‘You’ll Get Smacked’: NFL Legend Reveals Major Recruiting Problem Hurting Deion Sanders
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Cris Carter gave Deion Sanders a blunt reality check about a possible move to Florida State. Carter said Sanders lacks the coaching record to justify Florida State paying a huge buyout to replace its current head coach.
Colorado opened the season 2-0 before losing two straight games, exposing severe depth issues. Without Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter leading the roster, recruiting limitations are stalling Sanders’ momentum toward higher-tier programs.
Why Deion Sanders’ coaching resume falls short for Florida State
Deion Sanders starred at Florida State from 1985 to 1988, winning the Jim Thorpe Award and becoming one of the program’s most recognizable players. That history fueled fresh chatter after Florida State fired athletic director Michael Alford in September, with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Rod Brooks suggesting on social media that Sanders could eventually replace Mike Norvell.
“It’s unfortunate for Deion because if Deion had Colorado in the right light, his perfect transition would be to come back to Florida and go to Florida State,” Carter said on the Fully Loaded Podcast. “But I don’t think his resume has been strong enough for the board of directors and everyone there at Florida State to build a pay that big a buyout to their current coach and then bring Deion back to Florida State, to bring the sizzle back to Florida State. But I think that Jimbo Fisher might end up getting that job because of his overall record at Florida State and the people he’s got in the state working for him to try to get him that job back.”
Those administrative and financial hurdles at Florida State coincide with mounting operational challenges inside Sanders’ current program.
Inside Colorado’s roster regression after losing key NFL stars
Colorado’s recruiting success was never really about Coach Prime’s own resume. It centered on Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, who turned Boulder into appointment television before both left for the NFL in 2025.
That severe drop-off validates Carter’s assessment of Colorado’s recruiting reach. “Deion basically had two of his kids who got them on the map,” Carter said on the same podcast. “And then now that they’re gone to the league, he hasn’t been able to recruit the way that he thought. Colorado is a hard place to recruit to. Like, you can’t recruit Colorado and play division one football. You’ll get smacked. They don’t have enough division one football players in that little radius.”
The on-field numbers back up Carter’s point. Colorado fell to 3-9 last season, and this year Sanders already benched quarterback Julian Lewis against Baylor as the quarterback rotation reopened. The math behind any Florida State move is just as lopsided. Colorado is paying Sanders $54 million over five years, including a $10 million salary for 2026, while Florida State would still owe Norvell an estimated $46.7 million buyout before it could even consider a change.
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