TERRE HAUTE —
Indiana State’s football program broke the shackles of losing under former coach Trent Miles.
New football coach Mike Sanford, who was introduced to the ISU community at a press conference on Monday, wants to kick the door down and take the Sycamores to the next step — to be champions.
“It involves being a champion of the conference and being national champion. It’s about how you do things daily. How hard you work, practice, go to class and take care of business. My expectation is to live every day as champions,” said Sanford in his first comments to the ISU faithful in Dede I at ISU’s Hulman Memorial Union Building. “Every decision that I make and that our players and coaches make will be based on winning a championship.”
Sanford, 57, was announced as ISU’s 24th head coach on Friday, but his responsibilities as Utah State’s offensive coordinator prevented him from coming to Terre Haute until today. The Aggies played in Saturday’s Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Toledo in Boise, Idaho. Utah State pummeled Toledo 41-15 in the bowl game.
Sanford doesn’t just want to build on Miles’ football success, he wants to continue Miles’ success in being involved with the ISU and Terre Haute community.
“Trent went to school here and knew a lot of people. I don’t in any way think I can surpass the relationships he had because of his background, but we want to be a part of this thing and throw ourselves all in,” said Sanford, who gave Miles credit for building ISU’s program from one of the nation’s worst to one of the MVFC’s winning programs.
Sanford — who played at USC in the mid-1970s under both John McKay and John Robinson — has been coaching since 1978. He’s made stops at 12 different schools — including Purdue (1987-88) and Notre Dame (1997-98).
He was head coach at UNLV from 2005-09 and compiled a 16-43 record at a school that has often struggled in football. The Runnin’ Rebels had five-win seasons in Sanford’s last two years there, an improvement from the two-win seasons that had taken place in the time when Sanford arrived.
Aside from his time at UNLV, Sanford has coached on the offensive side of the ball for his entire career. He coached wide receivers at Southern California when future NFL regulars Curtis Conway, Johnnie Morton and Keyshawn Johnson starred for the Trojans. He was at Utah as offensive coordinator when Alex Smith was groomed to be the NFL’s No. 1 overall draft pick in 2005. Sanford said he intends to run a multiple-style offense at ISU. He had said in a Friday interview that he preferred to run a 3-4 defense.
Those qualities appealed to ISU Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman, but Sanford’s character was just as important.
“We’re proud to have Coach Sanford. He has outstanding background and experience, but he’s also a man of integrity and has a strong work ethic. He has a terrific family, he’s strong in his faith and he loves to win. These are all great qualities for our leaders in our football program,” Prettyman said.
Prettyman said that Sanford will have a five-year contract, but terms of the contract are still to be negotiated. Prettyman said Sanford’s budget for assistant coaches will be “similar and will play it by ear as it comes along.”
Sanford was joined by wife, Melinda, at the press conference. Sanford has two grown children — daughter Lindsay and son Mike Jr.
Mike Sanford Jr. is the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Stanford. Sanford Sr. will attend his son’s Rose Bowl contest on Jan. 1 as the Cardinal play Wisconsin.
“I’ll be at the game and I’ll be talking to some coaches in California that will be tied in with that,” said Sanford, who said that his son once accompanied him on the field at the Rose Bowl when USC played in the game.
Sanford said he enjoys spending time with his family and plays golf when his football duties don’t intervene.
Indiana State University
Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Welcome to Indiana State: Corey Potter (left), a 1988 Indiana State University graduate and former Sycamore football player, greets new head football coach Mike Sanford after Sanford’s introductory press conference Monday. Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Welcome to Indiana State: Corey Potter (left), a 1988 Indiana State University graduate and former Sycamore football player, greets new head football coach Mike Sanford after Sanford’s introductory press conference Monday.
