Former Vol player and assistant, now ETSU head coach Randy Sanders placed on administrative leave

It appears that Tennessee’s coaching carousel-which dominated headlines at the end of the 2017 season-has stayed in state.

On Monday, it was reported that first-year East Tennessee State head coach Randy Sanders—who played and coached at Tennessee under Phillip Fulmer—has been placed on administrative leave by the University.

While there has been no confirmation as to the reason the University decided to suspend Sanders in the middle of spring camp, the athletic department later confirmed that the team’s offensive coordinator, Marcus Satterfield resigned from the program on Monday amid the news.

Sanders, who had been offensive coordinator under Jimbo Fisher at Florida State in 2017, began his coaching career at his alma mater in 1989 as a quarterbacks coach on Johnny Majors staff.

In 1998, the season Tennessee won the BCS national championship, Sanders was named offensive coordinator-replacing David Cutcliffe. He served at that position until 2005 when he was let go following a 5-6 season.

Sanders was hired by ETSU in December of 2017, replacing former head coach Carol Torbush who retired after three seasons with the Buccaneers.

This will be a story Tennessee fans will want to keep an eye on, as the Vols are slated to take on ETSU in week two of the 2018 season at Neyland Stadium.

UPDATE: According to a report from the Johnson City Press on Monday afternoon, Sanders was suspended with pay for ‘striking’ a player at practice on Friday. He will not coach in Thursday’s spring game per the University.