Deion Sanders says he isn't a 'Nole in response to question about being from Florida State

Deion Sanders is preparing to make his Power Five coaching debut, with Colorado heading to Fort Worth to face off against TCU. But during his weekly press conference, a reporter brought up the Florida State–Miami rivalry. When pointing out Sanders was a Seminole, he was quick to point out that is not fully the case.

“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.”

Now, most of what Sanders was saying seemed to be in jest. However, he did graduate from a Historically Black College, earning a degree from Talladega College in Alabama. Sanders might have played his college football in Tallahassee with Florida State but is not an alumnus.

Prime Time spent four seasons playing football at Florida State. He was a two-time Consensus All-American during the 1987 and 1988 seasons. The latter of the two campaigns also saw Sanders win the Jim Thorpe Award for being the best defensive back in the country.

Florida State even has Sanders’ No. 2 jersey retired. Everybody who thinks about his career will always remember him wearing the Garnet and Gold while being a really good player.

Except for Sanders, apparently. Maybe some recent events while Sanders has been getting into the coaching world have caused his response.

Florida State and Sanders have had a few run-ins on the recruiting trail recently. None was bigger than Travis Hunter, who was a Five-Star Plus+ prospect and the No. 2 player in the country per the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Hunter was thought to be committing to Florida State, a win head coach Mike Norvell would be able to hang his hat on. Instead, the defensive back/wide receiver shocked everyone by committing to Jackson State, where Sanders used to be the head coach.

Of course, after heading out West, Sanders was able to bring Hunter along with him. Both are going to be making a highly anticipated Colorado debut on Saturday against TCU. But barring any kind of bowl game, there is little chance we see Florida State and Colorado line up against one another in the near future.

If the scenario does pop up where the two meet up, Sanders will likely have some personal emotions flowing throughout the game.