Spring Tour 2023: Northshore High

Northshore High School in Slidell, La is led by coach Sanders. Recently coach Sanders and I met after practice to get and know each other better. After interviewing him and several of his players, I have a newfound respect for the coach and what he is doing at Northshore. Everyone can see the turnaround in the program, but to know his heart and why he coaches this game is even more interesting.

“I have been coaching since 1999,” said coach Sanders, “coach Ryan Manale called me one day while I was delivering pizzas and asked if I wanted to become a coach. So I got my first job at Rummel in New Orleans coaching 8th grade football.” “I know it sounds like a cliché but I like to develop my players, not just in football but in life as well. I just hope we are able to have some type of positive influence on these kids’ lives,” said coach Sanders.

Northshore high school was opened in 1982, and since then, the program has only been to the post-season 8 times before coach Sanders was hired in 2020. When coach Sanders was hired, he took over a team that was 0-10 and in two seasons became a playoff team. In the three seasons that he has been at Northshore, the Panthers have been to back-to-back playoffs.

“There have been some great players and coaches come through here over the years,” said coach Sanders, “the issue has been consistency.” Coach told me that the one thing he hopes to bring to Northshore was consistency. “When you talk of 5A football, you always think of Zachary, West Monroe, Acadiana, and Karr. What do we have to do to be mentioned like one of those teams?”

In 2020, the Northshore Panthers went 2-6. They follow that up in 2021 with their first playoff appearance in three years with a 5-5 record. Then in 2022, the Panthers went 8-5 with their first playoff win since 1989.

What does the future look like for the Panthers? After attending a well run practice, I saw a well oiled machine.