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Sources: Sanders to FSU

Randy Sanders

Sanders is the final addition to FSU's staff.

Sources indicate to Noles247.com that Jimbo Fisher has filled another one of the open positions on his staff.

Randy Sanders, the former offensive coordinator at Kentucky, has been hired as an offensive assistant at FSU. Sanders' exact position is still uncertain, but the Seminoles have openings for a quarterbacks coach and a running backs coach.

Prior to Kentucky, Sanders spent 22 years at the University of Tennessee, first as a player from 1984-88 and then as an assistant coach from 1989-2005.

He began his career in Knoxville as a volunteer assistant, was promoted to wide receivers coach in 1991 and eventually ascended to offensive coordinator in 1999. He served in the position until 2005 when he resigned after UT went 5-6.

Sanders was then hired at Kentucky as the Wildcats' quarterbacks coach and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2010.

Among his notable charges are former UK quarterbacks Andre Woodson and Randall Cobb, and former Tennessee QBs Casey Clausen and Erik Ainge.

    • Who? Any good?

      Liberty Nole

    • Yes, not great but very good. He is the yen to Napier's yang. Good recruiter, very good and very very experienced coach.

      fsufsu

    • Solid B hire! My least favorite of the hires this off season though

      bocaratonnoles1

    • I think Napier was a great hire. This is probably a decent to good hire. Not sure we'll ever be able to objectively measure his performance as a position coach, but if Jimbo likes him, that's fine.

      P.S., any brothas left on staff now? Just Odell? We probably need to add some more diversity in the next round of replacements, if possible.

      Cuthbert

    • Cuthbert said...

      I think Napier was a great hire. This is probably a decent to good hire. Not sure we'll ever be able to objectively measure his performance as a position coach, but if Jimbo likes him, that's fine.

      P.S., any brothas left on staff now? Just Odell? We probably need to add some more diversity in the next round of replacements, if possible.

      Dawsey

      devildognole ●

    • Thanks. I trust jimbo in hiring the right people. Pretty impressive job he's pulled off.

      Liberty Nole

    • Before any more ignorance gets spread here is his resume:

      Coaching Experience
      1989-90 Tennessee Volunteer Assistant (Quarterbacks), two bowl games
      1991-92 Tennessee Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers), two bowl games
      1993-98 Tennessee Assistant Coach (Recruiting Coordinator, Running Backs), six bowl games
      1999-2005 Tennessee Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks), six bowl games
      2006-07 Kentucky Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks), two bowl games
      2008 Kentucky Assistant Coach (Recr. Coord., Quarterbacks), one bowl game
      2009-present Kentucky Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks), two bowl games

      So he was RBs coach and recruiting coordinator for a program located in KNOXVILLE while they built three national title contending teams. Carry on with the "disappointing", "B hire" responses.

      fsufsu

    • devildognole said...

      Dawsey

      Good call.

      Cuthbert

    • WSR

    • Amazing hire. This guy was an offensive assistant at Tennessee under Fulmer and Cutcliffe for over 10 years.

      He was their recruiting coordinator in the 90s when they were winning 10+ games every year.

      NoleTrainer

    • I hope he is the QBs coach. Coley can coach RBs and he's a beast on the trail, think that could help some with recruits knowing he will be their position coach and not just a recruiter, maybe as early as this year. Let's face it, Jimbo is the QBs coach for all intents and purposes, but probably would give more duties to Sanders than what Craig apparently had according to some that said he was just a recruiter. So this would be the staff.

      HC - Fisher
      QB - Sanders
      RB/OC - Coley
      WR - Dawsey
      TE/RC - Napier
      OL - Trickett

      This post was edited by fishbrain on 1/11/2013 at 4:52 PM

      fishbrain ●

    • fsufsu said...

      Before any more ignorance gets spread here is his resume:

      Coaching Experience
      1989-90 Tennessee Volunteer Assistant (Quarterbacks), two bowl games
      1991-92 Tennessee Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers), two bowl games
      1993-98 Tennessee Assistant Coach (Recruiting Coordinator, Running Backs), six bowl games
      1999-2005 Tennessee Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks), six bowl games
      2006-07 Kentucky Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks), two bowl games
      2008 Kentucky Assistant Coach (Recr. Coord., Quarterbacks), one bowl game
      2009-present Kentucky Assistant Coach (Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks), two bowl games

      So he was RBs coach and recruiting coordinator for a program located in KNOXVILLE while they built three national title contending teams. Carry on with the "disappointing", "B hire" responses.

      Still not that impressive imo he is a good hire but nothing special. He's been at UK for 7-8 yrs if he was a hot commodity he would have been hired away.

      Michael L

    • Hey Noles fans, thought I'd give you a little bit of info on Randy from the Kentucky side:

      I covered Randy during his entire tenure at Kentucky and he's a pretty quality guy. He doesn't particularly like doing media but he was always as honest and direct as anyone I've dealt with. You ask a question, he gives you a legit response, not coachspeak. He's got a terrific wit, is kind of a good 'ole boy personality and will be a hit with boosters and do plenty well with players.

