Kalen DeBoer greets signing class of 12 on second day of Fresno State coaching tenure
Kalen DeBoer, in what must have seemed an extremely long first day as the Fresno State football coach, showed up to work early Wednesday morning with his phone attached to his ear, wearing a Bulldogs pullover.
Obviously, not everything went into a donation box when he accepted a Power Five job as offensive coordinator at Indiana less than a year ago.
“I have some gear that I did bring with me,” said DeBoer, who on Tuesday was hired to replace Jeff Tedford and worked into the night meeting with administrators and assistant coaches. “I have another pullover, a sweatshirt, a pair of sweatpants, two pairs of shorts and three T-shirts, I think.
“It’s really comfortable so I actually wear it once in a while at the house.”
Comfort was what DeBoer and the assistants were seeking in securing letters of intent on the first day of the national signing period. DeBoer spoke by phone with the recruits committed to the Bulldogs, and Fresno State pulled together a class of 12 that has DeBoer’s name, but not his fingerprints on it.
The Bulldogs’ class included five San Joaquin Valley products – quarterback Logan Fife (Tracy), wideout Mac Dalena (San Joaquin Memorial), linebacker Tyler Mello (Hanford), defensive back C.J Jones (Buchanan) and athlete Kosi Agina (Sanger).
Fresno State also signed two offensive linemen in Julian Polendo (Palm Springs) and Joseph Church (Upland), two defensive backs in Kamron Forest (Cajon-San Bernardino) and Dupree Williams (Dominguez-Compton), tight end Matt Lowe (Serrano-Hesperia), defensive end Da’Marcus Johnson (American River College) and running back Malik Sherrod (Pacifica-Oxnard), who offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb compared to Ronnie Rivers.
“I am fired up about this guy – he is electric,” said Grubb, the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator, who was interim coach after Jeff Tedford stepped down Dec. 6 due to heart-related health issues. “There is nothing on the field he can’t do. He is Ronnie Rivers, Part II. High character, captain. His stats speak for themselves. He’s a guy who can make you right when things aren’t right. When it all breaks down, can he still get you yards, and that’s what Malik can do. When you watch his film you see it over and over and over.”
Johnson is a 4 for 3 and will enroll in school in January. Polendo also will be in on time to participate in spring practices.
Grubb on Valley recruits
Grubb, who had a hand in recruiting all of the players, took the introductions of the local recruits.
Mac Dalena: “The big thing with him is that he is very productive. That’s what always drew us to Mac. You’d see him compete at camps and things like that and he always found a way to get open and get it done and in the end what you need is a guy that can do that. Size doesn’t matter, all that stuff, he competes and he is physical. He’s truly a ‘Dog-wired dude.”
Logan Fife: “Good arm, very quick feet, athletic. Every time we saw him in camp he was outperforming other players, including our own camp. He did very well here and there were some guys with quote-unquote bigger offers that were competing against him and he was extremely accurate and has a great demeanor, too.”
CJ Jones: “His dad played here. Charlie was a great player here so getting a guy like CJ is a big deal. One of the things that is always tough is people think about Charlie right away. It’s about CJ. He is a phenomenal football player in his own right. We think he’s super talented and a guy that has a really bright future here in the defensive backfield. He has some versatility there, as well, to be able to play safety and corner.”
Tyler Mello: “He is a true inside linebacker. He is a physical, physical, physical kid. You can;t say enough about him as far as how he’s perceived by his teammates and coaches so we’re really excited to have him in a spot we feel we needed a really good guy to come in and take that scholarship spot and be an impact guy in the next few years here as we get your (Arron) Mosbys and (Justin) Rices are getting up there and will be seniors and need some guys coming in behind those guys.”
Kosi Agina: “We are signing him as an athlete because he is a guy we can see doing a ton of stuff on the field whether it’s initially as a defensive back or this past year scoring 17 touchdowns with over 1,000 yards rushing. Very high-character kid from a great family, unbelievable grades. He finished fourth in the triple jump (at state) this last year so you can see that single-leg explosiveness in an event like that. We see him in a lot of spots.”
Three scholarships left
Fresno State still has three initial scholarships to offer in its 2020 recruiting class, and how those will be used is to be determined. A second quarterback whether a freshman or an older junior college or FBS transfer is a consideration – with Fife, the Bulldogs have only four quarterbacks on scholarship. A second tight end is a possibility after losing seniors Jared Rice and Cam Sutton, the top two in receptions in the position group.
DeBoer is familiar with some of the Bulldogs’ recruits through camps and evaluated quarterback prospects including Fife for two years before leaving for Indiana. But, for the most part, he has not met face to face with many of the recruits.
“It is (odd), but you trust the process that these guys went through as a staff and just knowing that they understand what we’re looking for, the Bulldog traits,” DeBoer said.
“Talking to the kids on the phone and learning about them through the conversations that we’ve had here as a staff, I feel great about them That’s what you do. You trust the staff. They have the program’s best interests in mind and I know they’ve done a great job. These are our guys that we’re going to coach for the next four or five years.”