Fresno State Football’s Head Coach Jeff Tedford announced that 23 new recruits will be added to the roster Wednesday morning in a National Signing Day press conference.
Seventeen of these recruits are California natives.
Tedford said he viewed this incoming class as a success, with the team retaining nearly all their recruits amidst a recent coaching change.
“Signing day and wrapping up a class is an exciting time. A lot of hard work and energy went into it,” Tedford said.
In his first year back with the program, Tedford acknowledged the concerns of recruiting during a coaching transition. However, he credited his coaching staff in their ability to run a successful recruitment during a hectic time.
“You can imagine as a coaching transition happens you’re not only hiring new staff but evaluating your own personnel and recruits,” Tedford said. “The staff has done a great job. Albert Garcia and our recruiting department made this transition seamless.”
When asked if an emphasis was placed on in-state recruits, Tedford noted the importance of the program recruiting players from California.
“[California’s] our lifeline. We start with the valley and make sure we own and saturate the valley from Sacramento to Bakersfield. That’s our number one priority,” he said.
The next main area of focus was the recruiting strategy of the Bulldogs, with the primary question being the possible impact of the team’s emphasis on the offensive and defensive lines.
“We don’t really know their impact until they get here… We have some graduate transfers, we recruit those guys with the expectation that they will make an immediate impact,” Tedford said.
Tedford also discussed the team’s plans to fit new players into their scheme, stating the team’s intention to evaluate both current players and recruits to find their best fit.
“Obviously we’re going to make sure our personnel fits and to be honest we don’t know exactly what we have right now but that’s what spring football is for,” Tedford said.
Tedford used the focus on schematic fit to transition into individual praise for certain players in the class.
The first of those were a former Fresno native, Edison High School Alumni, Velltray Jefferson, who is coming in as a transfer from last season’s Pac-12 champion Utah.
“He’s a phenomenal football player. With players that talented it’s hard to know where you’re going to play him, but he’s going to play tight end for us,” Tedford said. “He wants to be here… he’s been out of football for a year or two and I think he’s very motivated. I’ve been really impressed with him so far.”
Another standout player mentioned is dual-threat quarterback Joshua Wood. The current high school senior was named Washington State High School “Football Player of the Year” for the 2021 season after helping his team to a 14-0 season that ended with a state championship.
“He’s a winner. He really brings a great skill set, not only being able to throw the ball, but he’s very athletic and can do a lot with his legs… Anytime you can get a dual athlete in today’s day and age with the way offense is played it’s really important and he brings a great skillset,” Tedford said.
To end the press conference Tedford discussed the coaching changes made since hiring. Many of the newly appointed coaches have been individuals he’s worked with in the past.
“I can’t say that it was one of the things I looked at as a priority. All of these people I’ve worked with before, I know what they’re all about and the expertise they bring,” Tedford said. “It’s not because they’ve had NFL experience or been at a big time program, it just matched up that we’re all available again and the stars aligned perfectly.”