CSUN Gets Its Man--Baldwin : Football: Former Matador wide receiver and assistant is leaving Santa Rosa JC and will be named coach at his alma mater today.

Dave Baldwin, who in one season at Santa Rosa Junior College turned a downtrodden loser into a bowl-game participant, will be named football coach at Cal State Northridge today.

Baldwin would not confirm that he has accepted the job, but told his players at Santa Rosa Thursday that he is leaving to take the job at Northridge.

Baldwin, who has several Valley ties, emerged from a list of four finalists and was characterized by Northridge selection committee members as the most qualified and personable of the candidates. He has a lengthy background in college football, where his duties included serving as offensive coordinator.

He also knows the terrain.

Baldwin played for pass-happy Valley coaching legend Jack Neumeier at Granada Hills High and was a Northridge receiver from 1975 to 1977.

In his final two years as a Matador, he played under Jack Elway and the two didn’t lose touch.

Baldwin, 40, was an assistant under Elway at San Jose State from 1980 to 1984 and at Stanford in 1984-88. In a recent interview, Elway called Baldwin his “No. 1 guy” at Stanford. Baldwin also was a graduate assistant at Northridge under Elway in 1978.

Baldwin was head coach at Santa Barbara City College from 1989 to 1993. Santa Barbara won the Western State Conference title in 1991 and advanced to a bowl game.

At Santa Rosa, Baldwin assumed control of a foundering program and steered it to a postseason appearance.

When he took over last fall, he was the team’s fifth coach in as many years. Santa Rosa was 1-19 over the previous two seasons.

Santa Rosa last fall finished 8-2 in the regular season under Baldwin, who relied almost exclusively on local players, and lost to Gavilan, 16-14, in the Santa Cruz Lions Bowl.

Baldwin faces a similar rebuilding task at Northridge, which finished 3-7 last fall and hasn’t had a winning season since 1990.

In light of uncertainty surrounding program funding and the resignation March 22 of Bob Burt--coach over the past nine years--no recruits have been signed in 1995. There are 31 players on the spring roster, 14 of them freshmen.

Northridge, which plays at the NCAA Division I-AA level in the cost-containment American West Conference, will be limited to 20 scholarships and a roster of 65 players.

The program also has been rocked by incidents involving player walkouts and brushes with the law.

Jonathan Beauregard, a former Northridge lineman, is scheduled to stand trial in July on two counts of attempted murder. The athletic department suffered a public-relations black eye last fall when it declined to suspend Beauregard after learning of his arrest in midseason.

Baldwin coached the likes of future NFL players Mervyn Fernandez, Ed McCaffrey and Greg Baty while in the college ranks.

In his final season at Stanford, Baldwin was offensive coordinator and has developed a reputation as a coach who isn’t afraid to throw the football. While at Santa Barbara, his team once attempted 67 passes in a WSC game against Moorpark.

Baldwin will have the option of hiring three full-time assistants at Northridge or retaining existing staff members.

The other finalists were Northridge assistant Dale Bunn, Valley College Coach Jim Fenwick and Pepper Matanga, a former assistant in the Canadian and Arena football leagues.