For years, NFL legend Deion Sanders has been a common name in head-coaching rumors. Some thought he'd make the jump to the pros to coach Shedeur Sanders if the team that drafted him needed a coach, while others argued his ties to Jerry Jones could ultimately lead him to the Dallas Cowboys.
Deion himself once said that he would only consider coaching in the NFL to coach both of his sons. He claimed that he had too much love and respect for the game, so he wouldn't be able to cope with modern players and their lack of effort.
Now, after watching his son take the reins of the Cleveland Browns midway through last season, and make his first Pro Bowl appearance, Coach Sanders hasn't changed his mind. If anything, he has even fewer reasons to take his talents to the pros.
In a recent appearance on ESPN's "First Take," the Hall of Famer had a blunt response to whether he'd consider making the jump to the NFL.
"Not whatsoever. What transpired with my son last year? Ain't no way in the world," Sanders said, holding himself back not to say something inappropriate. Even so, everybody around him laughed out loud because they all knew what he was talking about.
Deion Sanders shuts door on potential NFL coaching job
From the moment Shedeur Sanders slipped outside of the top 10 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, fans, analysts, and even athletes talked about some sort of collusion. Then, watching him slip all the way to the No. 144 spot felt like the most shocking draft slide in NFL history.
Ever since, there has been a narrative around how the league tried to make an example by mistreating Shedeur, a confident Black man who handled himself in a certain way. Whether that's what happened or not is not for us to say, but it clearly stuck with the Sanders family.
Things didn't get any better during Shedeur's rookie season. Kevin Stefanski's decision to make him QB3 and only play him after fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel got hurt led to plenty of criticism. Sanders ultimately got the job and didn't let it go for the remainder of the season. That he outperformed the Browns' other two starters, Gabriel and Joe Flacco, was a bad look for Stefanski, who was relieved of his duties at season's end.
New head coach Todd Monken said his status as the starter is to be determined, but he should be in the driver's seat to earn the job.
Shedeur still has to earn his stripes and prove the doubters wrong, and he has a massive following and fan base pulling for him. More than that, it looks like he also has his old man right by his ear, motivating him to get back at those who, in his eyes, did him wrong.