Tyeland Coleman's path to Florida State was quite a bit different than many of the other new Seminoles who joined the football program in January as mid-year enrollees.
Some transfer additions were highly-rated out of high school and arrive at FSU with proven FBS production. Others are highly-rated high-school additions.
That wasn't the case for Coleman, a defensive lineman in the 2023 high-school class out of Terry, Miss.
"Out of high school, I didn't have any stars," Coleman reflected in his introductory FSU press conference. "So it was automatic JUCO (junior college) route for me."
Coleman doesn't cite any one reason for why he slipped through the cracks as a high-school recruit. It probably didn't help him that he's from a small town with a population of less than 1,500 people and an area of less than four square miles.
He says he didn't attend football camps on college campuses, which are held by programs to find potential recruits they were previously unaware of it. He also admits he was raw as a prospect.
So despite a fairly productive career at Terry High with 117 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks over a three-year career as a 6-foot-3, 255-pound defensive tackle, Terry didn't generate FBS interest.
"No one really believed in me," Coleman said.
One person who did believe in Coleman was Northwest Mississippi Community College head football coach Benjy Parker. He saw the defensive lineman's potential and offered him the opportunity to continue his football career at NMCC.
"Ty's a big guy. He's got something you can't coach, he's got the size, the speed and great character. We recruited him and it turned out just like we thought, a Florida State-type player without question..." Parker told the Osceola. "He got here and what a great kid, great smile on his face, worked his tail off and developed and got better and the rest is history."
Even at the junior-college ranks, Coleman needed a bit of time to find his footing. He played a backup role as a freshman in 2023, recording eight tackles (two solo), a TFL and three hurries in nine games.
As a sophomore in 2024, he moved into the starting lineup and saw his production improve with 23 tackles, three TFLs, 1.5 sacks, three hurries and a pass deflection in nine games.