For Hiram "Doc" Sanders, football was more than a game...it was a path of opportunity.
Growing up the youngest of ten children in rural Mississippi, it was football that gave him the opportunity to enter what was then Northwest Junior College in 1964. He arrived with a scholarship to play football and run track. After choosing to redshirt his sophomore year and enter the workforce, Sanders returned to Northwest for his sophomore season in 1966, in what proved to be a momentous year with many positive changes.
In 1966, Northwest welcomed black student-athletes to the football team, one of many positive markers during a successful season. Under the direction of first-year head coach Billy Joe Cox, the Rangers finished 7-2-1 and went 3-0-1 in the MACJC North Division. The year ended with several Northwest players being selected for the Mississippi All-Star Game, with Cox coaching a North All-Star team that contained several Rangers, including Sanders.
Following his time at Northwest, Sanders earned a scholarship to continue his athletic and academic career at Murray State University, where he led the team in tackles during the 1967 season. In 1969, he graduated from Murray State with a double major in Social Studies and Health & Physical Education, and began his coaching career at Henry County High School in Paris, Tenn., where he remained for five years.
In 1974, Sanders married Sarah Bichon from Paducah, Ky., and they moved to Mayfield, Ky., where they had three children and began raising a family. At Mayfield High School, he began a six-year stint coaching football and teaching a range of academic classes. As a defensive coach, he helped lead the team to a pair of state championships within a six-year period. To this day, Mayfield remains a regional football powerhouse in Kentucky.
In 1980, Sanders was named the head coach of Marshall County High School in Benton, Ky., where he remained for 10 seasons. During that time, he shifted the school's athletic focus from basketball to competitive football, winning 60 games, including five seasons with seven or more victories. His 1986 team garnered an 8-2 record and the program's first district title. With accomplishments in that direction, Doc became an administrator and was later named to the role of athletic director, where he remained until he retired in 2001. During that span, Marshall County won numerous district and regional championships, and made considerable expansions across all sports.
During his "first" retirement, Sanders devoted his energies to his cattle farm near Benton. He also invested more time toward the development of his hunting club on the family land near Marks, Miss.
Sanders' passion for athletics and leadership returned in 2004, when he was recruited by colleagues "across state lines" to return to Henry County as assistant principal and athletic director. After several years there, he retired again in 2009, only to be lured back to the football field as an assistant coach from 2010-15, accumulating two state championships.
Today, Sanders enjoys managing his two farms near Benton, Ky. and Paris, Tenn., as well as his hunting club near Marks. His favorite annual experiences arrive every fall, where he enjoys the high spirits of football at all levels, particularly high school and college. Sanders says he enjoys attending all the football games he possibly can and other hobbies in his spare time include reading all things history, as well as farm and weather-related publications and programming.
Sanders has 10 grandchildren who are involved in various sports and activities, including dance team, golf, swimming, basketball, baseball and of course, football. He enjoys visiting with them and other extended family members across Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky.
