CLAREMONT, Calif. - Marvin Sanders and Ricky Lang will join the CMS football staff for the 2021 season as the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, respectively, it was announced today by Head Coach Kyle Sweeney.
Sanders has almost 30 years of coaching experience under his belt, most recently was an assistant coach with the Dallas Renegades of the XFL, while Lang was a part of the coaching staff at Occidental for six seasons and coached overseas in Barcelona in 2020-21.
Sanders has been on the coaching staffs at 10 different colleges during his extensive career, including stints at Nebraska (twice), North Carolina and USC. He has been nominated for the Frank Broyles Assistant Coach of the Year Award, was twice a finalist for the Defensive Backs Coach of the Year, and has coached 25 defensive backs in his career who have gone on to play in the NFL.
A former honorable mention All-Big Eight Conference selection as a safety at Nebraska, which he helped to a Sugar Bowl championship in 1987, Sanders began his coaching career right in Lincoln as a defensive backs coach at Nebraska Wesleyan from 1992-93. He then spent two years at Minnesota-Morris and five years at Nebraska-Omaha, before joining his first FBS staff at New Mexico State in 2000.
After two years at Colorado State, where he helped the Rams to a Mountain West title and two bowl appearances, Sanders returned to his alma mater to coach defensive backs in 2003 at Nebraska under head coach Frank Solich. That season, Nebraska led the nation and set a school record with 32 interceptions and had the nation's highest pass efficiency defense and the second-best scoring defense. Sanders parlayed that successful season into earning the defensive coordinator position at North Carolina, where he coached from 2004-06, helping the Tar Heels improve from 2-10 in 2003 to 6-6 in 2004, improving by 60 spots nationally in total defense.
After a head coaching change at North Carolina, Sanders returned to Nebraska again under Head Coach Bo Pelini as the assistant head coach from 2008-10. In 2009, the Cornhuskers again led the nation in pass efficiency defense, totaling 18 interceptions and allowing only seven touchdown passes, before finishing third in the country in that category in 2010. After spending one season at USC under Head Coach Lane Kiffin in 2012, which he helped improve by 20 spots nationally in pass efficiency defense, Sanders stepped away from the college game to become the head coach at Loyola High School in Los Angeles from 2013-17, helping the program improve from a 3-7 record to 9-3 during his tenure.
Lang most recently served as an assistant coach overseas with the Barcelona Dragons in 2021, coaching the defensive backs and coordinating the passing game, while also overseeing strength and conditioning and special teams.
Lang began his career at Occidental as the strength coach in 2014 after graduating from Eastern Washington that spring, working with football, track and field throwers, and aquatics. He added to his football responsibilities in 2017, when he became the associate head coach and defensive coordinator, while also serving as the recruiting coordinator and director of football operations.
In addition to his extensive work at Occidental, Lang also interned at USC in the summer of 2018, managing the strength and conditioning program for the USC football team. He would work with the Trojans from 4:45-9:45 a.m., before heading to Occidental for his full-time position.
Lang graduated from Eastern Washington in 2014 with a bachelor's of science degree in exercise science. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
