Rumors have continued to circulate regarding Deion Sanders potentially moving on from the Colorado Buffaloes after one season and making his way to the NFL.
The boisterous college head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer has pushed back against these rumors in the recent past. But there are a lot to them. Most recently, Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report indicated that several teams are interested in talking to Coach Prime about leading them moving forward.
There would be a certain level of attractiveness to hiring Sanders. He’s proven to be a recruiting machine with both Jackson State and in his one season at Colorado. That could very well translate to bringing in high-end NFL free agents at the professional level.
Sanders’ player-first coaching mentality could also work well in this new era of the professional game. That is to say, connecting with his players on a more human level than we’ve seen from old-school head coaches in the past. Add in the all-star coaching staff he built in Boulder, and there are a lot of factors that could come into play.
With as many as 10 NFL teams reportedly set to look for new head coaches following the 2023 season, we have decided to narrow down a list to five potential landing spots for Sanders.
Related: NFL teams reportedly expected to pursue Lincoln Riley, Deion Sanders in 2024
5. Deion Sanders heads to the Los Angeles Chargers
It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that the Chargers are going to fire Brandon Staley after what appears to be yet another lost season in Southern California. Staley just has not cut it during his time with the Chargers.
Despite Los Angeles bringing in the respected Kellen Moore to run the offense for quarterback Justin Herbert, the idea of hiring an offensive-minded head coach makes sense. The Bolts signed Herbert to a then-record breaking five-year, $262.5 million contract extension back in July. They have a ton committed to him. Hiring someone of Sanders’ ilk makes sense. As for Deion, he gets to coach in the nation’s second-largest media market.
Related: Top candidates to replace Brandon Staley as Los Angeles Chargers head coach
4. New England Patriots move on from Bill Belichick
Speaking of rumors, there have been a ton of major hints out of New England that Belichick could be out of a job after nearly a quarter century with the Patriots. It makes a ton of sense. New England finds itself at 2-9 on the season and is going nowhere fast. The team needs to head into a full-scale rebuild and move on from the bygone Belichick-Tom Brady era.
What better way to do that than changing the culture altogther? That is to say, replacing the 71-year-old Belichick with a 56-year-old Sanders who represents the modern NFL much more than his older counterpart.
This would be owner Robert Kraft’s way of telling his players and fans that the Patriots are committed to moving forward with a different philosophy years removed from New England being a viable NFL franchise.
Related: 4 Washington Commanders candidates to replace Ron Rivera
3. Big-name hire for Washington Commanders’ Josh Harris
Commanders head coach Ron Rivera might have saved his job for the time being after firing defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. But his tenure in Washington is going to be short-lived. The Commanders have lost eight of 10 since starting the season 0-2. They are going nowhere fast.
New owner Josh Harris is going to want to bring in his own guy. Harris has also talked ad nauseam about needing to change the culture in Washington after the disastrous quarter-century run of the disgraced Daniel Snyder as the Commanders’ owner.
Much like the Patriots, changing that culture should include considering Deion Sanders. He did that at Jackson State and displayed the same ability during his first season at Colorado. This is the game-changing move Harris could very well be looking to make.
Related: 4 Chicago Bears coaching candidates to replace Matt Eberflus
2. Chicago Bears change culture with Deion Sanders
Chicago is currently slated to have the No. 1 and No. 4 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. Depending on how that whole situation plays out moving forward on the season, the team could very well look to replace struggling quarterback Justin Fields. If not, Sanders could actually be the type of coach to get the most out of the quarterback given what he did with his son this past season in Boulder.
What we do know is that Bears President Kevin Warren has been given the go-ahead to completely clean house by firing head coach Matt Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles.
“Kevin has seen enough to clean it out,” one unnamed general manager said back in September. “It’s my understanding that he has the power to do it, and the coach and GM can’t go around him to ownership.”
If this does happen, Sanders would be a great candidate in Chicago. Working with a new general manager, he could help dictate whether Fields is the answer. If not, USC’s Caleb Williams could be an option at one. Heck, Shedeur Sanders would also come in play as a packaged deal.
Related: Las Vegas Raiders interested in former Stanford head coach for head coach opening
1. Las Vegas Raiders go primetime with Deion Sanders
Primetime on the Vegas Strip. Just imagine how awesome that would be in terms of entertainment value. Sin City pretty much represents Sanders’ mentality to a T. This is the obvious connection to the Raiders.
Outside of that, there is also a lot to like here. Raiders owner Mark Davis loves to make that splash hire (see Jon Gruden and Josh McDaniels). As evidenced by replacing the fired McDaniels with interim head coach Antonio Pierce, he also has a way of thinking outside the box.
The Raiders’ culture has been in need of a reset for some time now. Whether it was the entire Jon Gruden scandal in 2021, what we saw with Henry Ruggs or the struggles after relocating from Oakland, it has been a long time coming. Sanders would be a great start.