. It’s that their voice — publicly and within the confines of the team — is not the loudest.
Players naturally want to know what the guy who negotiates their contracts, signs their paychecks and determines their future employment thinks. Meanwhile, Jones’ comments often create storylines that require players and coaches to respond.
It’s a wild card for a head coach, who generally wants total control.
Enter Deion Sanders, the Hall of Famer (including five years and one Super Bowl in Dallas under Jones). He is Coach Prime now, leader of the Colorado Buffaloes in the college ranks. He is both successful enough, and famous enough, to peak the interest of Jones, who needs a coach after not re-signing Mike McCarthy for next season.
Prime in Dallas? It would be gold for the media, but would it make sense for either side?
From 1978-1991, CBS aired a massively successful prime-time soap opera based on the clash of big egos and big money — complete with an aerial shot of the Cowboys’ old stadium — based in Dallas. This would be the sequel.
It is, at least, possible. The two men spoke on Monday in news first reported by Fox Sports.
“To hear from Jerry Jones is truly delightful, and it’s intriguing,” Sanders told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “I love Jerry and believe in Jerry. I love Boulder and everything there is about our team, the coaches, our student body and the community.”
There is no doubt hearing from Jones was delightful in this context. Would Sanders want to hear his team owner’s thoughts after games or midweek though?
Sanders is generally the biggest star in any room he walks into. He is a Hall of Fame NFL player who also moonlighted in Major League Baseball. He is one of the most accomplished athletes in American history and did it with a flair for publicity throughout.
Second-fiddle has never been his thing.
As a college coach, he has built his programs at Jackson State and Colorado on culture — a mindset that has proven successful. It’s how he draws in talent and how he gets players to perform. He has his hands in every aspect of the organization.
So could Jerry and Deion coexist?
One argument is that Sanders is actually about the only coach who could do it. As much attention as Jones will command, Deion is a force unto himself and will be able to match or exceed that. He’s never going to be ignored.
There are other questions, of course. Is this a good job for Sanders? Could he succeed there?
The Cowboys have a quality quarterback in Dak Prescott. That’s a positive, although that would block any possible father-son reunion in the NFL between Deion and QB draft prospect Shedeur. There is also the unknown of whether Sanders would make for a successful professional coach (there is a long list of failures when jumping from NCAA to NFL).
At this point though, there is simply the question of match.
Jones isn’t going to change. He’s acknowledged he bought the Cowboys for something to do late in life. He’s always enjoyed the fame that came from the job, and even if he hasn’t delivered a Super Bowl in 29 years, he isn’t going to quit.
Sanders is unlikely to change. His instinct of making himself the center of the conversation has worked spectacularly well in sports, coaching and business.
As good as he has it in Colorado — complete control — and as well as his recruiting is going to keep the Buffs winning, even after his son Shedeur and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter head to the league, the chance to coach the Cowboys is not to be dismissed.
“Intriguing,” Prime called it.
Intriguing indeed.
