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Former NFL Coach Mike Zimmer Joins Deion Sanders Coaching Staff

Image for article titled Former NFL Coach Mike Zimmer Joins Deion Sanders Coaching Staff at Jackson State University

Photo: Charles A. Smith/JSU University Communications/Jackson State University // Adam Bettcher (Getty Images)

Anything Deion wants, he gets.

He wants to be the head coach of the Jackson State University football team, he gets it.

He wants to sign the best high school football player in the nation, so he got him.

He wants to donate half of his salary to the football program, he does it.

Next, Deion Sanders wants to bring in former NFL head coach Mike Zimmer as an assistant on his coaching staff, what do you think will happen?

Zimmer, who was once the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, has accepted a position as an analyst under Coach Sanders, according to HBCU Gameday. He was introduced to the team on Tuesday in the team’s newly redesigned film room and in a conversation with Thee Pregame ShowZimmer discussed why he took the position.

“He asked me about it a few times. The pay is not good. But I do love Deon and I’d do anything for him,” said Zimmer.

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Deion’s relationship with Zimmer goes back nearly a quarter-century. As an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s, Zimmer coached Sanders and helped the team win its most recent Super Bowl in 1996. He also worked for the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals before he was hired as head coach of the Vikings in 2014.

Acknowledging he didn’t know much about HBCUs before Sanders came to Jackson State, he’s been paying more attention since former NFL players like Sanders and Eddie George became head coaches at HBCUs.

More from HBCU Gameday

“Eddie George was a terrific football player. I just think it’s great — not just for black people but also white people, white students to understand all about the history of what has gone on at all these great institutions.”

“He can open up so many doors for these young men, but I’m extremely impressed with the way he’s teaching them about life and not just football. And taking care of them, and talking to them about the real things that go on in the world and not the fluff stuff.”

The only other former NFL head coach to coach at an HBCU is former Raiders and Browns coach Hue Jackson, who accepted the job at Grambling State Universityy in December.

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