Born in
Santos,
São Paulo, Santana played as a
midfielder and retired in 2010, aged 28, after suffering a hand injury while representing
Confiança. He started his career as
Camboriú's assistant, being named head coach shortly after. In 2011, Santana was named head coach of
Pinheiros' under-20 squad, being in charge of the first team afterwards. He left the club in November, being immediately appointed
Nenê Belarmino's assistant at
Uberaba. On 14 February 2012, Santana left Uberaba and was named
Portuguesa Santista head coach. Late in the year, he was also in charge of
União Suzano during a trip in Bolivia. In 2013, Santana was
Grêmio Barueri's assistant during the
Campeonato Paulista Série A2. On 5 November of that year, he was presented as head coach of the under-20 squad of
São Carlos for the ensuing
Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior; the following 8 February, he replaced fired
Roberto Oliveira as head coach of the main squad, acting as an interim until the end of the competition and suffering relegation. On 10 June 2014, Santana left São Carlos and was appointed head coach of
Juventus the following day. He was sacked on 11 March 2016, after achieving promotion to the second division of
Paulistão the previous year. On 15 April 2016, Santana returned to Uberaba and was named head coach of the main squad. On 26 October, he was named at the helm of
URT. On 20 July 2018, Santana signed for
Atlético Mineiro as a coordinator of the youth division. On 4 October 2018, he was named head coach of the under-20s. On 12 April 2019, he was appointed interim first team head coach after the dismissal of
Levir Culpi, and on 24 June, he was named permanent head coach. On 13 October 2019, Santana was sacked after a defeat to
Grêmio. On 16 February 2020, he took over
Avaí in the place of sacked
Augusto Inácio, but was himself dismissed on 1 August. On 29 October 2020, Santana replaced fired
Jorginho at the helm of
Coritiba in the top tier. He was himself dismissed on 13 December, after winning only two points out of 15. On 12 May 2021, Santana was named head coach of
Confiança in the
Série B, but was sacked on 26 July after the club was in the last position. On 5 December 2022, Santana was briefly announced as one of the new assistant coaches for
Corinthians 2023 season. However, on the next day, the signing was cancelled due to Santana being linked to
anti-democratic acts related to the
2022 Brazilian general election. On 27 July 2023, after a brief period at Indonesian side
RANS Nusantara, Santana was named head coach of
Bolivian Primera División side
Vaca Díez. He returned to his home country on 9 December, after being appointed in charge of
Série C newcomers
Athletic-MG, but left on a mutual agreement the following 5 March. On 23 May 2024, Santana was announced as head coach of fellow third division side
Remo. He led the club to a promotion to the second division, but was sacked on 13 March 2025. On 2 July 2025, Santana was named in charge of
ABC back in the third division. He was dismissed on 18 August, with the club threatened with relegation. On 8 December 2025, Santana was appointed
Volta Redonda head coach for the upcoming season. The following 22 February, he left to take over
Ponte Preta. ==Managerial statistics==