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Randy Sanders (born September 22, 1965) is an American former football coach.
He is the only person to have been a part of both the first and last Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Champions, having been quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for the University of Tennessee in the first (1998) and quarterbacks coach for Florida State University in the last (2013).
As quarterbacks coach at University of Kentucky, 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 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.
Following the Volunteers' undefeated regular season and Southeastern Conference (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 for the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, in which Tennessee defeated Florida State in the inaugural BCS National Championship Game; 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.
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.
Pre-season polls of Southern Conference 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. Sanders also received a contract extension through 2023. On December 13, 2021, Sanders announced his retirement to focus on his family.
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