Fresno State shuffles coaches, with former Patriots coach moving into O-line job

Fresno State tight ends coach Brian Ferentz will move to the offensive line next season in what is a fairly seamless transition for a program that had to replace that position for a sixth time in as many years, with Zach Crabtree leaving in December for Purdue.

“When we put the staff together at the beginning, a year ago at this time, I was hoping I could keep coach Crabtree here for more than one year, but knew that he was a young and up-and-coming offensive line coach,” said coach Matt Entz. “But part of the reason why Brian was so appealing was his ability to have position flexibility — he has been an offensive coordinator, has been at the Big Ten level, has been in the NFL, and he has done a great job everywhere he has been. He has a great mind for football. I think our players knew it even before I announced that he would be the next offensive line coach.”

Bijan Hosseini, who was a graduate assistant last season and worked with Crabtree and the offensive line, has been promoted and will coach the Bulldogs’ tight ends.

Defensive coordinator Nick Benedetto also has added the title of associate head coach, defensive line coach Jordan Gigli the title of run game coordinator and Tucker Meyer will coach the Bulldogs’ nickels. Jared Taylor, an offensive analyst last season, will be an offensive assistant and work with the quarterbacks.

Ferentz coached the offensive line at Iowa from 2012 to ‘14 and was line coach and run game coordinator for the Hawkeyes from 2015 and ‘16 before a seven-season run as the offensive coordinator. He was an offensive assistant and then tight ends coach for the New England Patriots in 2010 and ‘11.

Fresno State went into last season without much experience on the offensive line — true freshman Brayden Walton started at left tackle in the opener at Kansas, right tackle Rolan Fullwood was also making his first career start and left guard Edward Fonua and right guard Campbell McHarg had made four and three career starts. But the Bulldogs developed through the season, and averaged 203.1 rushing yards over the final five games.

In the first eight games, Fresno State had averaged 149.6 yards per game on the ground, but also struggled in losses at Kansas (37 rushing yards at 1.3 per attempt) and San Diego State (45 yards at 2.0 per play) and a win at Hawaii (71 yards at 2.2 per play).

Ferentz will work with a group that returns three starters in Walton, Fonua and Fullwood, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.

Fullwood was the second highest graded pass blocking tackle in the Mountain West Conference, according to Pro Football Focus. Overall, Fullwood had the fifth-highest grade among tackles in the league.