Brandon Sanders’ coaching career shifted a few times over the last 14 months.
The “Desert Swarm”-era defensive back stepped down as Pueblo High School’s football coach in November 2019 after six years in charge, seeking a change. Shortly after, he was named the Tucson Sugar Skulls’ defensive backs coach.
Then COVID-19 shuttered the Skulls’ 2020 season before they could play their first game.
The downtime allowed Sanders, a Dick Tomey disciple, to reflect on his goals and aspirations. While his leap of faith to the IFL crumbled, Sanders embraced the “stay ready, so you don’t gotta get ready” mindset that served him well both at Arizona and in three seasons (1997-99) with the NFL’s New York Giants.
Sanders attended American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) conferences to pick the brains of other coaches across the country. And when new UA coach Jedd Fisch created the coordinator of football alumni and high school relations position, Sanders saw an in.
“When preparation meets opportunity. That’s what it is,” he said. “If you continue to work hard and stay prepared, opportunity will meet that and then you have to push it forward.”
In his new job, Sanders serves as a liaison between the UA and high school coaches and administrators. There’s more: He’s expected to connect with alumni virtually and through on-campus events, enhance relationships with ex-Cats in the NFL and work in conjunction with the A-Club, the UA’s letterwinner group.
“I’m willing to help in any way,” he said. “Some people only want to be on the field or, ‘I gotta be coaching a guy.’ Look, I want to help. I don’t care if it’s me sweeping the floors. Am I trying to help the program? Am I trying to be a part of the team? That’s what it’s going to take for the program. These players need to feel that love, they need to feel things coming from our community, and this staff needs to feel that from our alumni. … You’re never a former Wildcat, you’re always a Wildcat. It’s win as a family and Wildcats forever.”
Sanders talked to the Star this week about his “full-circle” opportunity, his plans to restore the UA football program and Dick Tomey’s impact on his life:
A key part to Coach Fisch’s staff is the number of ex-Wildcat standouts. (Chuck Cecil and Ricky Hunley are defensive coaches, while Tedy Bruschi is a special advisor to the head coach). How important is that for a rebuilding program?
A: “It gives a lot of alumni a good feel. It gives us a feeling of … (I’m) not gonna say rekindling the old days, because we still have to continue to move forward, but it really helps to have that familiarity. You have someone that not only knows the program, but has been a part of it and seen the direction of exactly who the Arizona Wildcats are as far as a football program. I know we had some great years in the ’90s. In the ’90s, no one won more games, but even Coach Fisch talks about, ‘What do we want to do for the next 10 years? We want to establish ourselves.’ And when you look at that, that’s what people remember Coach Tomey 100% for; not just the way he cared about his players, but the way he won in the ’90s and some of those streaks that started in the ’80s.”
As a former player, how was the experience watching the Wildcats lose to Arizona State 70-7 on a national stage?
A: “It was a hard pill to swallow. You want to make sure that at least in that game, you have that fight. What’s that quote? ‘Attitude reflects leadership,’ right? That’s not to say a bad thing, but here’s the deal: One thing that the alumni feel is that the culture has dissipated over the last 20 years. The culture of who we are and what we’re about has kinda dissipated, so when you don’t have that culture, players as a team will gravitate to the next thing. If they can’t gravitate towards culture, then they’re going to gravitate towards the next thing, which is the head coach. If (Kevin Sumlin) didn’t have that drive — and I’m not saying he did or he didn’t — I’m just saying that’s what they’re going to attach themselves to, because that’s the reflection of what happens with teams.
“As alumni, we looked at ourselves and went, ‘What are we doing to help this culture? What are we doing with ourselves?’ How can I sit back and point the finger at Sumlin or anybody else and be a Sunday morning couch-coach and I haven’t shown up for games? I haven’t shown up to show my support to do anything within our athletic programs.’ … We feel like we gotta get off our rear ends and do a lot more as well. We have to come together, not just the ‘Desert Swarm’ era or Larry Smith era. Everybody.”
You developed a number of connections and relationships over the years — specifically in-state — as a head coach and athletic director at Pueblo. Does your relationships with coaches around the state give you an advantage taking this role?
A: “I think it helps. One of the things about being an athletic director and head coach is you end up having to make yourself more available, so I made a lot of connections between the Phoenix area and Southern Arizona. Look, we have a lot of alumni in the Phoenix area and the valley. … (Between being from San Diego and playing in the NFL), I have more connections than I even thought I had, and now it’s blossoming in only three weeks, so it’s only going to continue to get better. …
“You gotta protect home — not just Phoenix, but Tucson as well (and) the state of Arizona. I think being a high school coach for a little over eight years, you see the frustration when our players are leaving out of state or if they feel like they’re not even being looked at. We’re making a concerted effort to keep young men and women home.
“Why not come to the University of Arizona? It’s the best university in the state — point-blank, period. You can talk about 70-7, but everybody understands — they knew it when I got here and they still know it to this day — that the University of Arizona is the standard. Everybody else is just trying to get to be us no matter what. In doing that, you have to be able to take care of your state.”
What’s your plan with your new position?
A: “For me, it’s gaining the structure that Coach Fisch wants. My biggest challenge is to make sure that I bridge this gap with our alumni. Sometimes when you look at past relationships within our football program, there’s some fractured relationships, so I really want to (bridge that gap) 1,000%. And then help our recruiting process as far as my contacts and our alumni. We have a lot of alumni where their sons are playing and they’re very good players within the state and across this country. If I can be one extra voice in that recruiting process to get those guys here, that’ll be great. And then I want to help the program. This is an opportunity and I’m taking it for what it is. But I look at it like this: it’s a major opportunity, but when I take myself out of this, I’m a football alum — an Arizona football alum. I take that responsibility seriously. I have to do good, I have to knock it out the park. I have to.
“Why? … It was hard to get alumni within our program. I have a baton and I have to be able to pass it to the next person. If I can’t do that, then what happens to the next opportunities in the future? That’s what I’m trying to make sure I do right.”
Since you have an extra voice in recruiting, what’s your pitch to a recruit that is considering coming to Arizona?
A: “One thing I will say is that Arizona, we are a family. I know some people might say they’re not, but go look at the pictures. Go look at the guys at the Lance Briggs camp. I didn’t play with Lance Briggs, I didn’t play with Syndric Steptoe and those guys. But we are a family and there are guys that understand they can call me anytime of the day or night and I’ll be there for them just like they were my brothers. Even Wildcat sisters as well, when you look at Adia Barnes and those kinds of people. We are preaching family.
“The other thing is: You can go somewhere else, but when you’re here, it’s forever. What I mean by that is you take us to the Rose Bowl, it’s forever. I got here roughly 30 years ago and they still talk about me to this day — 30 years ago. Not everybody can say that. Yeah, you got Reggie Bush at USC, but guess what? How many other running backs do people talk about 30 years from now that are at USC? You can be one of the others or you can come and be a champion and be one of the first. You can be one of the greats, because they’re going to love you here forever.
“This is a college town, they will love you forever. Trust me when I tell you they will. Come here, bring your own legacy and be a part of the new legacy. We have a legacy that we brought here and it’s still established to this day. You can be a part of the new legacy and do it (on) your own.’”
What do you think Coach Tomey would think about you returning to the UA football program?
A: “He’d probably be in tears, I can tell you that. He’d be in tears and just be super happy for me. He helped springboard me and put me into this position, when you look at me coaching. I remember asking him when I thought about being a coach. I went to San Jose and sat in his living room, and he said I would do a great job. I’m still a product of the Coach Tomey legacy. … He’d be a proud dad, because he is my second father. … He would be one of my biggest champions right now.”