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Building on success: Indiana State University Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman thanks former coach Trent Miles for his contribution to the school’s football program before introducing new coach Mike Sanford Monday on the Indiana State University campus. Sanford said he not only wants to continue to win — as Miles’s teams have for the last three years — but make winning championships a strong part of the program. Tribune-Star/ Joseph C. Garza
Discussion
New ISU grid coach has eyes on national championships
- Indiana State University
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Etherington, Moore happy to be with ISU basketball
Not even two weeks into their college experience, Indiana State freshmen men’s basketball players Alex Etherington and Demetrius Moore stood sentinel as 115 kids ran around them collecting basketballs and getting autographs at the Greg Lansing Basketball Camp on Thursday.
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ISU's Johnson invited to World University Games
Indiana State senior Felisha Johnson will be traveling the world this summer after being named to represent the United States in the women’s shot put at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Close, but no cigar, theme for ISU sports in 2012-13
When I covered my first event of Indiana State’s 2012-13 season — ISU’s opening football game at Indiana — I was the first one in the press box at IU’s Memorial Stadium. I’m never the first one in the press box.
Maybe the prospect of ISU’s season had me so pumped that I decided to get it started close to three hours early? (Or more truthfully, maybe I was over-vigilent about predicted traffic horrors on the Indiana 46 bypass that never came to pass.) -
Q&A: ISU football coach Mike Sanford ready for fall
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Time flies, but Sanford’s task of preparing for his first season in charge of the Sycamores comes with few breaks. -
Rex streak ends at 7
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Manaea’s selection puts ISU in spotlight
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ISU’s Hope places 13th in NCAA pole vault
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Metro roundup: Former Sycamores take talents to CFL
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ISU’s scheduled game at Minnesota in 2016. -
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Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea selected 34th overall by the Kansas City Royals.
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ISU's Manaea is mystery man of MLB Draft
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ISU's Johnson, Wise compete at NCAA nationals
Indiana State's Felisha Johnson and Katie Wise competed at the NCAA Track an Field Nationals at the University of Oregon.
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Sycamores ready for more NCAA track success
Five of the six Indiana State athletes in Eugene, Ore., already have had some memorable track and field careers for the Sycamores.
But they’ll go ahead and try to add to their list of accomplishments in the NCAA outdoor championships this weekend.
Dustin Betz has been a scorer and key piece of eight Missouri Valley Conference championship teams between track and cross country. He’ll compete today in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as the Sycamores’ second best in the event behind Jordan Fife. -
Mike Lucas joins ISU football staff
What traits do head football coaches seek out when they hire position coaches?
Indiana State football coach Mike Sanford provided insight into that question as he hired former Southeast Louisiana head coach Mike Lucas to his staff Tuesday. Lucas will be the Sycamores’ defensive line coach.
“You have to look at your staff and see what you need. I felt like in this particular case, I wanted an experienced defensive line coach. I feel like we have a mixture of experience and youth and I want to keep that going,” Sanford said. -
Sycamores bow out of MVC Tournament
Indiana State’s baseball was out of pitching, and after a loss to Wichita State on Thursday, the Sycamores were out of second-chances too at the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament. What the Sycamores weren’t out of was heart, guts and clutch performances from some unlikely sources. But in the end, Friday’s elimination game rematch against the Shockers was a sampling of ISU’s season overall — the Sycamores were out of luck.
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Four Indiana State athletes advance to NCAA outdoor track and field championships
Three Indiana State seniors and a freshman have punched their tickets to the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in two weeks at Eugene, Ore., with their Friday efforts in the 2013 NCAA East Preliminary at Aggie Stadium on the campus of North Carolina A&T.
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ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction
Indiana State’s baseball team has been waiting all season for its stars to align.
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ISU sending largest group yet to postseason
On the heels of their thrilling double victory at the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships both the Indiana State men and women moved up in the national rankings which were released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
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ISU's athletic treasure trove
Think of every championship that Indiana State has won in each of its sports, past and present. Think of every tournament — postseason or regular season — which the Sycamores have claimed as their own.
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Ort sets ISU RBI record in 16-7 win
Robby Ort celebrated his Indiana State baseball Senior Day on Saturday by becoming the Sycamores’ all-time leader in RBIs as ISU ended its regular season with a 16-7 win over Bradley at Bob Warn Field.
