Radford High School alum and former Virginia football coach Kevin Saunders has a new gig. He has been named the head coach at Apalachee Ga. High School.
Saunders, the former Duluth Ga. defensive coordinator, will be replacing former head coach Mike Hancock, who stepped down from to deal with post-traumatic stress from the school shooting last fall that took the lives of four members of the school, including one of the school’s assistant football coaches.
Saunders is a Radford High School graduate who was an assistant at the school before taking head coaching stints at three Virginia high schools including a state championship at Brookville in 2011.
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.
He then continued the winning ways with J.J. Kelly, leading them to four consecutive playoff appearances from 2000-2003, the first time in school history.
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.
Apalachee High School is a public high school located near Winder, Georgia, with 1,900 students in grades 9–12.
On Sept. 4, 2024, a mass shooting occurred at the school, resulting in the deaths of two students and two teachers, as well as another nine injuries.
Saunders takes over a program that hasn’t won a game in three seasons, accumulating a 0-28 record over that time span. Saunders has over 40 years of coaching experience ranging across Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee and a 191-113-2 record as a head coach.
From 2009-2013, Saunders was the head coach at Gretna in Virginia, winning a state championship with the program in 2011, accumulating a 13-2 record during that time.
