Mike Sanford
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Indiana State |
| Conference | MVFC |
| Record | 14–23 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 20, 1955 Los Altos, California |
| Alma mater | USC |
| Playing career | |
| 1973–1976 | USC |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1977 | USC (GA) |
| 1978 | San Diego City CC (DC) |
| 1979–1980 | Army (WR/TE) |
| 1981–1982 | VMI (QB/WR/TE) |
| 1983–1984 | Long Beach State (QB/WR) |
| 1985–1986 | Long Beach State (OC) |
| 1987–1988 | Purdue (QB) |
| 1989–1996 | USC (WR) |
| 1997–1998 | Notre Dame (QB) |
| 1999–2001 | San Diego Chargers (WR) |
| 2002 | Stanford (OC/QB) |
| 2003–2004 | Utah (OC/RB) |
| 2005–2009 | UNLV |
| 2010–2011 | Louisville (AHC/OC/TE) |
| 2012 | Utah State (AHC/RB/TE) |
| 2013–present | Indiana State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 30–66 |
| Statistics | |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| AFCA Regional Coach Of The Year (2014) | |
Michael Charles Sanford (born April 20, 1955) is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at Indiana State University, a position he assumed in December 2012. Sanford served in the same capacity at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from 2005 to 2009, compiling a record of 16–43. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California (USC), where he played quarterback for the Trojans from 1973 through 1976.
Contents
Head coaching career
UNLV
On December 6, 2004, UNLV hired Sanford as the school's ninth head coach, taking over for the legendary John Robinson who went 2–9 his final year. Sanford inherited a program in decline. Some had blamed the program's problems on an inability to keep local talent at home. It was hoped that Sanford would reverse the fortunes of the long-suffering program with this new policy. His first two years at the helm produced just four total wins, on par with John Robinson's final season total.
Sanford's Rebels achieved one of biggest victories in UNLV football history, a 23–20 overtime win at 15th-ranked Arizona State on September 13, 2008. Sanford said it was the biggest win of his coaching career.[citation needed]
At the end of the 2009 season, UNLV announced it had fired Sanford. He left the Rebels after five seasons with an overall mark of 16–43.[1]
Indiana State
On December 14, 2012, Indiana State hired Sanford as the school's twenty-fourth head coach, taking over for Trent Miles who went 7–4 his final year.[2]
Overall, 2013 was a struggle as Sanford had to deal with several injuries to key players, a new staff and a handful of off-field issues. However, the Fightin' Trees were more competitive than their overall score indicates.
2014 (to date) has been a pleasant surprise; the Sycamores lost a close game to local Big Ten member Indiana; dominated Tennessee Tech and knocked off historic rival Ball State Cardinals football to reclaim the Victory Bell. The Sycamores posted a regular season record of 7-5 (4-4 in MVFC); were ranked in the Top 25 since Week 4 (27 September), went 5-3 against ranked FCS teams and won their opening round NCAA playoffs game.[3]
Assistant coaching career
Sanford began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at USC in 1977. Since then, he has served as an assistant coach for numerous teams in the collegiate and professional ranks, including San Diego City College, the United States Military Academy, Virginia Military Institute, Long Beach State, Purdue, USC, Notre Dame, the San Diego Chargers and Stanford. In 2003 Urban Meyer hired Sanford as his offensive coordinator at Utah. That year, the Utes won the Mountain West Conference Championship and won the Liberty Bowl. The next year, the Utes repeated as conference champs and finished the season 12–0, including a win over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. Sanford's offense averaged 45.3 points a game, and quarterback Alex Smith was MWC Player of the Year as well as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. The following spring, Smith was the first overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, selected by the San Francisco 49ers.
Louisville
On December 22, 2009, Sanford was named offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at the University of Louisville.[4]
After a lackluster offensive performance against Marshall, Sanford did not travel with the Cardinals for their next game, against North Carolina. He did not attend any of the practices in the week leading up to the game. Quarterbacks coach Shawn Watson served as offensive play-caller for that game. CBSSports.com's Brett McMurphy reported that Sanford had been fired and replaced by Watson.[5] However, The Courier-Journal's Rick Bozich reported that Sanford was still with the team, but may be demoted to a position coach.[6] Bozich later confirmed that Sanford was no longer offensive coordinator.[7]
The following Monday, Strong announced that Watson would serve as offensive coordinator for the remainder of the season, but that Sanford would remain on the coaching staff in another capacity.[8] He also denied rumors that there had been an altercation between them during the week.[9]
On October 22, Strong announced that Sanford was no longer with the program.[10]
Utah State
Sanford joined the Utah State coaching staff in March 2012. He served as the assistant head coach and running backs/tight ends coach. Sanford previously worked with head coach Gary Andersen at the University of Utah.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Rank# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNLV Rebels (Mountain West Conference) (2005–2009) | |||||||||
| 2005 | UNLV | 2–9 | 1–7 | 9th | |||||
| 2006 | UNLV | 2–10 | 1–7 | T–8th | |||||
| 2007 | UNLV | 2–10 | 1–7 | 9th | |||||
| 2008 | UNLV | 5–7 | 2–6 | T–6th | |||||
| 2009 | UNLV | 5–7 | 3–5 | 6th | |||||
| UNLV: | 16–43 | 8–32 | |||||||
| Indiana State Sycamores (Missouri Valley Football Conference) (2013–present) | |||||||||
| 2013 | Indiana State | 1–11 | 0–8 | 9th | |||||
| 2014 | Indiana State | 8–6 | 4–4 | T–5th | NCAA Division I 2nd Round | 18 | 19 | ||
| 2015 | Indiana State | 5–6 | 3–5 | T–6th | |||||
| Indiana State: | 14–23 | 7–17 | |||||||
| Total: | 30–66 | ||||||||
References
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- ↑ Associated Press, College football | Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin dismisses 2 players, Seattletimes.nwsource.com, November 16, 2009
- ↑ http://www.gosycamores.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15200&ATCLID=205826960
- ↑ http://www.gosycamores.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=15200&SPID=7269&SPSID=65231
- ↑ https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=td-newsflash122109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
- ↑ McMurphy, Brett. Louisville replaces offensive coordinator. CBSSports.com, 2011-10-07.
- ↑ Bozich, Rick. Watson, Not Sanford, Calling U of L Plays Against UNC. The Courier-Journal, 2011-10-08.
- ↑ Bozich, Rick. Watson, No quick fix likely for Louisville football team. The Courier-Journal, 2011-10-09.
- ↑ Bozich, Rick. Play-Calling The Reason Strong Removed Sanford. The Courier-Journal, 2011-10-10.
- ↑ Amid offensive coordinator drama, U of L begins prep for Bearcats. WDRB, 2010-10-10.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Pages with reference errors
- Articles with unsourced statements from December 2012
- 1955 births
- Living people
- American football quarterbacks
- Army Black Knights football coaches
- Indiana State Sycamores football coaches
- Junior college football coaches in the United States
- Long Beach State 49ers football coaches
- Louisville Cardinals football coaches
- Purdue Boilermakers football coaches
- San Diego Chargers coaches
- Stanford Cardinal football coaches
- UNLV Rebels football coaches
- USC Trojans football coaches
- USC Trojans football players
- Utah State Aggies football coaches
- Utah Utes football coaches
- VMI Keydets football coaches
- People from Santa Clara County, California
- Players of American football from California
