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TCU running back Zach Evans tweets plea for school to hire Deion Sanders

It's pretty clear who TCU running back Zach Evans wants as his next coach.

The Horned Frogs' leading rusher tweeted his support for Deion Sanders as TCU's new coach on Friday. TCU is currently being coached by Jerry Kill on an interim basis after the school parted ways with longtime coach Gary Patterson.

Sanders is currently in his second season coaching college football at Jackson State. The Tigers went 4-3 in 2020 and are 5-1 in 2021, though Sanders has missed Jackson State’s last three games as he recovers from foot surgery.

Sanders was back at Jackson State’s practices this week after being released from the hospital. According to the Fort Worth Telegram, Sanders interviewed for the TCU job on Monday. The paper was the first to report that the Pro Football Hall of Famer would be a candidate for the job.

Evans, a former five-star recruit, has 648 rushing yards in six games in 2021. He's doubtful to play on Saturday against Oklahoma State because of a foot injury.

Who else is TCU considering?

While Sanders may be a candidate at TCU, he's probably more of a long shot than the favorite. According to Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel, SMU coach Sonny Dykes is the frontrunner for the TCU job.

Here's what Thamel wrote earlier this week when taking a look at all the potential open positions across college football this offseason.

The overwhelming favorite here is Sonny Dykes, the SMU coach who was Texas Tech’s top target. Once that became apparent, TCU moved on from legendary coach Gary Patterson and it would be stunning if Dykes didn’t end up taking the job. There’s familiarity with both parties, as Dykes served one season as an analyst at TCU prior to taking the SMU job. One compelling idea here is that there’s no obvious candidate if the Texas A&M job opens, with Dykes the most logical candidate with Texas ties. (TCU has kicked the tires a few other places, but there’s little ambiguity of where this will land.)

Dykes coached at Cal before he went to SMU. He was 19-30 in four seasons with the Bears before he was fired after the 2016 season. He's accrued a 29-16 record at SMU in three-plus seasons and the Mustangs have been over .500 in their last three seasons with Dykes at the helm.

Dykes and his success at SMU clearly don't impress Evans as much as Sanders does. Will Evans' tweet and any other potential push from players for Sanders have an influence on TCU's hiring process? We'll find out in the coming weeks.