Head Coach: Matt Entz is entering his first season as the head coach of the Bulldogs. He comes in with a pedigree of 2 FCS National Championships in 5 years at North Dakota State. He spent last season as a LBs coach at USC, it was a strange move but one that sets him up well recruiting wise for this job.
Program Outlook: Fresno State is a fun program, they were once known for their saying where they would play “anyone, anywhere, anytime” and those would include some pretty decent games, including some great return home games. This helped build the recognizable brand that we all know today. Now they’re a year away from beginning life in the Pac-12, thrilling times ahead for the Bulldogs program.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: Fresno State ranks 95th in the country returning 47% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. Key players starts with QB for the Bulldogs and they have two great options. EJ Warner (yes, Kurt Warner’s son) comes in from Rice via Temple, he’s got a great arm and shown a lot of ability but things didn’t take off as expected for him at Rice. They’ll also have Sacramento State transfer Carson Conklin as an option. They’ve got a couple RB options with last year’s leading rusher Elijah Gilliam and Bryson Donelson who looked promising when he got the ball. It will be a lot of next man up on the Oline for Fresno State, but this coaching staff should put a competent group together. Fresno State’s defense will be led by corner Al’zillion Hamilton who is one of the best in the conference. Safety Jayden Davis is really good on one end and the other Safety spot will likely be occupied by Utah State transfer Simeon Harris, he’s shown a lot of ability in the past but spent most of last year hurt. The defensive line looks pretty good too, their edge rushers couldn’t be more different. There’s former all-world recruit Korey Foreman on one side and on the other is Finn Claypool who comes in from Drake, a non-scholarship football program. Foreman hasn’t lived up to the potential he had but he’s found a steady home and role here, while Claypool could be a beast on the other side. Fresno State’s LBs seem ok, they’ll have Utah State transfer Jadon Pearson and Tim Thomas is the next man up at the other spot. The biggest question mark might be at receiver where some transfers from lower divisions and the Juco ranks are going to have to step in.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: Fresno State’s schedule looks a little easier than last season’s so that’s a plus. The non-conference schedule is extremely random and fun with games against Kansas (week 0!), Georgia Southern, and Oregon State. They get Southern University as their FCS foe, the Jaguars were one of the better teams in the SWAC last year. The Mountain West schedule features a tough road there’s games at Boise State, Colorado State, San Jose State and Hawaii but a favorable home slate is the exchange. It is nice to avoid UNLV and Air Force. Overall it sets them up to have decent sleeper potential.
Final Thoughts: Last year was an odd season for Fresno State, Tedford being forced to retire due to health issues just before the season made it a lost one but this time was a lot closer than you’d think. They battled with Michigan into the 4th quarter before a back breaking pick 6 when they had 1st and goal at their 10, and that set the theme for an entire season where Fresno State lost 5 one score games. Now with this coaching staff in place, it feels like they can turn it around pretty quickly.
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