Saunders was once named one of the nation's top nine recruiters by ESPN.com's Tom Lemming. During his coaching career, Saunders coached over 20 future National Football League (NFL) players.
During the 1996a and 1997 seasons, Saunders was defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Arkansas State University.[3] In 1998, he spent the football season at the University of Tennessee working as an on-campus recruiting coordinator.[3]
From 1999 to 2002, Saunders was an assistant to the athletics director for recruiting and coordinator of high school and community college relations at Ole Miss.[5] In 2006, he returned to Ole Miss as linebackers coach.[5] Saunders again returned to Ole Miss for a third time as administrative operations coordinator in 2010.