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

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 college football post-season 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 America ...

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

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

in the first (1998) and quarterbacks coach for

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in the last (2013). As quarterbacks coach at

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

, Sanders' guidance helped André Woodson develop from an inconsistent performer into one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. In 2013 at Florida State, Sanders led Jameis Winston to become the youngest player to win a

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

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

Playing career

A native of Morristown, Tennessee, 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 "Vols," "UT" and "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 132 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 870–415–53 ( ...

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. A person who ...

s and was a four-year member of the SEC

Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

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.

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 a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) championship in 1998, offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe resigned to become the head coach at Ole Miss. Sanders took Cutcliffe's place as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, in which Tennessee defeated

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in the inaugural

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; 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 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, 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, 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. 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 Jameis Winston, 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 American football, football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park ...

and selected by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

East Tennessee State

On December 17, 2017, following the retirement of

Carl Torbush Carl William Torbush Jr. (October 11, 1951 – November 5, 2023) was an American 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 fro ...

earlier in the month, the East Tennessee State Buccaneers named Sanders as their eighteenth head coach. Pre-season polls of

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

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 College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through c ...

. 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 Sportspeople from Morristown, Tennessee People from Hamblen County, Tennessee