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Deion Sanders' third season as Colorado's head football coach is just over one month away, but he is still looking to build on his coaching staff. During his 2025 Big 12 media day interviews, Sanders admitted that he is still trying to convince former NFL coaches Byron Leftwich and Mike Zimmer to join him in Boulder.
Leftwich had supposedly agreed to join Sanders' staff in March, but the coach's comments confirm that he has yet to officially do so. Sanders said he is “praying” that Leftwich joins his staff, in addition to Zimmer, whom he also appears to have extended an offer to.
“Our coaching staff — this is without Byron Leftwich, which I'm praying that he does the right thing, and Mike Zimmer — we have 160 years of NFL experience,” Sanders said in his opening statement at Big 12 media day. “With those two added, that's 204 years of NFL experience. I want those years.”
Of the NFL veterans on its payroll, Colorado notably has Pat Shurmur — who spent several seasons in the NFL, including a brief stint as the head coach of the New York Giants — as its offensive coordinator. Sanders also hired Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and Warren Sapp as his running backs coach and defensive pass rush coordinator, respectively.
Zimmer's nephew, Andrew Zimmer, is also on Sanders' staff as a quality control analyst. Mike Zimmer previously worked with Sanders at Jackson State in 2022 and Colorado in 2023 as a consultant in both seasons. He returned to the NFL in 2024 to join Mike McCarthy's staff as the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys.
Byron Leftwich, Mike Zimmer's coaching experience
Leftwich has no direct connection to Sanders and has not coached since 2022. However, he was widely praised during his four-year run as offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, during which he ran one of the smoothest offenses in the league with Tom Brady at the helm.
Despite his layoff, Leftwich's name continues to be brought up whenever a coaching vacancy opens up. The former quarterback was most recently mentioned during the coaching searches for the Seattle Seahawks' and New England Patriots' offensive coordinators.
If the Colorado football team lands either coach, it would likely be Leftwich, even considering Zimmer's history with the program. After the Cowboys announced they would not bring McCarthy back in 2025, the 69-year-old Zimmer confirmed he intended to retire from coaching.
