After 12 seasons playing in the NFL and a few brief stops as a high school head coach, former NFL standout receiver Andre Rison is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his good friend Deion Sanders.
Rison and Sanders played together in Atlanta and quickly became good buddies in a friendship that has lasted three decades. Earlier this year, Rison brought a top underclassmen quarterback from Michigan out Boulder for a camp held by Sanders and his staff.
As Rison tells TMZ, Prime got him started coaching at Football University - a camp headlined by a number of high profile former NFL and college players - and now he's looking to be the next former NFL player to make the jump to college, or even the NFL.
In an interview with TMZ, Rison states that he hopes to be a candidate for two open jobs he has connections with - the Raiders and Michigan State.
Rison played receiver for the Raiders in 2000 while they were based in Oakland, and was a first-round pick out of Michigan State in 1989 after helping lead the Spartans to a Rose Bowl victory.
Back in 2012, Rison went back to school in East Lansing to complete his degree in communications and coached with the Spartans under Mark Dantonio as a student assistant.
Wearing sunglasses throughout the indoor interview, much like Sanders now signature move, Rison told TMZ that he has the same admiration and the same goal as Prime.
"I'm in the same process of it now, and whose to say we can't lead a National Football League team, given all the opportunities that we had to play the game and learn the game from some great coaches."
"Everyone that played the game can't coach, but coach Prime and coach Rison, God gave us a gift to coach in the league. So if I do get the call, whether it be as the receivers coach, or a consultant, I'm not afraid of those duties or to delegate as a head coach in the NFL, or at the collegiate level at Michigan State."
Rison's son, Hunter, committed to Michigan State out of high school and spent one year in East Lansing before ultimately transferring to Division II power Grand Valley State (MI).
Rison, a five-time Pro Bowler during his time in the NFL with seven teams, has previous head coaching experience leading programs at both Flint Northwestern (MI) (which is also his alma mater) as well as Rincon / University in Tucson, AZ.
Rison goes on to share that he would love to end up back in East Lansing to "help address some issues outside of football on a whole different plateau" and would load his staff up with some other guys that went there as well.
As for if Raiders owner Mark Davis were to reach out, Rison shared, "It would be a great opportunity to show the world, and show myself the dedication I have given in the coaching game." He went on to share how much he learned during a 20-minute conversation at Alabama with Nick Saban, who he reconnected with from their time together at MSU.
Hear more from Rison in the clip.