Randy Sanders, given the chance to daydream on Monday, already had the celebration mapped out in his head.

If his ETSU team could pull off a stunning upset against Tennessee Saturday at Neyland Stadium, he’d tear down the goal post himself, put it over his shoulder and walk back to Johnson City.



"I’d have that goalpost thrown over my shoulder coming back up the interstate," Sanders said. "I can tell you, I wouldn’t be riding no bus. I’d be walking, probably naked, with that thing over my shoulder."

Sanders, the former Tennessee player and longtime assistant, recorded his first career win as a head coach on Saturday, when the Bucs took down visiting Mars Hill 28-7.



First-year Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt dropped his head coaching debut Saturday in a 40-14 loss to No. 17 West Virginia at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.



He’ll coach his first game at Neyland Stadium against a former colleague in Sanders, who he coached with at Florida State in 2013.

Pruitt was defensive coordinator and coached defensive backs for the Seminoles. Sanders was co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at FSU from 2013-17.



The Vols (0-1) and the Bucs (1-0) kickoff at 4 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday, with SEC Network carrying the TV broadcast.

“Randy is a really good football coach, he’s a really good teacher,” Pruitt said during his weekly Monday press conference. “He did a fantastic job the year I was there with the quarterbacks, with James (Winston).



“He was heavily involved in the game-planning. He gets it. He’s a good team player on the staff.



“And he’s an average golfer,” Pruitt added, drawing his own laughs, despite not painting quite the same picture as Sanders.



A native of Morristown, Tenn., Sanders played quarterback at Tennessee from 1984-88.



He began his coaching career as quarterback coach for the Vols in 1989, before moving over to wide receivers coach from 199-92. Next, from 1993-98, was coaching running backs and serving as running game coordinator.



Then-head coach Phillip Fulmer, now Tennessee’s first-year athletic director, promoted Sanders to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 1998-2005.



Sanders left for Kentucky in 2006, coaching quarterbacks for the Wildcats and being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2009, where he stayed until 2012, before the move to Florida State.



ETSU discontinued its football program in 2003 due to financial reasons. The Bucs brought the program back in time for the 2015 season, led by former North Carolina head coach Carl Torbush.



Fulmer helped ETSU in a consultant role after it was announced in 2013 that the program would be making a return.



Sanders replaced Torbush, who went 11-22 in three seasons leading the Bucs.



“When you watch the tape, they play hard,” Pruitt said of Sander’s team. “When you watch them on special teams, watch them on defense, offensively. They're going to be very well coached, they’ll be sound in all phases.



“They’ll present you looks that you probably haven’t seen before, and he’ll know how to attack you. They’ll do a great job breaking all three phases down.



“We’ll definitely have to be ready for anything because he does a fantastic job.”

