Almost immediately after Florida State fired seventh-year coach Mike Norvell on Sunday, former program legend Deion Sanders appeared on several potential candidate lists as an option to lead the Seminoles next.
Would the Colorado coach, who's facing his own hot-seat pressure this season, really be one of FSU's first calls this cycle?
The Seminoles are in the middle of a search for a new athletic director and have been at the forefront of private capital and private equity discussions in college athletics, hoping to generate revenue amid administrative chaos and an unsuitable revenue-generation structure, all while trying to keep up with the Joneses.
Sanders was not included in CBS Sports' initial reported options in Tallahassee as the program looks for stability during an era of change, nor was he mentioned on 247Sports' 21-person hot board that included currently unemployed and former FSU coach Jimbo Fisher.
"While there is an appetite for someone who is an 'FSU guy,' it has been relayed from the top down that some of the baggage that comes with Deion is not desired as they commence this rebuild," Noles247 insider Kolby Crawford told CBS Sports on Monday.
Since winning nine games in his second season with the Buffaloes in 2024 with a top-25 finish, Sanders is 5-14 since. That makes him 18-25 overall in his fourth year at Colorado, which includes a 9-21 record in conference play.
FSU just fired Norvell for similar ineptitude against league competition following his 17th loss in his last 21 ACC games.
Sanders' history with FSU
During his career at Jackson State before taking the Colorado job, Sanders revealed in 2021 that he interviewed for the Seminoles' vacancy prior to their hiring of Norvell ahead of the 2020 season.
"Let me tell you, I knocked it out of the park," Sanders told Keyshawn Johnson at the time. "You've got to understand, I'm getting ready to recruit in the state of Florida and presented them with a wonderful scenario, but God didn't see fit for me to have that. So I'm here, and I'm happy (in Jackson, Miss.), and I'm elated. So I'm not even thinking about tomorrow. I'm trying to dominate today."
Later that year, after revealing he met with FSU's brass, Sanders flipped top-ranked 2022 prospect Travis Hunter from the Seminoles to Jackson State, the biggest splash during the early signing period. The recruiting win for Sanders caused an uproar amongst FSU fans who felt betrayed after the former Seminoles' two-time All-American seized the program's top prospect.
Video emerged of fans burning his familiar No. 2 FSU jersey while claims of Sanders using NIL to entice Hunter were widespread.
"He never belonged to them, I don't think I 'took' him," Sanders said on The Rich Eisen Show after landing the 2022 cycle's No. 1 player. "I saw the burning of the jerseys. I saw all that foolishness. I laughed my butt off, first of all. I think it was either the year before or the year before that, your head coach — who I'm very fond of and I think is a great coach and who I think will do tremendous feats for my alma mater — called me to help him recruit a kid out of Louisiana.
"I FaceTimed the kid, I FaceTimed the mother, and I did my thing. Florida State has been using me for years to do what I do, help influence kids to come to my wonderful alma mater. No problem. I did it. I believe the kid signed. So what's the difference in me doing that and doing it for myself? It was good enough for you, but it's not good enough for me? That's what I have a problem with. So you're saying now, I'm good enough to get you players, but I'm not good enough to get me players?"
Hunter later said Sanders' promise that he would play both sides of the football was all he needed to hear to nix the Seminoles and change his commitment. He followed Sanders to Colorado the following campaign and later won the Heisman with the Buffaloes.
Deion Sanders says he’s not a NOLE he’s a HBCU Grad. pic.twitter.com/gXlgSxqrRV
— Grant Reacts (@GrantReacts1) August 29, 2023
Sanders, whose number is retired in Tallahassee, later made waves after playfully refusing to claim FSU as his college program. Sanders played four years for the Seminoles from 1985-1988, but did not get his degree from FSU.
That came at Talladega College in 2020.
"I graduated from an HBCU," Sanders said. "I thought it was from where you graduated from, isn't it? Why do you keep calling me that if it wasn't where I graduated from? I'm an HBCU grad."
