Jets GM hopeful sends Jerry Jones clear message over taking step back as Cowboys step up interest in Deion Sanders

Former NFL player and analyst Louis Riddick has sent a message to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ahead of the team's head coaching search on Thursday's episode of "This is Football." Jones had spoken with former NFL player and current Colorado Buffaloes' coach Deion Sanders about the job opening, and if Sanders is hired, it would be a monumental move.

Riddick, who is currently interviewing for the New York Jets GM position, offered some advice to Jones if he goes out and hires Deion Sanders.

“You really do need to have a singular voice, someone who is the tip of the spear," Riddick said. "If you want someone like Deion, if you want someone like Bill, I don’t care what they say privately or what they say to their media contacts when they say ‘I’m willing to step back’ no they’re not because that’s not who they are and that’s not who you want them to be.

"As long as you trust what their vision is, what their philosophical underpinnings are, what their communication style is, their ability to gain trust to display competency, then you let them go at it," Riddick continued. "Then it trickles down. You let them put their plan in place. You let them be a consistent voice of reinforcement. Lots of consistency. Consistency then breeds trust as long as they are competent and they are impacting players then more and more people buy in."

Sanders isn't afraid to say what is on his mind, and Riddick emphasized that if Jones hires him, he needs to let Sanders do just that.

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Louis Riddick believes Jerry Jones needs to take a step back

Louis Riddick believes regardless of who Jerry Jones hires as his next head coach, he says the owner needs to take a step back. Riddick says Jones should learn from what he did with Jimmy Johnson in the 1990s and let the coach handle the team.

“Doesn’t it sound exactly like what Bill Belichick has done throughout the course of his career? What Deion has done in Colorado? That’s what I would tell him. And he knows that. Jimmy Johnson did this for him in the 90’s," Riddick added.

Dallas went a disappointing 7-10 to miss the NFL playoffs. The Cowboys will select 12th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.