Fresno State head football coach Jeff Tedford stepped down Monday due to health concerns. Linebackers coach Tim Skipper will take over as the Bulldogs’ interim head coach for the 2024 season.
“I have a tremendous amount of pride and passion for Fresno State, and I understand the time and energy necessary to lead at a high level,” the 62-year-old Tedford said in a statement. “The players, coaches and Bulldog supporters deserve the best. Unfortunately, I am not able to sustain the commitment needed to perform at the level needed to guide the program.
“We are extremely fortunate to have continuity with a great coaching staff. I have full confidence that they will continue to guide our terrific student-athletes to reach their full potential on and off the field.”
Tedford resigned as Fresno St.’s HC in 2019 due to health reasons and stepped away, albeit temporarily, again last December for the team’s bowl game.
If this is indeed the end of Tedford’s career, it has been a distinguished one. He played at Fresno St. in 1981 and ’82.
Tedford returned as Fresno St.’s QB coach in 1992 and became offensive coordinator in 1993. He remained on the Bulldogs’ staff through 1997 before leaving to take over the OC role at Oregon.
In 2002, Tedford got his first head-coaching gig at California. The Golden Bears were off a 1-10 season in 2001 and had not enjoyed a winning year since 1993.
Tedford immediately led a six-game turnaround by turning in a 7-5 record in the first season of his tenure. He was named the Pac-10 coach of the year.
In 2003, Cal compiled an 8-6 record, including a triple-overtime win over eventual national champion USC and a 52-49 victory over Va. Tech at the Insight Bowl.
The Golden Bears finished ninth in the country in 2004, going 10-2 for the program’s first 10-win campaign since 1949. Once again, Tedford was named Pac-10 coach of the year.
They went 8-4 in 2005, finishing #25 in the nation after briefly getting into the Top 10 in early October.
Cal produced an eight-game winning streak in 2006, breaking into the Top 10 again thanks to scoring at least 40 points in five consecutive contests. Tedford’s squad would go on to defeat 14th-ranked Texas A&M by a 45-10 count at the Holiday Bowl to finish with a 10-3 record.
In 2007, Cal started 5-0 and moved up to #2 in the national rankings. However, the Golden Bears dropped six of their next seven games. Nevertheless, they salvaged the season and went 7-6 thanks to a 42-36 win over Air Force at the Armed Forces Bowl.
Cal went 9-4 and 8-5 in 2008 and 2009, respectively, extending the program’s streak of bowl game appearances to seven. The Golden Bears went 5-7, 7-6 and 3-9 over the next three years, and Tedford was fired a few days after the 2012 season ended.
He is Cal’s all-time leader in career wins (82), bowl wins (5), conference wins (50) and games coached (139). Tedford’s overall record in Berkeley was 82-57.
After taking a season off, Tedford was the OC for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for one year in 2014. Next, he spent one season in the CFL as the HC of the BC Lions, and then he was an offensive consultant at Washington in 2016.
In 2017, Tedford returned to Fresno St. as its new HC. The Bulldogs had gone an abysmal 1-11 in ’16, but Tedford orchestrated a spectacular nine-game turnaround. They went 10-4 and beat Houston 33-27 at the Hawaii Bowl.
Tedford led Fresno St. to a 12-2 mark in 2018, winning the Mountain West Conference Championship Game 19-16 at Boise St. The only losses of the year came at Minnesota (21-14) and at Boise St. (24-17). The Bulldogs capped the season with a 31-20 win over Arizona St. at the Las Vegas Bowl. Their 12 wins remain a program record.
Fresno St. struggled to a 4-8 record in 2019 and then Tedford stepped down due to health concerns. Kalen DeBoer replaced him, going 3-3 in 2020 and 10-3 in 2021 before being hired at Washington.
When DeBoer left, Tedford returned to the sidelines. Fresno St. started 1-4 and lost star QB Jake Haener to an injury. Haener was able to return in late October, though, and the Bulldogs won each of their last nine games.
They won six of those nine games by double-digit margins, including a 28-16 win at Boise St. in the MWC Championship Game and a 29-6 win over Washington St. at the Los Angeles Bowl.
Tedford’s 2023 team went 9-4. Fresno St. won 39-35 at Purdue, 29-0 at Arizona St. and improved to 8-1 after beating Boise St. 37-30 as a 2.5-point home favorite.
But the Bulldogs lost their last three regular-season games. Nevertheless, they bounced back to capture a 37-10 win vs. New Mexico St. at the New Mexico Bowl.
In his two separate tenures across five seasons at Fresno St., Tedford went 45-22 straight up and 35-29-3 against the spread. He has a 127-79 overall HC record.