FRESNO – The search for Jeff Tedford's successor did not take long, nor did it break away from the continuity and foundation that has been built for Bulldog football as Fresno State director of athletics Terry Tumey named Kalen DeBoer head coach on Tuesday. He is the 20th head coach in the program's history.
"When I think about opportunities and places I want to coach, as soon as I stepped on this campus, I was like this is a place that I can love coaching at," said DeBoer at Tuesday's introductory press conference. "When I left I was hoping that one day this opportunity would come around."
DeBoer, the Bulldogs' offensive coordinator under Tedford in 2017-18, returns to the Valley following a standout 2019 campaign as the offensive coordinator for the Indiana Hoosiers.
IU sported an 8-4 record in 2019, a resurrection season said by some in the Midwest, as it was the Hoosiers' best regular season in 26 years. The eight wins tied for the third-most in school history, trailing only the 1945 and 1967 Big Ten Championships teams who each won nine games. Indiana posted a winning conference record for the first time since 1993 (5-3) and was nationally ranked for the first time in 25 years, breaking the oldest such drought in the country.
"We needed someone who has had success at every stop they've made in their career," said Tumey. "If you look at our new head coach's history, you'll see that every place he has been started in one place and ascended to another. That is truly remarkable. That's the type of trajectory that our student-athletes at Fresno State deserve."
DeBoer's two-year stint as the Bulldogs' offensive coordinator was one for the ages that concluded with a Mountain West Championship and Las Vegas Bowl win to cap a 22-6 run during the 2017-18 seasons.
Fresno State reached unprecedented heights in year No. 2 with DeBoer as the OC as the Bulldogs posted a school-record 12 victories, and finished ranked No. 18 in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches poll. The offense ranked 26th nationally in scoring offense (34.6) and 29th in passing offense (267.1), and produced five all-conference honorees. The Bulldogs finished eighth nationally in team passing efficiency (156.58), tied for 15th in turnovers lost (14), tied for 19th nationally in red zone offense (89.5 percent) and 25th in third-down conversions (44.6). Upfront, the Bulldogs' offensive line ranked in the top six nationally in fewest sacks and tackles for loss allowed per game in 2018 (6th, 5th).
Efficiency was the key in year one for the Bulldog offense under DeBoer en route to a 10-4 season, coming off a 1-11 campaign in 2016. Transfer quarterback Marcus McMaryion completed 62.1 percent of his passes, third-best in the Mountain West, and tossed just five interceptions on the year. With McMaryion under center for 11 of 14 games, the 'Dogs threw for 237.9 yards per game, fourth-most in the MW. McMaryion accounted for 3,094 total yards and 18 TDs. Providing time for his quarterback was an offensive line that allowed only 10 sacks in 14 games (0.71 per game), which ranked third in the FBS and was 21 fewer than the previous year. The 'Dogs held six opponents without a sack in 2017, with only two teams recording more than one sack in a single game. Fresno State also ranked third in the FBS in tackles for loss allowed per game at just 3.29 per outing.
Prior to Fresno State, DeBoer guided Eastern Michigan as its offensive coordinator from 2014-16. The team improved from 2-10 and 1-11 records in their first two seasons to finishing fourth in Mid-American Conference (west division) with a 7-5, 4-4 MAC regular-season mark in 2016. The Eagles tied the Football Bowl Subdivision mark for biggest turnarounds, improving on their win total from one win in 2015, to seven in 2016. Eastern Michigan earned its first bowl bid since 1987 and finished the season with a winning record for the first time since 1995.
DeBoer coached at Southern Illinois from 2010-13, where the Salukis defeated ten Top-25 opponents in his four years. His 2013 offense led the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) with 231.8 passing yards per game, the fourth-highest total in school history. SIU's 25 passing TDs tied for the third-highest mark in school history. Tight end MyCole Pruitt was named to the 2013 American Football Coaches Association FCS All-America team, while receiver John Lantz earned All-MVFC recognition.
A three-time NAIA National Coach of the Year at Sioux Falls, DeBoer won four Great Plains Athletic Conference titles, 50-straight home games, and 29-consecutive games overall in his final two years. He boasted a 17-2 playoff record, 49-1 conference ledger and appeared in four-straight national championship games (2006-09). He departed with an astonishing 67-3 career record as head coach.
DeBoer coached three NAIA National Players of the Year: quarterbacks Lorenzo Brown (2009) and Chad Cavender (2007), and running back Nick Kortan (2002) and assisted in the development of 25 first-team All-Americans.
As a player, also at Sioux Falls, he was an All-American wide receiver, setting school records for receptions (234), receiving yardage (3,400) and touchdown catches (33) from 1993-96.
Upon the conclusion of his playing career, he was a student assistant at USF (1997) and an assistant coach at Washington High School in Sioux Falls, S.D., (1998-99).
DeBoer and his wife, Nicole, have two daughters, Alexis and Avery.
The Kalen DeBoer File
2019: Indiana – offensive coordinator/QBs/associate head coach
2017-18: Fresno State – offensive coordinator/QBs
2014-16: Eastern Michigan – offensive coordinator/QBs
2010-13: Southern Illinois – offensive coordinator/WRs
2005-09: University of Sioux Falls – head coach [overall record 67-3]
2000-04: University of Sioux Falls – offensive coordinator
1998-99: Washington H.S. (S.D.) – assistant coach
1997: University of Sioux Falls – student assistant coach/WRs
Alma Mater: University of Sioux Falls (1998)
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