The 2023 season will be Brandon Sanders' first with Griffon Football, following Head Coach Tyler Fenwick, Defensive Coordinator Erik Johnson and Offensive Coordinator Todd Throckmorton over from Southeastern Oklahoma.
BEFORE MWSU
Sanders, who is a 2022 Southeastern Oklahoma Storm alum, is no stranger to working with Fenwick and Griffon Football Defensive Coordinator Erik Johnson. In August of 2020, Sanders joined the duo at Southeastern as a defensive undergraduate assistant during the COVID-19 shutdown. Collaborating with both Fenwick and Johnson in 2021, Sanders helped mentor a Storm defense that only gave up 24.3 points and 367.8 yards per game, both the third-least averages allowed in the Great American Conference (GAC) that season.Â
In August of 2022 and now a defensive graduate assistant at that point, Sanders saw the Storm's special teams unit put up impressive numbers with 13.2 yards per punt return and 20.3 yards per kickoff return, respectively good enough for second and third best in the GAC. On top of that, Southeastern's defense remained stingy in 2022 with Sanders' assistance, only allotting 367 yards per game to land the Storm as the third-best total defense in the conference.Â
From 2018-19, Sanders suited up for East Texas Baptist football in Marshall, Texas, majoring in mathematics before transferring to Southeastern Oklahoma in July of 2020. Sanders earned a Bachelor of Science in Liberal and Applied Studies in May of 2022 before beginning his current quest for a master's degree in sports administration. In Sanders' young career as a collegiate coach, he has guided nine All-GAC selections on the defensive side of the ball, including the 2021 GAC Defensive Player of the Year and a Don Hansen and AFCA All-American in outside linebacker Maalik Hall.