      He took a lot of flak at Kentucky the past two years for an offense that was pretty bad, but it wasn't really his issue. Three years ago Kentucky had one of the better offenses in the nation (27th overall, 34th in scoring) upsetting South Carolina and forcing eventual national champ Auburn to win on the last play of the game on the strength of Randall Cobb and co. They were terrible in 2011 but had lost all of their major pieces and then got off to a terrific start this season before their starting QB went down in game 3 and forced them to change their entire offense on the fly. Sanders became the scapegoat for fans, but there wasn't a ton of talent to begin with and then once the QB went down they didn't have any real way to absorb that.

      Keep in mind, this guy was the QB coach who developed Tee Martin at Tennessee, turned Andre' Woodson into Kentucky's most prolific passer outside of Tim Couch and at one point a Heisman Trophy candidate in his final year, and took a kid who was supposed to be a career backup in Mike Hartline and turned him into a 3,200-yard passer who made a NFL practice squad. He can flat coach QBs.

      Lastly, it was clear in the waning days of his time at UK that Sanders was ready to just get back to coaching a position and not having to worry about all the added pressure of being an OC and whatnot. He's a better recruiter than given credit for (he identified and coaxed Randall Cobb to leave Tennessee's backyard for Kentucky) and he'll do well at a place with the level of talent FSU consistently maintains, IMHO.

      This post was edited by Matt May on 1/11/2013 at 4:57 PM

      Matt May

    • If you take a hard look at the difference in level experience on the 2013 Offensive Staff and 2012 Offensive Staff, it's remarkable.

      We have two guys that are position coaches who were OC at Clemson, UK and Tennessee. Only Coley had experience running an offense prior to getting to FSU. The collective experience of the staff is significantly higher plus we were able to pull an ex-Wonderkid and Big Time Coach.

      PVBNole

    • This post is for members of Noles247 or All Access VIP members only. Start Free Trial

      DDSTEED

    • fishbrain said...

      I hope he is the QBs coach. Coley can coach RBs and he's a beast on the trail, think that could help some with recruits knowing he will be their position coach and not just a recruiter, maybe as early as this year. Let's face it, Jimbo is the QBs coach for all intents and purposes, but probably would give more duties to Sanders than what Craig apparently had according to some that said he was just a recruiter. So this would be the staff.

      HC - Fisher QB - Sanders RB/OC - Coley WR - Dawsey TE/RC - Napier OL - Trickett

      That is my thinking also Fish! We will soon find out.

      TMOESWAG63379

    • Matt May said...

      Hey Noles fans, thought I'd give you a little bit of info on Randy from the Kentucky side:

      I covered Randy during his entire tenure at Kentucky and he's a pretty quality guy. He doesn't particularly like doing media but he was always as honest and direct as anyone I've dealt with. You ask a question, he gives you a legit response, not coachspeak. He's got a terrific wit, is kind of a good 'ole boy personality and will be a hit with boosters and do plenty well with players.

      He took a lot of flak at Kentucky the past two years for an offense that was pretty bad, but it wasn't really his issue. Three years ago Kentucky had one of the better offenses in the nation (27th overall, 34th in scoring) upsetting South Carolina and forcing eventual national champ Auburn to win on the last play of the game on the strength of Randall Cobb and co. They were terrible in 2011 but had lost all of their major pieces and then got off to a terrific start this season before their starting QB went down in game 3 and forced them to change their entire offense on the fly. Sanders became the scapegoat for fans, but there wasn't a ton of talent to begin with and then once the QB went down they didn't have any real way to absorb that.

      Keep in mind, this guy was the QB coach who developed Tee Martin at Tennessee, turned Andre' Woodson into Kentucky's most prolific passer outside of Tim Couch and at one point a Heisman Trophy candidate in his final year, and took a kid who was supposed to be a career backup in Mike Hartline and turned him into a 3,200-yard passer who made a NFL practice squad. He can flat coach QBs.

      Lastly, it was clear in the waning days of his time at UK that Sanders was ready to just get back to coaching a position and not having to worry about all the added pressure of being an OC and whatnot. He's a better recruiter than given credit for (he identified and coaxed Randall Cobb to leave Tennessee's backyard for Kentucky) and he'll do well at a place with the level of talent FSU consistently maintains, IMHO.

      Really appreciate you stopping by Matt. So many people are quick to dismiss the hire without knowing much, so hopefully your insight will turn around some of the opinions around here or at least make people wait before they judge.

      Big_Worm

    • This post is for members of Noles247 or All Access VIP members only. Start Free Trial

      HBCU93

    • Kentucky fan here, he's a very QB coach as Matt May pointed out but we had a ton of struggles in the last few years. Probably one of the best guys from the old staff to talk too and he'll get a ton out of you're QB's if that what he ends up coaching.

      morbidky84

    • Thanks for swinging by Matt.

      Chris Nee

    • Matt May said...

      He doesn't particularly like doing media

      Well, he won't have to worry about that as long as he is at FSU.

      chrisdoc

    • This post is for members of Noles247 or All Access VIP members only. Start Free Trial

      fsu4nickeli87

    • Cuthbert said...

      We probably need to add some more diversity in the next round of replacements, if possible.

      I agree 100% need more asians and latino's on the staff ...... dont we

      rolnoles

    • chrisdoc said...

      Well, he won't have to worry about that as long as he is at FSU.

      I had heard that. I'm curious how much or how little Stoops is going to let his coordinators and assistants talk given that background. We haven't heard yet.

      Matt May

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