All the University of Toledo needed to see was Noah Sanders live and in person.
Cornerbacks coach Corey Parker saw the 2025 running back wreak havoc on eventual state champion Southfield A&T last September, slicing his way to 125 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries as Sanders nearly lifted Birmingham Groves to a monumental upset over the powerhouse.
Parker was in attendance to watch Southfield wide receiver Tashi Braceful, a Toledo commitment. His attention quickly turned to Sanders, who had a UT offer before the night ended. Touchdown runs of 46 and 40 yards, a 56-yard reception, and the pedigree of perhaps the greatest running back of all time will sway someone.
Parker left for Illinois during the offseason, but Sanders remained a priority for the Rockets. He committed last week, becoming the 20th member of the Mid-American Conference’s No. 1-ranked class and the seventh-best Group of Five class, according to On3.
“It really just felt like a home to me, home away from home,” Sanders said. “The coaches had a big role in my commitment. I loved the relationships I had with them, especially with [running backs] coach [Nate] Cole and coach [Jason] Candle. Those were pretty much the main reasons why I decided to commit to Toledo.”
Sanders — the son of Hall of Famer Barry Sanders — is a three-star recruit with offers from Toledo, Bowling Green, Buffalo, and Western Kentucky. Michigan State wanted the dynamic 5-foot-11, 170-pound tailback grayshirt.
He rushed for 700 yards and seven touchdowns last season and flashed skills as a wide receiver. Sanders has been clocked at 4.41 in the 40-yard dash and 10.9 in the 100, an event he qualified for in the Division I state track meet.
“I think he’s got the instincts and the vision, some of those things that you can’t teach,” Birmingham Groves coach Brendan Flaherty said. “He’s really a fast player. It’s hard to describe this, but I just think he’s going to be a much better player in three years than he is right now.
“He just keeps getting better every week, every month, every year. He’s going to hit his full stride. I just think he’s going to be a dynamic college player. When he gets in the open field, he can make a guy miss and run away from guys too.”
Aside from the resemblance and playing the same position, Sanders makes no effort to inject his famous father into the conversation. Similarly, Barry Sanders keeps to himself at games and doesn’t pepper Flaherty and his staff with ideas and criticism. The comparisons between father and son are obvious, but it’s something Noah tries to avoid.
The good genes don’t start and end with dad, either. Older brothers Barry Jr. and Nick played Division I college sports. Barry Jr. was a running back at Stanford and Oklahoma State and Nick plays basketball at Michigan State.
“He’s come into his own,” Flaherty said. “We’ve seen potential, and he just blossomed. There was never a push from him or his dad. [Noah] is comfortable in his own shoes, where he’s not trying to live up to his old man. He’s just trying to be his own self. His older brothers have helped with that, too. The family is really tight.”
College football was not an inevitable destination for Sanders. As a high school freshman, he was buried on the junior varsity depth chart. The talent was present, but Sanders simply wasn’t a hard worker. He didn’t even attend football camp entering his freshman season.
A lightbulb was illuminated during the offseason between his freshman and sophomore seasons, as Sanders became a ubiquitous presence at offseason team activities. His reward was a starting spot on the JV offense and defense, and cameos as a practice player on varsity that led the varsity playing time.
Then came his breakout performance against Southfield. Watch the highlights here:
Surprisingly, Michigan State was the only Power Five school to offer the under-recruited Sanders.
“I think he came onto the scene a little later and is in a backfield where he doesn’t handle the full workload,” said Allen Trieu, who covers Midwest recruiting for 247Sports. “The Big Ten schools had other targets, but as we’ve seen in the past, this is why MAC programs often are competitive and can field talented rosters.”
No one has been better at stacking recruiting classes than Toledo. And it’s something that appealed to Sanders, who talked to 2025 four-star QB Bo Polston about playing for the Rockets and already picked offensive line commit Cade Wilhelmi as his roommate.
It's rivalry week! 🏈 @ToledoFB takes on @BG_Football in the #BattleofI75 on Saturday, so we want know...
— Blade Sports (@toledosports) October 21, 2024
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Which team needs to win the #BattleofI75 more?
“On my official visit, I got to know a few of the guys on the team and just felt like there’s good people to be around,” Sanders said. “Just seeing that it’s a great, put-together team that wins a lot of games, who beats a lot of teams like how we saw them beat Mississippi State. There are a lot of guys I know out of the Michigan area. Even a few guys I’ve played this year were committed to Toledo, and they’re really good players. So I’m looking forward to playing with them on the field.”
All it took was one game, and the Rockets looked forward to Sanders playing for them.
“This is a credit to Toledo. It’s not saying anything bad against anybody else, but they remind me of the Detroit Lions,” Flaherty said. “They like who they like. Jason and the staff don’t give a crap. They’re not asking me, ‘Well, who else is offering?’ No, we like them. We see the potential, Yeah, he is under-recruited. But Toledo didn’t care.”
First Published October 21, 2024, 9:10 p.m.
