Is Deion Sanders returning to coach Florida State in 2025 realistic?

On Monday, Florida State fell to 0-2 on the season after suffering a surprising 28-13 loss to unranked Boston College. Both of the Seminoles’ losses this year have come against unranked opponents, and it’s a big reason why the school has completely dropped out of the latest AP Top 25 and AFCA Coaches Poll after entering the 2024 season ranked No. 10 in both major polls.

Expectations for the 2024 campaign were high for Florida State before the school began its schedule with an 0-2 record. After the Seminoles were able to win at least 10 games in their first two years with Mike Norvell as their head coach, including a 13-1 finish in 2023, some expected the school to be in the conversation as the possible winners of this season’s College Football Playoff national championship.

But those expectations have been tempered with Florida State’s unexpected start to the 2024 campaign, and if the team continues to struggle this year, it probably won’t be long until rumors begin to heat up about current Colorado head coach Deion Sanders replacing Norvell next year.

Sanders, who spent his college playing career with the Seminoles, has created a ton of excitement and revenue for Colorado since his arrival. The Buffaloes only finished with a 4-8 record last season, but a strong performance by the school this year would only add to the steam of Sanders possibly taking over as the head coach of his alma mater in 2025.

Even with Colorado struggling last season, Sanders becoming the team’s head coach had a huge economic impact on the school and the areas surrounding the University.

According to BoulderColoradoUSA.com, the Buffaloes’ six home games last year generated an estimated economic impact of $113.2M. That’s more than the $102.1M in economic impact that Florida State’s football program typically generates with its home games each season, according to Economic-Impact.fsu.edu.

Sanders’s economic impact is definitely intriguing, but is that enough on its own to give the former Seminoles defensive back a good chance at becoming Florida State’s head coach in 2025?

After the first two weeks of the 2024 season, the chances of “Coach Prime” replacing Norvell next year still seem pretty low. Colorado would have to have a magical 2024 campaign and the Seminoles would have to probably finish among the worst teams in the ACC for any sort of significant change to be made in 2025.

Realistically, Sanders likely has a better chance of taking over as Florida State’s head coach in 2026 at the earliest. But at the same time, he still has to lead the Buffaloes to a much better performance this year before he even thinks about another big-time head-coaching opportunity.