Fresno State Football: A Brief History

Fresno State Bulldogs:

First Season: 1921

Head Coach: Time DeRuyter (1 season, 9-4)

All-Time Record: 565-387-27

Bowl Record: 12-12 (Rasin, Mercy, California 5X, Freedom, Aloha, Las Vegas, Silicon Valley Classic 4X, MPC Computers, Liberty, Humanitarian 2X, New Mexico 2X, Hawaii)

Playing Field: Bulldog Stadium, Jim Sweeney Field (Capacity of 41,031)

Conference Affiliations:

• Independent: 1921, 1951-1952
• California Coast Conference: 1922-1924
• Northern California Athletic Association: 1925-1940
• California Collegiate Athletic Association: 1939-1950, 1953-1968
• Big West Conference: 1969-1991
• Western Athletic Conference: 1992-2011
• Mountain West Conference: 2012-Current

Attendance: 33,155 (5-year average)

Claimed National Titles: None

Conference Titles:  26

• 1922 California Coast Conference
• 1923 California Coast Conference
• 1930 Northern California Athletic Association
• 1934 Northern California Athletic Association
• 1935 Northern California Athletic Association
• 1937 Northern California Athletic Association
• 1941 California Collegiate Athletic Association
• 1942 California Collegiate Athletic Association
• 1954 California Collegiate Athletic Association
• 1958 California Collegiate Athletic Association
• 1959 California Collegiate Athletic Association
• 1960 California Collegiate Athletic Association
• 1961 California Collegiate Athletic Association
• 1968 California Collegiate Athletic Association
• 1977 Big West Conference
• 1982 Big West Conference
• 1985 Big West Conference
• 1988 Big West Conference
• 1989 Big West Conference 
• 1991 Big West Conference
• 1992 Western Athletic Conference
• 1993 Western Athletic Conference
• 1999 Western Athletic Conference
• 2012 Mountain West Conference Co-Champions

Record Versus Rivals (20+ meetings):

• Hawaii: 23-21-1
• Nevada: 25-18-1
• San Diego State: 21-27-4
• San Jose State: 39-34-3
• Utah State: 16-10-1

Year-By-Year Record
1920s: 34-36-8
1930s: 63-28-5
1940s: 43-42-8
1950s: 60-36-3
1960s: 63-28-5
1970: 8-4
1971: 6-5
1972: 6-4-1
1973: 2-9
1974: 5-7
1975: 3-8
1976: 6-5
1977: 9-2
1978: 3-8
1979: 4-7
1980: 5-6
1981: 5-6
1982: 11-1
1983: 6-5
1984: 6-6
1985: 11-0-1
1986: 9-2
1987: 6-5
1988: 10-2
1989: 11-1
1990: 8-2
1991: 10-2
1992: 9-4
1993: 8-4
1994: 5-7-1
1995: 5-7
1996: 4-7
1997: 6-6
1998: 5-6
1999: 8-5
2000: 7-5
2001: 11-3
2002: 9-5
2003: 9-5
2004: 9-3
2005: 8-5
2006: 4-8
2007: 9-4
2008: 7-6
2009: 8-5
2010: 8-5
2011: 4-9
2012: 9-4

Coaching/Team History:

Starting in 1921, the Fresno State Bulldogs have an interesting history playing football. Coach Arthur Jones was the inaugural coach of the program leading the program from 1921-1928 winning 36 games for the Bulldogs and leaving the Bulldogs with a .572 winning percentage.

After Jones, the Bulldogs hired North Dakota Agricultural head coach Stanley Borleske for the head job. Borleske led the Bulldogs from 1929 till 1932 while also dabbling in basketball and baseball coaching. Borleske stayed with the Bulldogs through 1941 coaching the baseball program.

Leo Harris took over in the 1933 season leading the Bulldogs for 3 seasons with an 18-9-1 overall record during that time. Harris stepped down after the 1935 season paving the way for coach Jimmy Bradshaw. Bradshaw was a very good coach for Fresno holding down the top spot from 1936-1943 and winning 75% of his games with the program.

From 1944 through 1951, the Bulldogs struggled with four separate coaches taking the reigns but each struggling to an overall record of 20-43-6 during that span. With the program in flux since Bradshaw, the Bulldogs needed a good hire and got one in coach Clark Van Galder. Van Galder took over the program in 1952 and immediately saw success going 8-2 in his first season with the Bulldogs. Van Galder followed up that season with six more years of .500 or above football culminated by a 9-1 season in 1955. Van Galder led the Bulldogs to a 46-22-2 overall record during his time with the program before stepping down following the 1958 season.

Cecil Coleman took over for Van Galder having great success with a 38-12 record coaching the team from 1959-1963. After the 1963 season, the Bulldogs were again looking for a leader of the football program and decided on coach Phil Kruger. Kruger did not see the success of Coleman or Van Galder going 10-10 in two seasons. After the 1965 season, Kruger decided to cut his losses and take an assistant job with the Southern California Trojans leaving a gap again at the top of the Fresno State program.

Fresno State decided to hire former Bulldog wide receiver/defensive back Darryl Rogers to bring some stability to the program. Rogers brought a stable environment to the program and had a solid 43-32-1 record with the program but could never really get the Bulldogs over the gap from being solid to outstanding. Rogers left following the 1972 season going out west to coach the San Jose State Spartans.

Trying to make that next step up, Fresno State instead struggled for much of the next 8 years with JR Boone (3 seasons, 10-25) and Bob Padilla (2 seasons, 7-15) being busts as head coaches for the Bulldogs. Between Boone and Padilla, coach Jim Sweeney coached the program to back-to-back solid seasons before leaving for assist in the NFL.

