David "Sarge" Saunders (born April 6, 1958) is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
coach and educator. He served as the head football coach at
Millsaps College
Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi. It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
History
The college was founded in 1889–90 by a Confederate veteran, Major Reuben Webster M ...
from 2003 to 2005 and
Pearl River Community College
Pearl River Community College is a public community college in Poplarville, Mississippi. It was founded as Pearl River County Agricultural High School in 1909 and became the first junior college in Mississippi in 1921.
Residents of Hancock, F ...
in 2016.
Saunders was once named one of the nation's top nine recruiters by
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...
's
Tom Lemming
Tom Lemming is an American high school football recruiting analyst. Tom Lemming serves as the host of ''The Lemming Report'' on CBS Sports Network, the only national weekly high school football recruiting show. He is the editor of ''The Tom Lemmin ...
. During his coaching career, Saunders coached over 20 future
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL) players.
Head coaching career
Saunders was named head football coach at
Millsaps College
Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi. It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
History
The college was founded in 1889–90 by a Confederate veteran, Major Reuben Webster M ...
in
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...
in 2003 and held the position through the 2005 season.
He had an overall record of 7–21 and a 5–13 conference record in the
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), founded in 1962, is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas. Difficulties related to travel distanc ...
.
Saunders had a 2–7 record in his one season as head coach at Pearl River Community College in 2016.
Assistant coaching career
Saunders first college coaching job was at
Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, master's degree, master's, educati ...
from 1984 to 1989 as
defensive backs
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
coach,
wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.
From 1990 to 1992 he was
defensive line
In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...
coach at
Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...
, where the 1990 team won the Division I-AA National Championship.
From 1993 to 1994 Saunders was
defensive coordinator
A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...
and defensive backs coach at
Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicholl ...
.
In 1995, Saunders moved to
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...
as safeties coach.
During the 1996a and 1997 seasons, Saunders was defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator at
Arkansas State University
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...
.
In 1998, he spent the football season at the
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...
working as an on-campus recruiting coordinator.
From 1999 to 2002, Saunders was an assistant to the athletics director for recruiting and coordinator of high school and community college relations at
Ole Miss.
In 2006, he returned to Ole Miss as
linebackers
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...
coach.
Saunders again returned to Ole Miss for a third time as administrative operations coordinator in 2010.
From 2011 to 2014, he was defensive backs coach at the
University of Louisiana–Lafayette.
In 2015, Saunders was defensive backs coach and
special teams coordinator
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...
at Pearl River Community College.
Personal life
Saunders is an alumnus of
Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...
.
Head coaching record
College
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, David
1958 births
Living people
Arkansas State Red Wolves football coaches
Baylor Bears football coaches
Georgia Southern Eagles football coaches
Jacksonville State Gamecocks football coaches
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football coaches
Millsaps Majors football coaches
Nicholls Colonels football coaches
Ole Miss Rebels football coaches
Pearl River Wildcats football coaches
Tennessee Volunteers football coaches
Auburn University alumni