To prevent Fresno State football from imploding, stick with Tim Skipper as coach | Opinion
If Garrett Klassy was running the athletic departments at Houston or Nebraska, the two prior stops on his resume, it might make sense to move on from an interim football coach following a disappointing 6-6 regular season.
Choose a new head coach from outside the program – someone who undoubtedly would want to bring in his own assistants and overhaul the roster – and rely on donor enthusiasm to cover both tabs.
Except Klassy is director of athletics at Fresno State, and things aren’t that simple. If Klassy moves on from Tim Skipper and proceeds to make a bad hire, the bottom could completely fall out. Think late Tim DeRuyter era.
When Fresno State enters the Pac-12 in 2026, they’ll do so at a financial disadvantage compared to other incoming members. The last thing the Bulldogs need is to be a competitive doormat as well.
To prevent that unenviable future (one that likely concludes with Klassy looking for another job), the best way forward is to stay the course. That means removing the interim tag from Skipper’s title, perhaps with a two-year deal like what Fresno State gave men’s basketball coach Vance Walberg, retaining most of his staff and doubling down on stability and identity.
Yes, justifying that decision would’ve been easier had the Bulldogs mustered more than a field goal in the second half against UCLA. Or didn’t collapse against Hawaii, an implosion that included questionable coaching strategy. Or finish better than 2-4 in games decided by eight points or less.
Skipper knows better than anyone his job is to win games, and Fresno State squandered too many for anyone to be satisfied.
Still, this is a situation where a wrong move could prove disastrous. If a new head coach comes in and levels the program to its foundation, there’s no guarantee the rebuild won’t look a whole lot worse. But it would definitely be more expensive, compelling Fresno State to allocate precious resources to an unnecessary coaching change.
No time to waste
That Klassy hasn’t already announced Skipper tells us he is examining other options. Still, this is not a time to dilly dally. With college football’s early signing period beginning Wednesday and the transfer portal opening Dec. 9, every sign of instability becomes potentially costly.
Unless Klassy can land his personal white whale (Scott Frost would be one guess based on their overlapping Nebraska tenures), he should waste no more time before retaining Skipper.
For the same reasons Skipper was the best person to take over for Jeff Tedford on short notice, he remains the Bulldogs’ best option for the next couple seasons – at least. One 6-6 year, plagued by injuries and spotty offense, doesn’t alter that fact.
Keeping Skipper also leaves a top-notch defensive coaching staff intact. No matter who the next Fresno State coach might be, they’re not going to attract a better crew than defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle, defensive line coach Jethro Franklin and defensive backs coach J.D. Williams. Add special teams coach John Baxter, and that’s a massive part of the Bulldogs identity no one should be eager to see exit.
Make changes on offense
Because the majority of Fresno State’s struggles in 2024 were on the offensive side, coordinator Pat McCann might end up being the sacrificial lamb that makes Skipper’s hiring more palatable to the fan base. That’s often how it goes.
Even though Klassy only arrived in the central San Joaquin Valley six months ago, he didn’t need long to get an accurate lay of the land. He understands Fresno State will enter the Pac-12 with one of the conference’s smallest operating budgets and that his job – above all else – is to increase its size.
Klassy quickly caught on to the fact that the Bulldogs are doing more with less than just about any athletic department that successfully competes at the FBS level. He also accurately ascertained two of the biggest reasons why: the level of fan support and quality of the coaching staff.
“I think because of the people in the Valley and the coaches we’ve had here, we have covered up a lot of our deficiencies for a long time, primarily facilities,” Klassy told The Bee’s Robert Kuwada. “We’re going to work really hard to create new revenue streams and create a championship experience for our student athletes.”
While Klassy works on increasing the size of Fresno State’s pocketbook, the individual best equipped to prevent his spackled-over flagship from crashing into the rocks is already in the building.
