Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Radford High School alum Kevin Saunders has been named the new head football coach at Central-Wise High School.
“I am so excited and fired up to be the new head football coach at Central. It’s a homecoming of sorts for me. This county is very special to me,” he said in a social media post.
Saunders has more than 25 years of coaching experience following stops in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. During that time, he has compiled a 195-111 record that includes 24 playoff appearances and a state title.
He previously had been offered a similar position at the brand new-South Marion High School in Florida but decided it was time to come home to southwest Virginia.
Last year at Apalachee High School in Georgia, Saunders was 2-8 in his lone season at the school. He helped Apalachee snapped a 29-game losing streak.
He has also been credited with helping Gilmer High School in Georgia snap a 31-game losing skid.
Saunders coached J.J. Kelly High School in Wise from 1999 to 2002 and included turning a program around which had two straight 1-9 seasons. In his first year at J.J. Kelly, he guided the team to 6-4 record then three straight playoff appearances.
Kevin graduated from Radford High School in 1982 after playing lineman on both sides of the ball. He then attended Radford University and Virginia Tech, where he was a graduate assistant under then-coach Frank Beamer. He followed that up with a brief time as an assistant at his high school alma mater, learning the game from his longtime coach, Norm Lineburg.
Early on, Saunders found success at William Campbell, where in 1995, he led William Campbell High School to the Seminole District and region III title, being named
the district coach of the year and Associated Press AA Virginia coach of the year.
After his time at J.J. Kelly, Saunders would follow that up at Shelby Valley (Ky.) with three consecutive District 7 playoff appearances and the school’s first ever playoff win. A short time later, he returned to Virginia and took over at Gretna.
In 2010 and 2011, he was named the Dogwood District coach of the year and served as the head coach of the Virginia High School League all-star game after being named the Virginia State coach of the year.
In a previous interview, Kevin said he learned a lot in his time in Radford. “I learned a lot from Coach Lineburg and Coach (Buddy) Shull (at Radford High School),” he said.
Saunders also feels fortunate to have learned from Beamer during his time as a grad assistant.
He left Gretna in 2014 as one of the most successful in school history with a 49-15 mark that included a state title in 2011.
