Titans Sign an All-American Quarterback : Dan Speltz Helped Throw El Camino (11-0) to National Championship

Cal State Fullerton has signed a community college quarterback who passed for more than 2,000 yards last season and led El Camino College to an 11-0 season and a national championship.

Dan Speltz has signed a national letter of intent and will begin classes in February, in time to participate in the Titans’ spring drills. Speltz completed 166 of 289 passes for 2,342 yards, 25 touchdowns and 8 interceptions and was named a first-team all-American at El Camino College.

For Fullerton, it is something of a recruiting coup. Even though the Titans have two returning quarterbacks who have started at one time or another, Speltz is a more-than-welcome addition.

Carlos Siragusa, a 6-foot 3-inch junior, and Tony Dill, a 5-11 junior, played behind senior Ronnie Barber last season, and had been expected to battle each other for the starting job next season. The battle will now include Speltz.

“When you’re recruiting, the word is competition,” said Gene Murphy, Titan coach. “It’s not a matter of hurting feelings, it’s a matter of competition. We’re going to put the best quarterback we can on the field, and it’s going to be a dog fight.”

Speltz, who is 6-3 and 215 pounds, played at Rolling Hills High School and walked on at UCLA as a freshman. After spending the season as a scout-team tight end/linebacker, he transferred to El Camino. He played as a backup in 1986, and in 1987 led El Camino to the South Coast Conference Championship and the J.C. Grid-Wire national championship. He also was named a J.C. Grid-Wire scholar-athlete all-American.

“There were a couple of things I was looking at in coming to my decision,” Speltz said. “One was I wanted to play for a team that was going to win, and not only that but have a chance of winning the conference.”

Fullerton finished 6-6 last season, and finished in a four-way tie for second in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.

“Another thing I was looking at was playing for a program that wants to expand with you and whose coaches are responsive to players,” Speltz said. “They don’t make it life and death. The coaches at Fullerton are great. It’s fun for the players. At that level there’s too much time and effort for it not to be fun.”

Speltz also said a desire to stay in Southern California was a factor.

The prospect of competing against two quarterbacks who have been in the Fullerton program for three years didn’t concern him, he said.

“There’s going to be competition wherever you go.”

The redshirt season at UCLA may be part of the reason Fullerton was able to sign Speltz. San Jose State and Stanford had been interested in him before learning he had used his redshirt season and had only two years remaining, rather than three years in which to play two seasons, Speltz said.

Speltz’ background is strikingly similar to that of Barber, the Titans’ quarterback last season. Barber also walked on at UCLA as a freshman, and went on to become an all-American at El Camino. Barber passed for 1,931 yards and 15 touchdowns last season.

Another community college player, Buford Halton, a tight end from Southwestern College of Chula Vista, signed with the Titans last week, bringing to seven the number of players who will begin classes with the spring semester.