Randy Sanders (born September 22, 1965) is a retired

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 wi ...

coach. He is the only person to have been a part of both the first and last

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, includin ...

(BCS) National Champions, having been quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for 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 sta ...

in the first (1998) and quarterbacks coach for

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

in the last (2013). As quarterbacks coach at

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

, Sanders' guidance helped

André Woodson Andre' Chandler Woodson, Jr. (born April 25, 1984) is a former American football quarterback and coach. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Woodson played collegiately at the University of Kentucky. He ...

develop from an inconsistent performer into one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. In 2013 at Florida State, Sanders led

Jameis Winston Jameis Lanaed Winston ( ; born January 6, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, where he became the youngest player to win the H ...

to become the youngest player to win a

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and har ...

and led the Seminoles to a 14–0 record and a national championship. On December 17, 2017, Sanders was named the head football coach at ETSU. During his time as head coach, he led the Buccaneers to two

SoCon The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

regular season championships and two FCS playoff appearances. Sanders was also awarded SoCon Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2021. During the 2021 season, Sanders led ETSU to a 23–3 victory over FBS school Vanderbilt, and the first 10-win regular season since bringing back football from a decade long hiatus. In the 2021 FCS Playoffs, ETSU received a 7 seed and faced Kennesaw State in the second round. After pulling off a miraculous 4th quarter comeback victory led by quarterback Tyler Riddell, the Bucs defeated Kennesaw State 32–31 and earned their first FCS playoff victory since 1996. The season came to an end a week later when the Bucs lost to

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North ...

in the FCS quarterfinals. On December 13, 2021, Sanders announced his retirement from football.

Playing career

A native of

Morristown, Tennessee Morristown is a city in and the county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States. Morristown also extends into Jefferson County on the western and southern ends. The city's population was recorded to be 30,431 at the 2020 United States ce ...

, Sanders played quarterback for Morristown East High School, where he compiled career totals of 290 completions on 573 attempts for 4,225 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 28 interceptions. During his senior year, he threw for 1,359 yards and 12 touchdowns, and was considered one of the top 100 recruits in the nation.
1985 University of Tennessee Football Guide
', University of Tennessee, 1985, p. 72. Sanders was a quarterback on the

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Tennessee", "Vols", "UT", or "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 130 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 862� ...

team from 1984 through 1988. Primarily a backup quarterback, he earned four

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

s and was a four-year member of the SEC

Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

Honor Roll. He was also the holder on special teams. After graduation, Sanders remained with Tennessee as a volunteer assistant coach, helping coach the quarterbacks in 1989 and 1990 under head coach

Johnny Majors John Terrill Majors (May 21, 1935June 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and college coach. A standout halfback at the University of Tennessee, he was an All-American in 1956 and a two-time winner of the Southeastern Confe ...

Coaching career

Tennessee

In all, Sanders spent 22 seasons (1984–2005) as a player and coach at the

. He coached wide receivers under Majors in 1991 and 1992, then became running backs coach and recruiting coordinator from 1993 to 1998 under head coach

Phillip Fulmer Phillip Edward Fulmer Sr. (born September 1, 1950) is a former American football player, coach, and athletic director at the University of Tennessee. He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, compiling ...

. Following the Volunteers' undefeated regular season and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) championship in 1998, offensive coordinator

David Cutcliffe David Nelson Cutcliffe (born September 16, 1954) is the Special Assistant to the Commissioner for Football Relations at the Southeastern Conference and former college football coach, most recently head coach of the Duke University Blue Devils. ...

resigned to become the head coach at Ole Miss. Sanders took Cutcliffe's place as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach r ...

for the

1999 Fiesta Bowl The 1999 Fiesta Bowl, the designated BCS National Championship Game for the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season, 1998 season, was played on January 4, 1999, in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium. The teams were the 1998 Tennessee Volunteers f ...

, in which Tennessee defeated

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

in the inaugural

BCS National Championship Game The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college fo ...

; it was Sanders's first-ever game as primary play-caller. Sanders continued as offensive coordinator, as well as quarterbacks coach, for the following seven seasons. He resigned as offensive coordinator midway through the 2005 season, though he remained as quarterbacks coach for the remainder of the campaign.

Kentucky

Sanders left Tennessee following the 2005 season and became quarterbacks coach for head coach

Rich Brooks Richard Llewellyn Brooks (born August 20, 1941) is a retired American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of OregonMcCann, Michael C. (1995). Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory. Eugene, Oregon: McCann Communic ...

at Kentucky in 2006. Kentucky had a winning record in each of his first three seasons, and the Wildcats won three straight bowl games for the first time in school history. Following the 2008 season, Sanders received the title of offensive coordinator, replacing

Joker Phillips Joe "Joker" Phillips Jr. (born May 12, 1963) is an American football coach and former player. He is the assistant head football coach and wide receivers coach at North Carolina State University, a position he had held since the 2021 season. Philli ...

, whose title changed to "head coach of the offense," though Phillips continued to be responsible for offensive play-calling. Sanders retained his other roles of quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator. After the 2009 season, Brooks retired and Phillips became head coach, keeping Sanders as offensive coordinator. Among the offensive position coaches joining him on Phillips's first staff was Sanders's former quarterback at Tennessee,

Tee Martin Tamaurice Nigel "Tee" Martin (born July 25, 1978) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach at th ...

, who coached wide receivers. Sanders remained at Kentucky through the 2012 season, when Phillips was fired.

Florida State

In 2013, Sanders joined Florida State as quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator under head coach

Jimbo Fisher John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies. Previously, Fisher was the head coach at Florida State, where his team won the 2014 BCS ...

. The teams that Sanders coached at Florida State from 2013 to 2017 totaled 53 wins, two ACC titles, and won the 2013 national championship. He also coached

-winning quarterback

, who went on to be the first pick in

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previo ...

and selected by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

East Tennessee State

On December 17, 2017, following the retirement of

Carl Torbush Carl William Torbush Jr. (born October 11, 1951) is former American football and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University in 1987, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1997 to 2000, and Ea ...

earlier in the month, the

East Tennessee State Buccaneers The East Tennessee State Buccaneers are the 16 intercollegiate athletics teams that represent East Tennessee State University (ETSU), located in Johnson City, Tennessee. ETSU's teams include men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, socce ...

named Sanders as their eighteenth head coach. Pre-season polls of

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...

media and head football coaches picked the 2018 Buccaneers to finish second-to-last, eighth in the nine team league, in Sanders's first year as head coach. The team ended up finishing the regular season 8-3, earning a share of the Southern Conference championship and an at-large bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS playoffs, the second playoff appearance in program history. The team lost its first-round game, against Jacksonville State. Sanders was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year and was one of 15 finalists for the

Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award The Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award is given annually to a college football coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individ ...

. Sanders also received a contract extension through 2023. On December 13, 2021, Sanders announced his retirement to focus on his family.

Head coaching record

References

External links

East Tennessee State profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Randy 1965 births Living people American football quarterbacks East Tennessee State Buccaneers football coaches Florida State Seminoles football coaches Kentucky Wildcats football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football players Morristown-Hamblen High School East alumni People from Morristown, Tennessee People from Hamblen County, Tennessee