Jeff Tedford steps down as Fresno State football coach due to health concerns
Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford resigned at a Friday morning press conference due to health concerns.
Tedford, 58, led the Bulldogs to 10-4 and 12-2 records with a Mountain West Conference championship and bowl victories in his first two seasons before going 4-8 this season with five losses decided by eight points or fewer.
He is the first coach in history to lead a team from double-digit losses in one season (Fresno State went 1-11 in 2016 just prior to Tedford’s arrival) to double-digit victories in the next two.
For his career, Tedford amassed a 108-71 college record, going 26-14 at Fresno State and 82-57 in 11 seasons at Cal.
The nature of Tedford’s health issues are heart-related.
Tedford had a coronary angioplasty in 2014 eight months into a job as the offensive coordinator of the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers, taking leave from the team after the third preseason game. He was to return in September, but took an indefinite leave toward the end of the month and he was released from his contract in December to pursue other opportunities.
A short time later he was hired as coach of the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League, going 7-12 including a loss in the playoffs.
He left that position that year and joined the staff at Washington as a consultant on the staff of coach Chris Petersen.
Kalen DeBoer a possible candidate?
Fresno State ahletics director Terry Tumey was not available on Thursday night, but a logical successor would be former Bulldogs offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer, who left after the 2018 season for Indiana.
The Hoosiers this season are 8-4 and are second in the Big Ten in passing and total offense and sixth in scoring, up from 10th in 2018.
DeBoer also has head coaching experience, going 67-3 at NAIA Sioux Falls from 2005 to 2009 and winning three national championships.
Tedford’s Bulldogs roots
Tedford returned to his alma mater on Nov. 10, 2016, taking on a program that was on a steady three-year decline.
He signed a five-year contract through 2021 that was loaded with performance bonuses.
His base salary this season was $1.615 million with $2,750,000 available through performance bonuses.
The Bulldogs, after winning back-to-back Mountain West titles behind quarterback Derek Carr in 2012 and ‘13, went 6-8 with a return trip to the conference championship game, then 3-9 and 1-11 in the final three years of Tedford’s predecessor, Tim DeRuyter.
Fresno State routed FCS Idaho 66-0 in Tedford’s first game in 2017. Then after losses at No. 1 Alabama and at No. 16 Washington, the Bulldogs ripped off four wins in a row and eight in nine games.
They lost to Boise State in the conference championship game but went on to beat Houston 33-27 in the Hawaii Bowl for the Bulldogs’ first bowl victory since beating Georgia Tech in the 2007 Humanitarian Bowl.
In 2018, Tedford led Fresno State to a Mountain West title after the Bulldogs beat Boise State on the Broncos’ signature blue turf in the conference championship.
That marquee win was followed by Fresno State becoming the first team in the program’s 98-year history to win 12 games in a season with a 31-20 win against Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl.
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 9:28 PM.