Underwood Caught in SDSU Transition : Football: Luginbill’s offensive assistant apparently will have a new role next season.
In what is becoming a shake-up of the offensive football coaches at San Diego State, Dan Underwood, the assistant head coach responsible for tight ends and running backs last season, apparently is being reassigned.
Although neither Underwood nor Coach Al Luginbill would confirm it, sources close to the football program indicated Thursday night that Underwood will not be in the same role next season.
“I can’t comment; I won’t comment,” Underwood said.
Underwood did confirm he still is working at SDSU. It was not immediately clear what his new role will be.
Luginbill, citing the same state and university policies he referred to when Dave Lay said he had been fired, said he could not comment until Feb. 15, when Underwood’s contract expires.
“Everything will be announced when we get into the new contracts,” said Luginbill, who was recruiting Thursday in Louisiana.
It is the second move among the SDSU offensive coaches in two weeks. Lay, SDSU’s offensive coordinator the past three seasons, was notified in a Jan. 20 meeting with Luginbill that his contract would not be renewed.
Underwood was hired at SDSU by then-Coach Denny Stolz in December, 1985. He came to SDSU from Ferris State (Mich.) University, where he was head coach in 1984 and 1985.
The Aztec offense finished sixth in the nation in 1991, averaging 478 yards per game.
In recruiting news, the Aztecs received an oral commitment from a player they thought they had lost--Marcus Soward of Rialto Eisenhower.
Soward, a running back and defensive back at Eisenhower, had committed to Arizona State earlier this week before changing his mind. The Sun Devils were recruiting him as a defensive back. The Aztecs said they would allow him to play running back.
“Me and (some Eisenhower teammates) were sitting down watching some game films, and I said, ‘You guys, this is my last year of playing running back,’ ” Soward said. “I’ve played running back since I was seven. I said to myself, ‘Do I want to give it up? Who is giving me a chance at running back?’
“It was San Diego State, and I thought, ‘I hope it’s not too late.’ I called Coach Luginbill and he said he still had a spot for me.’ ”
Soward, who also visited Cal and Washington State, gained 850 yards at Eisenhower last fall, averaging seven yards a carry. He was an all-state selection at defensive back and said that Bruce Snyder, new Sun Devil coach, had been recruiting him for Cal since last summer.
If Soward begins his career even partially as well as a certain Aztec in a similar situation a year ago, he will have no problem.
Marshall Faulk was recruited as a defensive back by Miami and Nebraska.