Former Vikings coach joins Deion Sanders’ staff at Jackson State

Former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has a new gig on Deion Sanders’ staff at Jackson State as an analyst: “Pay’s not good but I do love Deion.”

Recently fired head coaches always seem to land an analyst job with Nick Saban’s Alabama staff but Mike Zimmer is taking a different route.

He’s going to be an analyst for Deion Sanders instead.

The former Vikings head coach got his introduction with Jackson State this week, joining the HBCU program because of his fondness for Sanders.

Former Vikings coach Mike Zimmer joins Deion Sanders’ staff at Jackson State’

“[Sanders] asked me about it a few times. The pay’s not good,” Zimmer said on Thee Pregame Show. “But I do love Deion and I’d do anything for him.”

The connection between Sanders and Zimmer began in the 90s with Zimmer coaching defensive backs for the Cowboys. Clearly, that player-coach relationship created deep respect between the two. Zimmer even answered a call from Sanders during a Vikings press conference last fall.

Bringing the former head coach on as an analyst is a savvy move by Sanders. He was a defensive coordinator at Washington State from 1989 to 1993, so he’s at least familiar with the college game in some sense. He’s also got a wealth of NFL coaching knowledge to share, even if it ended poorly between him and the Vikings.

Zimmer is the latest big recruit for Jackson State and Sanders, who has announced himself as a college football recruiting powerhouse by landing No. 1 overall recruit Travis Hunter and Top 60 wide receiver Kevin Coleman in the class of 2022. He’s also landed a plethora of FBS-level transfers over the last two years.

Jackson State went 11-2 last season, winning the SWAC over Prairie View A&M before losing to South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl.

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