Warszawski: Tim DeRuyter begins second act as Fresno State football coach

If Tim DeRuyter were a playwright instead of a college football coach, this would be the beginning of Act 2.

“I don’t know if I would describe it exactly like that,” DeRuyter tells me following Tuesday’s practice, the first after a week off for spring break, “but I understand where you’re coming from.”

When the final curtain came down on a dreadful 2015 that saw Fresno State finish 3-9, a change to the cast and crew felt necessary. Just a matter of how far up the program you wanted to go.

By now the script should be familiar. After producing a 20-6 record and two Mountain West Conference titles in DeRuyter’s first two seasons, his teams are 9-17 in the two since.

Some FBS coaches aren’t afforded consecutive losing seasons. Hardly any get three.

So, yeah, Act 2 is a pretty good analogy for where the Bulldogs are entering Year 5 under DeRuyter.

If the behind-the-scenes shuffling (six new coaches including both coordinators) results in a quick turnaround or at least tangible progress, he’ll return to everyone’s good graces and we can all settle in for an extended run.

If not, someone’s probably getting pulled offstage by a hook.

Now we’re jumping a little ahead of the plot. Not until Sept. 5, in front of 90,000 Nebraska fans expecting to thump Fresno State by six touchdowns (while being unfailingly nice about it), will this story line start to reveal itself. Spring football acts as a mere dress rehearsal.

As things stand now, with the season opener more than five months away, all anyone can say for sure is that there’s a different tone at practice. DeRuyter calls it a “different energy.” Different how? That depends on the position group.

For example, the tight ends must have Joe Bernardi’s words ringing in their ears all day. When they do something right, he lets them know. When they do something wrong, he lets them know. And Bernardi does this with a voice so thunderous it doesn’t get drowned out even when an F-15 flies over Bulldog Stadium.

Receivers coach Burl Toler III can’t match Bernardi’s volume but is every bit his enthusiasm equal. Watch him explain the intricacies of a route by showing precisely how he does it, or sprint downfield when someone makes a big catch during a live period.

Bernardi, the former Bulldogs center, is 28. Toler, one of Aaron Rodgers’ favorite targets at Cal, is 32. In their cases different energy also means younger.

“It’s a whole new vibe our coaches bring, at least on the offensive side,” senior receiver Aaron Peck says.

The new vibe extends to offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau, who doesn’t raise his voice much (if at all) but is always engaged in teaching. When the quarterbacks worked on accuracy by lofting goal-line passes toward a plastic trash can in the corner of the end zone, a grinning Kiesau took turns throwing with them.

Which should tell you something about his coaching methods.

Chason Virgil, the only quarterback (or coach) to actually land one in the trash can, called the overall feeling at practice “more relaxed.”

“Coach Kies doesn’t yell at all, which helps out a lot of kids,” Virgil says. “Even when they mess up they’re not afraid to mess up because they know they’re not going to get yelled at. He’s just going to pull you to the side, let you know what’s up and put you back out there.”

According to DeRuyter, it was all part of the plan.

“We purposefully wanted to put together a staff that was going to be high energy and a staff that was going to coach very positively, and I think we’ve done that,” he says.

“We brought some guys in that Coach Kiesau had worked with in the past and we brought some guys in with Bulldog ties. I think there’s a good synergy. Even though it’s a new staff they’re guys that have some glue to them.”

The changes aren’t as visible on defense, where new coordinator Lorenzo Ward hooked up with the staff’s three lone holdovers in Nick Toth, Jordan Peterson and Pete Germano.

While Kiesau ushers in his version of the no-huddle spread (more emphasis on physicality and the running game), the Bulldogs’ defense essentially stays the same. Ward is in charge of calling all the schemes and plays but will do so out of the old playbook.

“We needed a fresh set of eyes to maybe simplify some things so our guys can ultimately play faster and track the ball better,” DeRuyter says. “You saw a little of that (Monday) with the (defense creating) five takeaways, and I think it’ll bear out this fall.”

Regardless of the coaching changes, Fresno State will enter 2016 with a dump truck’s worth of uncertainties.

Can the quarterback (presumably Virgil) stay healthy and limit mistakes?

How will all these community college linemen work out?

Are there any healthy running backs besides 166-pound Dejonte O’Neal?

Will crowds of 35,000-plus return to Bulldog Stadium?

Just a few of the dangling plot threads when the curtain rises on DeRuyter’s second act.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Warszawski: Tim DeRuyter begins second act as Fresno State football coach."