Deion Sanders has already made headlines for his high-profile recruitment as a football coach in Jackson State University. Now, the former star is making a fuss with the coaches he’s bringing in to help shape his program. Sanders recently invited former Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer to serve as an analyst for the JSU program, although no official appointment has been announced by the school. However, Zimmer recently met the team and is excited to help Coach Prime.
“He’s asked me about it a few times. The pay isn’t good,” Tell Zimmer Thee Pregame Show. “But I love Dion and would do anything for him.”
Zimmer and Sanders are old friends who worked together in Dallas during the 1990s when Sanders was a star player for the Cowboys and Zimmer was a defensive assistant for the franchise. Now, after that relationship has continued over the years, Zimmer is optimistic about what Sanders can achieve as the former NFL star enters his third season at the helm of the program.
“I think the sky’s the limit,” Zimmer said. “If some people had donated to him and his football program, there would be no stopping him. He would have competed with Georgias and Alabamas and everyone across the country.”
Zimmer was famous for answering a phone call from Sanders during a press conference in November last year amid his final season with the Vikings. Others on the Jackson State team, such as Dennis Thurman and Jeff Weeks, have NFL assistant experience, but Zimmer stands out throughout his eight years as a head coach at the highest level.
Zimmer, 66, was an assistant for the Cowboys from 1994 to 2006, covering Sanders’ entire five-year tenure with the franchise from 1995 to 1999. After stints as defensive coordinator for the Falcons and Bengals, Zimmer became head coach of the Vikings in 2014. He was fired As coach of the Vikings at the end of the 2021 season.
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