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Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU
Momentum was the only thing riding on Indiana State’s baseball game against Bradley on Friday. With a five-game winning streak going, ISU wanted to keep the good vibes going into next week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
ISU couldn’t do it. -
Indiana State to host 2014 MVC baseball tourney
Build it… and they will come. The Missouri Valley Conference and Indiana State University made that famous line from the movie “Fields Of Dreams” reality Thursday.
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Behind 16 hits and Manaea's pitching, ISU beats Bradley
Indiana State’s baseball team rode a wild ride of emotion on Thursday.
First came the public announcement that Bob Warn Field would host the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Later, Sean Manaea’s availability to pitch ISU’s series opener against Bradley was in doubt. -
TODD GOLDEN: Don't give up on ISU baseball just yet
If you had to pick one word that would describe the 2013 Indiana State baseball season, it would have to be frustration.
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ISU baseball team builds on success with 14-2 rout
Indiana State’s baseball victory over Alcorn State on Friday would take on more meaning Saturday if the Sycamores could build momentum and pick up on the good work they did in Friday’s ninth-inning rally.
Mission accomplished.
The Sycamores were aggressive from the opening inning at the plate and starting pitcher Devin Moore gave them eight valuable and effective innings on the mound as ISU defeated Alcorn State 14-2 at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a really good experience for everybody. It felt great to finally come out here and put some things together. It’s also really nice when your offense puts a lot of runs on the board,” Moore said.
Moore’s eight innings of work were as valuable as gold to an ISU team that is short on quality arms due to injury and ineffectiveness. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning and one of the two runs he conceded was unearned. -
ISU earns badly-needed win
Alcorn State’s baseball team might be ranked in the bottom 10 in RPI and Indiana State might have never lost to a Southwestern Athletic Conference team. So it wouldn’t appear that a quality win was in the offing when Alcorn State visited Bob Warn Field on Friday.
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ISU’s Mascari and Hope win MVC track & field titles
Indiana State produced two champions during the opening day of action in the Missouri Valley Conference track and field championships Friday at Drake. Freshman John Mascari, a Terre Haute native, won the men’s 10,000-meter race and Nicole Hope won the women’s pole vault for the second time in three seasons.
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ISU pole vault tradition continues with help from its author
Pole vault is track and field for the adrenaline junkie, Indiana State senior Nicole Hope proclaimed during a recent practice at Marks Field.
To catapult oneself about 14 feet into the air with a large $500 fiberglass pole on a daily basis is a risky endeavor.
“We have to be fearless. You can’t be afraid at all,” said Hope, who has also catapulted herself into the NCAA’s elite in the event, ranking 15th in the NCAA with her leap of 13-feet, 9 1/4. -
Lansing looking for more home games for next fall
Indiana State’s men’s basketball team is looking for a few good games.
Home games that is.
The Sycamores have filled in most of the blanks in their nonconference schedule, but as ever, ISU coach Greg Lansing would like to visit the friendly confines of Hulman Center a bit more often. -
ISU baseball gets back into rhythm with victory
Baseball is a rhythm game. With contests every day or five times a week in the case of many college programs, you have the chance to build on success or wallow in a slump.
Mother Nature took that rhythm away from Indiana State’s team last week. After a 7-1 loss to Indiana on April 24, ISU was supposed to play a three-game series at Tennessee-Martin, but it was wiped out by rain.
So the rhythm was disturbed, but perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing.
ISU was in a five-game losing streak before its unintended vacation and the Sycamores made a move in the right direction Wednesday with a 7-0 win over DePauw at Bob Warn Field.
“It was a disappointing weekend. We went all the way down to Tennessee and didn’t get to play. We sat around in the hotel room. We came here and it was still raining. It was nice to get out and see some live pitching,” ISU center fielder Landon Curry said. - More Indiana State University Headlines
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Etherington, Moore happy to be with ISU basketball
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