After Padilla crashed at Fresno, the Bulldogs went after Sweeney again stealing him from St. Louis to take the team back over in 1980. Sweeney’s rehire was an excellent idea as he lead the Bulldogs to 5 Big West Championships and 5 berths in the California Bowl before 1992. In 1992, Sweeney led the Bulldogs into the Western Athletic Conference immediately winning the conference championship and finishing in the top 25 nationally. Sweeney followed that up with another conference title, bowl berth, and top 25 ranking. After those back-to-back great seasons, Sweeney struggled in his final three seasons going 5-7-1, 5-7, and 4-7 with no finish higher than 5th in the WAC. Sweeney retired after the 1996 season with an overall record of 144-74-3 with the Bulldogs.

Replacing a coach that won them 8 conference titles was no easy task for the Bulldogs but Fresno State found Baltimore Ravens assistant Pat Hill was perfect for the task. Hill began coaching in the 1997 season for the Bulldogs with back-to-back 6-loss seasons before breaking through and winning his only WAC title in 1999. The 1999 season was the start of a 7-year streak of making bowl games with 5 consecutive trips to the Silicon Valley Classic among those bowls. After a difficult 2006 season, the Bulldogs made 4 more bowl games from 2007-2010 before succumbing to a 4-9 record in 2011. Hill was fired after the 2011 season.

In 2012, the Bulldogs introduced coach Tim DeRuyter who was fresh off leading Texas A&M to a bowl win in the Meineke Car Care Bowl as interim head coach. DeRuyter immediately brought the Bulldogs back to winning ways going 9-4 in his first season with the program. DeRuyter enters the 2013 season as the head coach of the Bulldogs.

NFL/CFL Players:

• Seyi Ajirotutu - Wide receiver, San Diego Chargers
• Bernard Berrian - Wide receiver, Free agent
• Tom Brandstater - Quarterback, St. Louis Rams practice squad
• David Carr - Quarterback, NY Giants, first-round selection, 1st overall pick
• Tyler Clutts - Fullback, Houston Texans
• Tyrone Culver - Defensive Back, Miami Dolphins
• Andrew Jackson - Offensive Lineman, Atlanta Falcons
• Vernon Fox - Safety, Denver Broncos
• Alan Harper - Defensive Line, AFL, Arizona Rattlers
• Kenny Wiggins - Offensive Lineman, San Francisco 49ers
• Jamel Hamler - Wide receiver, Philadelphia Eagles
• A.J. Jefferson - Corner Back, Arizona Cardinals
• Devon Wylie - Wide receiver, Kansas City Chiefs
• Louis Leonard - Defensive tackle, Carolina Panthers
• Robert Malone - Punter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Logan Mankins - Guard, New England Patriots
• Dante Marsh - Defensive Back, CFL - BC Lions
• Richard Marshall - Defensive Back, Miami Dolphins
• Ryan Mathews - 2010 NFL Draft, first-round selection, 12th overall pick, Running Back, San Diego Chargers
• Bryce Harris - Offensive Lineman, Atlanta Falcons
• Marcus McCauley - Defensive Back, Minnesota Vikings
• Garrett McIntyre - Linebacker, New York Jets
• Lonyae Miller - Running back, Oakland Raiders
• Marlon Moore - Wide Receiver, Miami Dolphins
• Chastin West - Wide Receiver, Jacksonville Jaguars
• Bear Pascoe - Tight End, New York Giants
• Michael Pittman - Running Back, UFL's Florida Tuskers
• Chris Carter - Linebacker, Pittsburg Steelers
• James Sanders - Safety, Arizona Cardinals
• Jason Shirley - Defensive Tackle, Indianapolis Colts
• Clifton Smith - Running Back, Miami Dolphins
• Stephen Spach - Tight End, Arizona Cardinals
• Logan Harrell - Defensive End, San Diego Chargers
• Derrick Ward - Running Back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Ryan Wendell - Guard, New England Patriots
• Paul Williams - Wide Receiver, Tennessee Titans
• Ben Jacobs - Linebacker, Cleveland Browns
• Cameron Worrell - Safety, Free agent
• Dwayne Wright - Running Back, Philadelphia Eagles
• Cornell Banks - Defensive Tackle, St. Louis Rams
• Kyle Young - Offensive Line, AFL, Arizona Rattlers
• [edit]Former
• Jahine Arnold – Wide Receiver, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Stephen Baker – Wide Receiver, New York Giants
• Rich Bartlewski (tight end) – Los Angeles Raiders (1990), Atlanta Falcons (1991), Montreal Machine (1992)
• Reggie Brown – Fullback
• Chris Conrad – Offensive Tackle, Pittsburgh Steelers
• Ron Cox – Linebacker, Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers
• Trent Dilfer – 1994 NFL Draft, first round selection 6th overall pick, former Super Bowl Champion (XXXV) Quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1994–1999), Baltimore Ravens (2000), Seattle Seahawks (2001–2004), Cleveland Browns (2005), San Francisco 49ers (2006–2007)
• David Dunn – Wide Receiver Oakland Raiders
• Henry Ellard – Wide Receiver, Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins
• Malcolm Floyd – Wide Receiver
• Cory Hall – Safety
• Charlie Jones – Wide Receiver
• Dale Messer - Wide Receiver, Safety, San Francisco 49ers
• Lorenzo Neal - Running Back, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers, Baltimore Ravens
• Christopher Pacheco – Los Angeles Rams
• Stephone Paige – Wide Receiver, Kansas City Chiefs
• Michael Pittman - Running Back, Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos
• Marquez Pope – Defensive Back, San Diego Chargers
• Ron Rivers – Running Back, Detroit Lions
• Omar Stoutmire – Safety New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets
• Tydus Winans – Wide Receiver, Washington Redskins