The Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame is moving on up. On August 25, it will induct Randy Sanders.
He is football personified. He was a very good high school quarterback at Morristown. John Majors recruited him to Tennessee. Randy didn’t do all that much, 1985-88 letterman as a reserve, holder for extra points and field goals, Southeastern Conference academic honor roll all four years.
He became a volunteer assistant coach.
Dr. Andy Kozar, Volunteer legend and longtime professor, tried to talk him out of it.
“He was the brightest student I ever had. I urged him to stay in school and go for his doctorate rather than go into coaching. He probably made more money doing what he did.”
Indeed he did – and then some. He went a lot of places and accomplished a lot of things. There were far more good times than bad and almost none were dull or boring.
In the beginning, he coached quarterbacks, then wide receivers. He coached running backs for five seasons.
Randy Sanders popped into the headlines late in 1998. Offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe left the UT staff to become head coach at Ole Miss. Phillip Fulmer promoted Sanders to fill the void. A few days later, Tennessee defeated Florida State for the national championship. Sanders supposedly called plays.
Fulmer and quarterback Tee Martin said Randy did well under duress. Many fans, some influential, were never convinced.
Randy was Tennessee offensive coordinator for seven seasons but became a lightning rod. In the early 2000s, many original doubters blamed Sanders when the offense went into remission. He was the designated fall guy when Erik Ainge flamed out in 2005.
I remember what Ainge said: “Coach Sanders does a great job of teaching. More than anything, he makes you be a football player.”
Criticism continued. It turned personal. It affected his family. It was the heartbreak part of his football life.
After decades of loving the orange, as little-boy fan, player and coach, Sanders resigned.
Unemployment was brief. Kentucky wanted him as QB coach. He refined Andre Woodson’s game.
“Coach has done a fabulous job,” Woodson said. “He has made me understand how important practice is and given me an understanding of what it takes to be a great SEC quarterback.”
Sanders gained more fame as a recruiter (think Randall Cobb from Alcoa driving past UT on his way to Lexington). For the first time, Kentucky won three consecutive bowl games. Randy became offensive coordinator. He stayed seven seasons.
Jimbo Fisher took him to Florida State and awarded a sizable raise. It could have been incidental that the Seminoles won a national championship. It so happened that the quarterback he coached, Jameis Winston, won the Heisman Trophy and was the first pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
Fisher moved to Texas A&M. Sanders took a $400,000 pay cut to become head coach at East Tennessee State University.
“I think we’re very, very fortunate …” said Scott Carter, ETSU athletics director. “Things just work out sometimes. Randy Sanders has been to 26 bowl games in 29 years, he knows how to win, he’s been there, he’s done that and by the way, he’s from Morristown.”
Sanders exceeded expectations. His first team of Buccaneers, 2018, picked for next to last in the Southern Conference, shared the championship. His 2021 team took the title. Another could have.
Last season was historic. The Bucs won 11 games. They went to the playoffs. They set an assortment of school records. They dominated Vanderbilt.
Friends and foes were shocked when Sanders resigned. He is 56. Four schools called to ask if he had really retired.
“I think I am truly finished,” said Sanders. “I am ready for the next chapter. I am looking forward to spending time with my family and doing things with our grandchildren.”
Sanders says he is at peace with his decisions. He is certain he won’t miss recruiting.
“Transfer portal and NIL told me it was time to go. The way it is, you can recruit a prospect and work very hard helping him improve and develop, but there is no defense against other schools trying to take him from your team to theirs.”
He said he will inevitably miss the fellowship with players and coaches.
Randy dusted off some memories.
“I will be forever grateful for the opportunity Coach Fulmer gave me for the national championship game. I still find it interesting that I was involved with two, January 4, 1999, Tennessee over Florida State, 23-16, and January 6, 2014, Florida State over Auburn, 34-31.
“Randall Cobb? Tennessee got a late start in recruiting him. Randall had long been committed to Kentucky before Coach Fulmer got serious. Randall was such a high-character young man, I was confident he would keep his word. He did.”
Sanders is a famous fisherman.
“I have 80 or maybe 90 rods and reels. We expanded the garage for a fishing center.”
Big-fish story?
“Night fishing for bass with my father, Cherokee Lake, Fall Creek area. I caught a catfish on 10-pound-test line. I couldn’t do anything with it. I was going to cut it loose, put on another bass lure and get on with what we were doing. Dad suggested I try to reel it in. I said I’d need a big cigar to take on that kind of task.
“I smoked the entire cigar while fighting that fish. It was five and a half feet long. We didn’t have a camera or scales but we guessed it at 80 pounds. We looked it over and put it back in the water.”
Marvin West welcomes reader comments or questions. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com