Deion Sanders at Arkansas? Razorbacks insider recalls how Jerry Jones was involved, how close it was

Deion Sanders calling the Hogs and wreaking havoc in the SEC West? It nearly happened.

After all, Sanders was willing to take the Arkansas job before the Razorbacks hired Sam Pittman.

That information came from Wally Hall of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, who shared it on Tuesday on The Paul Finebaum Show.

Hall said that 3 coaches wanted the job and were willing to take it. Deion Sanders, Tulane’s Willie Fritz and Pittman. But as we’ve learned, Hall said Sanders at that point didn’t have any college coaching experience, and a big school was not willing to take a chance on him.

“He’s proven, though, that he can bring some excitement to a program, maybe a lot of wins,” Hall said.

Way before Coach Prime became a sensation at Colorado, even before he got his first gig at Jackson State, @WallyLikeItIs says Jerry Jones got Deion Sanders an interview at Arkansas: pic.twitter.com/eb2sOoSTcw

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) September 19, 2023

“When they interviewed Sam, and he didn’t ask how much did the job pay, they did a handshake and a contract within 30 minutes,” Hall said.

As for Sanders, Hall said the Arkansas leaders were impressed with him, his enthusiasm, but without recruiting or coaching experience, there was some pause.

But how did the interview come to be at Arkansas? Insert the famous Arkansas alumnus, former player and owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

“I really think it was a courtesy interview for Jerry Jones, who donates a lot of money to the University of Arkansas, and he and Deion are friends,” Hall said. “We know their plane landed somewhere near his ranch in Texas. They had to rent a car and drive an hour to get to his ranch. And from all things I’ve heard, the interview was awesome, he blew them away with everything but experience, which he had none.”

As for Pittman currently, Hall believes he’s still popular with the majority of fans, but some were irritated by the 4th down call at midfield against BYU.

“When you go for it on 4th down and 1 from the 50 and you’re up 10 points in the 3rd quarter, they want you to run a play where you make that first down,” Hall said. “And it’s not going to be a handoff out of the shotgun. It’s going to be the biggest, toughest quarterback to tackle in the whole country lining up under center. Center getting a half yard, him getting the other half.”