The Fresno State Bulldogs will kick off the 2024 college football season in Ann Arbor against the Michigan Wolverines without legendary head coach Jeff Tedford after the 62-year-old announced on Monday he is stepping down for health reasons.
This is the second time Tedford has stepped down at Fresno State due to his health, first doing so in 2019 before he was rehired three seasons later after his replacement, Kalen DeBoer, went to Washington.
Tedford went 45-22 across five seasons at Fresno State, including 19-8 the past two years. The Bulldogs were picked third in a Mountain West preseason poll, and are searching their fourth consecutive nine-win season – which has not happened since the team’s memorable run from 2001-2004.
Known as a quarterback guru, Tedford coached Aaron Rodgers and Kyle Boller at Cal during an excellent 11-season run which included a Pac-10 Championship in 2004. He also worked as an assistant coach at Oregon and Fresno State, working with quarterbacks David Carr, Joey Harrington, Trent Dilfer, and Akili Smith among others.
Tedford will be replaced on an interim basis by Tim Skipper, the team’s current assistant head coach and linebackers coach. Skipper played for the Bulldogs from 1997-2000 and has been in multiple roles as an assistant coach for over 20 years.