After hearing all of the coverage and debates around Deion Sanders becoming the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman immediately came to mind.
Visualize Deion as Nicholson’s Joker and Dallas as Gotham City. Deion pulls up to AT&T stadium surrounded by a frenzied media circus and proclaims his presence the same way Nicholson did on screen in 1989.
“This town needs an enema!”
The problem is that Jerry Jones runs the show in Dallas and Deion runs his business his way, so the fight between Batman and the Joker would simply just play out in Dallas.
But two alpha personalities have co-existed during the franchise’s history, so there is precedent.
Jones and Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson made it work during Johnson’s five years as the Cowboys’ head coach. The results were slow at first as Johnson began with two losing seasons of 1-15 and 7-9.
But once the talent arrived, so did the wins.
The team went 11-5, 13-3 and 12-4 in his final three seasons, the latter two resulting in back-to-back Super Bowl victories.
Similar success came with Barry Switzer, who followed Johnson and won a Super Bowl as well. Jones then tried the formula once more by adding Bill Parcells in 2003, but that resulted in two playoff births, both losses.
So the alpha coach-owner pairing has worked in the past for the team, but can it work again with Deion Sanders in Dallas?
While we don’t know the answer, I hope that Sanders ignores the temptation and continues his mission of building programs and young men at Colorado.
Deion started the journey at Jackson State and found success there both on and off the field. And even if you feel that Deion used Jackson St. as a stepping stone, there’s no denying that he brought positive change to the program, the city and HBCU football in general.
Sanders has continued that success in his two seasons in Boulder, taking a 1-11 team and leading it to 4-8 and 9-4 seasons.
But more importantly, he’s shaped the lives of his players.
From lessons on NIL, financial responsibility and off-the-field distractions to implementing dress codes and focusing on classroom etiquette, Sanders has made his players reflect the type of program he wants to showcase.
Those efforts change lives.
