Fresno State Football: Jeff Tedford is the secret to the Bulldogs’ success

Defense

As much as the offense improved in Fresno, the defense’s sudden dominance was all the more dramatic. After giving up nearly 31 points per game in 2016, Fresno State improved from 83rd nationally to 10th in the country a year later.

The 2017 Bulldogs averaged one and a quarter more sacks per game than the team racked up in 2016. A team that gave up nearly 250 rushing yards on average two years ago reduced that number by more than half to just 117 yards per game last season.

Just as importantly, the passing defense didn’t suffer as the rushing defense dramatically improved. Because teams could run at will, the 2016 Bulldogs ranked fifth nationally in passing yards allowed. While that rank dropped to 44th in 2017, last year’s team only conceded around 40 more passing yards per game. That shift made sense given the way Fresno State forced teams to rely on a different game plan than they could before against the Bulldogs D.

With most of last year’s defensive talent returning to the Central Valley for the 2018 campaign

Focusing on Bert Watts

The architect of last year’s defense was Orlondo Steinauer, who had previously spent his entire coaching career in the Canadian Football League. Steinauer generated immediate results by refocusing Fresno State on playing a style of defense that forces teams to win with a death-by-a-thousand-cuts offense.

After one season in the FBS, though, Steinauer is headed back across the border to take the assistant head coach position with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL. Tedford settled on assistant linebackers coach Bert Watts as Steinauer’s replacement.

At face value, it isn’t an outlandish pick. Before coming to Fresno State, Watts served as the defensive coordinator from 2013 through 2016 at the FCS level with UC Davis. But a look at his four Aggies seasons shows a coach who really didn’t accomplish much. By the end of his term, the team had become progressively worse in many defensive categories. Just look at the chart of where UC Davis ranked among FCS teams during Watts’ tenure:

One year of regression is inevitable at a certain point. Two years of regression can be forgiven. By year three, though, you’re probably just as good a coach as your defenses indicate.

If Watts retains Steinauer’s system and doesn’t try to put his own stamp on things, the Bulldogs should be fine. But if he tries to get too cute too quickly in his first FBS coordinator opportunity, Watts could show the same sort of regression his UC Davis teams demonstrated over time.