Fresno State signs new football coach Kalen DeBoer to $7 million contract
Fresno State didn’t leave much mystery to its football coaching search from the moment Jeff Tedford stepped down and it landed the man it wanted on Tuesday, agreeing to terms with former Bulldogs offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer.
DeBoer, 45, was handed the reins of a program that he helped rebuild along with Tedford, offensive line coach Ryan Grubb and a staff that could return intact next season – though many could have opportunities elsewhere after winning 26 games including two in bowls and a Mountain West Conference championship over the past three seasons.
“Coming back here, it’s extremely comfortable for me,” DeBoer said at an afternoon news conference. “One, because there’s a confidence of knowing what it takes to get to the spots we want to be – winning conference championships and beyond. Two, knowing the foundation that already is here because of Jeff Tedford and all the work the staff has put in.
“The staff, that’s certainly something we’re going to be talking about and evaluating and I’m going to meet with each of them individually, see where their heads are at and we’ll figure that out. What I will promise is that we will have a staff that is extremely cohesive, great recruiters and that chemistry that we have will certainly be filtered down to the players.”
Grubb will return as offensive coordinator and again call plays next season, DeBoer said.
DeBoer will receive a five-year contract worth $7 million – he will be paid $1.3 million in 2020, $1.35 million in ‘21, $1.4 million in ‘22, $1.45 million in ‘23 and $1.5 million in ‘24.
There are automatic extensions tied to season record and conference wins in the first three years of the deal as well as performance bonuses, though at a much lower level than Fresno State gave to Tedford, who had bonuses that maxed out at $2.765 million a year, the fourth-highest total in the FBS.
Just in time for early signing period
The timing worked out for the Bulldogs, though it was tight.
Fresno State when Tedford stepped down on Dec. 6 believed it would have to keep the job posted for 14 days through Dec. 20, but obtained a waiver and was able to expedite the hiring process.
Had athletic director Terry Tumey not been able to plow through, the Bulldogs would have been without a head coach at the early national letter of intent signing period, which runs Wednesday through Friday.
DeBoer left Fresno State after last season to become offensive coordinator at Indiana and Tumey kept in touch this season, then spoke on the phone with DeBoer after Tedford stepped down. They had several more conversations before a formal interview on Monday in Los Angeles.
“There were some talented folks that we talked about,” Tumey said. “But it’s not so much talent in terms of how they perform, it’s, ‘Are they ready to take on this program? You have to kind of understand all the fruits that we have here, but also that we have some soft spots. We have some things that we have to shore up and having a person who can understand that and can work with us as we continue to try to make the right experience for our student-athletes was vitally important.
“If you think about all those pieces – understanding who we are, understand what we value, understanding what our standards of success are, understanding what we expect in terms of the experience for our student-athletes – it led us to where we are now.”
Without a head coach in place, the Bulldogs’ assistants were sent on the road to recruit, offer scholarships and accept commitments from high school and junior college players.
Those players will start signing national letters of intent on Wednesday, building blocks for a coach who left Fresno State after the 2018 season for a Power Five program at Indiana and had a highly successful run in his first opportunity as a head coach.
DeBoer went 67-3 as Sioux Falls head coach
DeBoer was 67-3 and won three NAIA national championships when at Sioux Falls from 2005 to ‘09. The Cougars won their last 29 games with DeBoer as coach and 55 of the last 56, the loss to Carroll College in the 2007 championship game.
As the offensive coordinator at Indiana, DeBoer was fashioning the same type of turnaround that he had at Fresno State and before that at Eastern Michigan.
The Hoosiers this season won eight games for the time since 1993 and are set to play Tennessee in the Jan. 2 Gator Bowl. It was still undecided if DeBoer will call plays for Indiana in that game.
The offense in DeBoer’s first season made significant gains In averaging 308.7 passing yards per game, up from 257.8 a year ago; 32.6 points per game, up from 26.4.
For Fresno State, most of the questions come off the football field.
Will DeBoer invigorate a fan base that has not filled Bulldog Stadium for a game since 2014? Will he inspire donors to come up with the $20 million needed to take a next step on a new privately-funded football facility, which would create badly-needed space for the athletics department and its 21 sports programs? Will he give the Bulldogs and Fresno State a jolt on a national stage, raise the profile of the program or the university?
DeBoer definitely has a head start, the ties to the San Joaquin Valley that Tumey said are important and ties to Tedford, who stepped down Dec. 6 due to heart-related health issues and a desire to spend more time with family.
That first staff put together by Tedford engineered an all-time comeback, taking a team that was 1-11 to 10-4 in their first season and 12-2 with a Mountain West championship in their second. No team in FBS history had lost 10 or more games in one season and won 10 or more games in the next two.
Marcus McMaryion endorsement
Former Bulldogs quarterback Marcus McMaryion, who in May is headed to the Canadian Football League to play for the Calgary Stampeders, praised DeBoer.
“He’s great. He has very similar characteristics to Coach Tedford, someone who is going to work tirelessly, morning to night, first one in and last one out. He’s going to bring passion and enthusiasm, all of the above to the program.
“I definitely saw a lot of it as a coordinator. I can only imagine what he’s going to bring to the table as a head coach and having full reign and control. He’s definitely the right man for the job to succeed Tedford and be the next guy up. I’m definitely excited to see what he brings to the table for the guys.”