Deion Sanders has emerged as a candidate for the open Florida State job, according to a report late Thursday night from NFL Network.
Sanders is a Florida State graduate and a member of both the college and pro football halls of fame, and one of the most prominent figures of the early years of the Seminole dynasty under Bobby Bowden.
He has zero coaching experience at the college or pro levels; in 2012, he founded the Prime Prep charter school in the Dallas area and served as the team's football coach before its closure due to financial insolvency in 2015. He now serves as the offensive coordinator at Cedar Hill High School in suburban Dallas.
In addition, Sanders currently works as an analyst for NFL Network.
As out-there of a hiring as Sanders would be -- and, make no mistake, this would set a record for most out-there hire among major college football programs in recent memory -- it would make sense from one angle. FSU AD David Coburn has repeatedly and publicly insisted since Willie Taggart's firing on Sunday that Florida State expects to have its next head coach in place by the end of the month.
The final Saturday of the college football regular season is on Nov. 30, the final day of the month. So, it seemed, either Florida State planned to announce the hiring of a coach still working for another program -- breaking industry norms in the process -- or Coburn planned to stretch "end of the month" to its literal conclusion or Florida State planned to hire someone not currently in coaching. Most assumed that would be Bob Stoops, though the former Oklahoma head coach has insisted he's not a candidate.
But Deion Sanders is not an active coach either, and there would be nothing stopping Florida State from hiring him at any moment.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.