If Brett Favre had things his way, Deion Sanders' coaching career would've looked a whole lot different to this point ... telling TMZ Sports he actually tried to get the Hall of Famer to take over at Southern Miss before he landed his Jackson State gig.
The Packers legend says his recruitment of Sanders to his alma mater happened a few years ago -- back when Deion's son, Shedeur, was a high schooler looking at potentially attending USM.
At the time, Golden Eagles head coach Jay Hopson had just resigned .