Cross Keys hires state-championship coach from Virginia

A football program known for losing has hired a winning coach.

Kevin Saunders, who won a state championship for one of Virginia's most successful football teams in 2011, resigned from Gretna High on Monday and announced he was taking over at Cross Keys in DeKalb County, according to the Danville Register & Bee.

Cross Keys’ record over the past nine seasons is 7-80-2. The team no longer plays a region schedule and hasn’t won more than three games in a season since 1995.

Saunders’ record at Gretna was 49-15 in five seasons. Gretna won Virginia’s Class 2A title in 2011. The school also won state titles in 2007 and 2008. Saunders’ overall record as a head coach is 144-77.

Saunders told the newspaper that his father lives in the Atlanta area. In January, Saunders had been recommended for the head coaching job at Coahulla Creek in Dalton but didn't get final approval by the school board, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen.

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Todd Holcomb

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