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. Sanders was a quarterback on the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1984 through 1988. Primarily a backup quarterback, he earned four varsity letters and was a four-year member of the SECAcademicHonor 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 as a player and coach at the University of Tennessee. 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. Following the Volunteers' undefeated regular season and Southeastern Conference 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.
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 gamesfor 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 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jameis Winston, who went on to be the first pick in 2015 NFL Draft and selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
On December 17, 2017, following the retirement of Carl Torbush earlier in the month, the East Tennessee State Buccaneers named Sanders as their eighteenth head coach. 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.
