As DeBoer and Haener bail, Fresno State fans get crash course in cutthroat business
.JPG "Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener talks with coach Kalen DeBoer during the third quarter of the Bulldogs’ 31-24 loss at Oregon on Sept. 4, 2021. Neither will finish out the 2021 season at Fresno State.")
Fresno State fans received a crash course in the unpleasant, cutthroat business of college football this past week — whether they registered for it or not.
Many didn’t take the lesson well. A few got extremely hacked off.
It was difficult enough for Bulldogs fans to see their bright, young coach, Kalen DeBoer, literally get whisked away in the University of Washington’s private jet. But when word began to spread that starting quarterback Jake Haener was transferring and likely to join DeBoer and the Huskies in Seattle, that proved one indignation too many.
The most blatant reaction came in the form of two bedsheets with the words “HAENER IS A TRAITOR” painted on them. One was hung from a railing at the Fresno State student union, the other from a goalpost on the Bulldogs’ field.
Photos of the two bedsheets were then circulated on social media by former players such as Jeffrey Allison. Among the hardest tacklers in program history, Allison hit back at the fan hostility toward Haener.
“There is no way y’all can be this upset, or petty about this man leaving Fresno,” Allison wrote. “This man (is) looking out for his future and y’all mad. SMH gotta do better!!!!”
Allison’s tweet and others like it stirred their own online uproar. Bulldogs fans were suddenly arguing amongst themselves over the appropriate level of anger they should be permitted to direct toward the star quarterback who followed the coach out the door with a game remaining on the schedule.
Others, perhaps fearful of a mass exodus, hung signs with a more positive message on Cedar Avenue where Bulldogs players are likely to see them on their way to the football offices or training facilities. “We love our Bulldogs. #BulldogBornBulldogBred” read one. “Stick with us, boys! We will always stick with you!” read another.
It’s been a while since Fresno State fans got so agitated that they turned on one of their own. The last time was probably 2008, when kicker Kevin Goessling was booed in class and a window in his apartment broken after several misses in two close losses.
Except that reaction was about the final score. In Haener’s case, it’s about the pain of rejection: We cheered for you. We adored you. (In what other city of a half-million people would the mayor declare “Jake Haener Week” following a September victory?) And you couldn’t even wait for the season to end to leave us.
In other words, I get it. On some level, the outcry is understandable. The word fan is short for fanatic, after all. And fanatics, by definition, don’t have to be reasonable. It’s kind of the whole point of being one.
Explanation from Haener would’ve been nice
Haener’s farewell message to the Red Wave should salve most of the hurt feelings — even though the quarterback failed to address why he decided to enter the transfer portal now instead of doing so after the bowl game.
While it would’ve been nice for Haener to offer an explanation, he doesn’t owe one to anyone. And if Fresno State was in the Mountain West championship with a chance to face another Pac-12 team at Los Angeles’ gleaming new NFL stadium, things surely would’ve gone down differently.
But the fact is nobody really cares about a basement-tier bowl in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Frisco, Texas, or wherever the Bulldogs get dispatched to. Nobody, that is, besides local organizers and ESPN executives who create them out of thin air just to fill a few hours of holiday programming.
In today’s do-what’s-best-for-me world, Haener may, in fact, be better off getting a jump on his final season at Washington, completing the circle of his college career, than preparing to face Northern Illinois, Central Michigan or UTEP (a sampling of Fresno State’s projected opponents) in a game few will watch and even fewer likely to remember.
Old-school, traditional, finish-what-you-started-young man values be darned.
I’m not saying anyone has to like it. I’m saying that’s the way it is.
Coaching search cannot drag on
During the initial frenzy, there were widespread fears that other standout players, including wideout Jalen Cropper, would follow DeBoer and Haener to Washington. Those appear to have been quelled, and judging by my own measure of DeBoer’s character I believe he has more integrity than to further empty the cupboard for his successor.
On that subject, Athletic Director Terry Tumey cannot afford the sails on his flagship program to luff for much longer.
Bringing back Jeff Tedford seems the obvious choice, both for acumen and due to the simple fact that much of the roster is still made up of his recruits. Tedford, via reputation, also gives Fresno State the best chance to lure a starting-caliber quarterback for 2022 out of the transfer portal (i.e. someone like hometown product like Adrian Martinez).
If not Tedford, Tumey should turn his attention to Sacramento State coach Troy Taylor, another offensive mastermind whose teams have piled up points and yardage at every stop. Would Taylor leave his current position, after two seasons, for this one? I don’t know, but Tumey owes it to himself as well as the Red Wave to find out.
Speaking of Bulldogs fans, I suspect any anger toward Haener will be short-lived. Remember the kicker who got booed on campus and his window broken? He still lives in town.
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 4:25 PM.
