Deion Sanders is officially getting his hands back in football on a day-to-day level, but it won't be in the NFL, the level where the public has always seen him play and commentate.
Instead, Sanders will be the co-head coach at Prime Prep Academy, the Dallas charter school he helped found and fund which will open its doors for the 2012-13 school year. Sanders confirmed his coaching role at Prime Prep with the Dallas Morning News on Monday, hours after the paper had received anonymous tips that Sanders would serve as the school's new coach.
Uniquely, Sanders will share head coaching duties for the team with two other former Cowboys, Kevin Mathis and George Hegamin. Sanders indicated that the three coaches, who played together in Dallas, will share the workload and responsibility for the team relatively evenly, an arrangement that Prime Time insisted would go smoothly because of the trio's unique relationship.
"We're not like other schools," Sanders said about the untraditional coaching setup. "We don't care about that kind of stuff."
What Sanders and his program clearly do care about is winning. With football seen as a clear platform for Prime Prep to build its reputation upon, the team will be expected to compete right away. The team has planned an eight-game schedule for its initial campaign, one which will be filmed throughout as part of a reality show Sanders is launching about his role with the football program and the school in general.
Those cameras, not to mention Sanders' name recognition, have drawn skepticism about what Sanders hopes to achieve with the program. Regardless of what occurs next, the legendary cornerback and kick returner has ensured that he and his charges will remain firmly in the spotlight because of his decision to take the reins of the program.
"There's been a lot of Cowboys, Mavericks, Rangers, Stars that passed through this city, man," Sanders told the Morning News. "I chose to do this."
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