Marvin Sanders

Marvin Sanders
Sport(s)	College football
Biographical details
Born	October 2, 1967 (1967-10-02) (age 44)
Place of birth	Chicago, IL
Playing career
1985-1989	Nebraska
Position(s)	Defensive back
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1992-1993 1994 1995-1996 1997-1999 2000 2001-2002 2003 2004-2006 2008-2011	Nebraska Wesleyan (Sec) Minnesota-Morris (Sec) Nebraska-Omaha (Sec) Nebraska-Omaha (DC) New Mexico State (DE/LB) Colorado State (Sec) Nebraska (DB) North Carolina (DC/DB) Nebraska (Sec)

Marvin Sanders (born October 2, 1967) most recently served as the Secondary Coach for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team.^[1]

Playing career

Sanders played as a defensive back for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from 1985 through 1989, earning a letter in each of his last three years. He graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration.

Coaching career

Sanders began his football coaching career as an assistant coach for Nebraska Wesleyan University just two years after he graduated from Nebraska, putting in two years as the Secondary Coach for the Prairie Wolves football team. He was appointed to continue as a Secondary Coach as well as Sports Information Director for the University of Minnesota Morris in Morris, Minnesota for the 1994 season, and then returned to the State of Nebraska as the Secondary Coach for the Mavericks at the University of Nebraska at Omaha for 1995. UNO promoted Sanders to Defensive Coordinator in 1997. During his five-year tenure with the Mavericks, the team won two North Central Conference championships, and made two appearances in the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs.

Sanders was hired into his first Division I-A football coaching position in 2000, when he was named by New Mexico State University Head Football Coach and fellow Nebraska alum Tony Samuel as the Defensive Ends and Outside Linebackers Coach for the Aggies. The following season, Colorado State University Head Football Coach Sonny Lubick named Sanders as the Secondary Coach for the Rams. The Rams went 7-5 in 2001, and defeated North Texas in the 2001 New Orleans Bowl. The 2002 season saw an improvement to 10-4 and a Mountain West Conference championship, though the Rams ended the season with a 3-17 loss to TCU in the 2002 Liberty Bowl.

Nebraska under Frank Solich

Nebraska Head Football Coach Frank Solich brought Sanders back to Lincoln in 2003 amidst a staff shakeup following the Cornhuskers' first non-winning season since 1961. Sanders was now in charge of the defensive backs at Nebraska, where 47 takeaways on the season set a new school record, and the Nebraska Blackshirts set new school and league records with 32 interceptions, the nation's highest-ranked pass efficiency defense, and the nation's second-best scoring defense. Despite the turnaround, Solich was fired after finishing the regular season 9-3. Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini subsequently led the team to a 17-3 victory over Michigan State in the 2003 Alamo Bowl to finish the team's season at 10-3, but he and Sanders, along with nearly all of the remaining staff, were let go after Bill Callahan was appointed as Nebraska's 31st Head Football Coach.

North Carolina

Sanders was named as co-Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach at the struggling North Carolina for 2004. After finishing just 2-10 in 2003 before his arrival, Sanders helped the Tar Heels improve to a 6-6 (5-3 ACC) record and posting the lowest yards allowed by a UNC defense in three years. Significant defensive improvement at UNC was not to be found going forward, as the squad finished 14-21 (11-13 ACC) over the three years that Sanders ran the Tar Heels defense. UNC Head Football Coach John Bunting was fired halfway through the 2006 season, and replaced by Butch Davis for 2007. Davis did not retain Sanders in his new staff.

Nebraska under Bo Pelini

After a one-year absence from coaching, Sanders was again brought back to Nebraska following the firing of Bill Callahan after a four year record of 27-22. Callahan's replacement was former Nebraska Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini, who had also been let go along with most of Frank Solich's staff after 2003. Pelini installed Sanders as the Secondary Coach for the Cornhuskers as part of his effort to turn around a program that had struggled under Callahan. Nebraska's Blackshirts defense improved to rank as the second best in the Big 12 Conference in 2008 after languishing near the bottom of the pack nationally in the years prior. In 2009, two of Sanders' players were named to the All-Big 12 first team, and the Nebraska secondary was among the highest ranked in the nation with the highest-rated pass defense and highest-rated scoring defense, and among the top ten nationally in rushing defense, sacks, and total defense. The 2009 Nebraska secondary intercepted 18 times while only allowing seven touchdown passes all season.

Sanders resigned from Nebraska on February 3, 2011, citing personal and family reasons.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Marvin Sanders Coach Profile". Huskers.com. http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=2&SPID=22&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=1354998&Q_SEASON=2010. Retrieved 2010-11-05. 
2. ^ "Nebraska assistant Sanders resigns". Omaha World-Herald. http://www.omaha.com/article/20110203/BIGRED/110209902#nebraska-assistant-sanders-resigns. Retrieved 2011-02-03. 

Persondata
Name	Sanders, Marvin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 2, 1967
Place of birth	Chicago, IL
Date of death
Place of death