Baldwin Cashes In on CSUN Success

Dave Baldwin, who guided Cal State Northridge to Division I-AA football legitimacy in 19 months, was introduced as San Jose State’s new coach Friday, leaving his alma mater for a substantial pay hike and a Division I-A post.

“This was the move I had to do,” Baldwin said. “[The Western Athletic Conference] is a great conference and for the protection of my family I had to do it. The raise itself is double.”

Baldwin, who brought Northridge to the fringe of the Division I-AA top 25 in the school’s fourth season on that level, signed a four-year contract worth $125,000 a year, plus other benefits that include a car. Baldwin, 41, made $66,240 at Northridge.

After Baldwin received the offer Friday, Northridge Athletic Director Paul Bubb asked if there was anything he could do to keep the coach, but Baldwin said it was too good of an opportunity.

“I’m disappointed that Dave’s not going to be here to continue what I think will be a very successful career, but at the same time I have a respect for the opportunity that was presented to him,” Bubb said. “When we hire young coaches that we think are going to be successful, we do so with the knowledge that if they are successful, they will have other opportunities come their way.”

Baldwin, an assistant at San Jose State in the early 1980s, edged out Nick Aliotti, special teams coach of the St. Louis Rams, who was said to be the runner-up.

Six candidates were interviewed, and two--Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Coach Andre Patterson and North Texas Coach Matt Simon--pulled out before a decision was made.

“San Jose State University found a perfect fit,” said Thomas Brennan, the Spartans’ athletic director, in a prepared statement. “Dave Baldwin has been successful as a head coach. He has considerable experience recruiting in California both in the community colleges and high schools. . . . Through his past affiliation working as a member of Jack Elway’s San Jose State staffs in the early 1980s, he knows our program and is well aware of our current needs.”

Among those likely to be candidates to replace Baldwin are Jim Fenwick, Valley College’s coach and a finalist for the job when Baldwin was hired; Jeff Kearin, the Matadors’ offensive coordinator; and Mark Banker, a former Northridge defensive coordinator who is a graduate assistant at USC.

Ron Ponciano, Northridge’s defensive coordinator, got an endorsement from Baldwin on Friday, but Baldwin might want Ponciano to follow him to San Jose.

“He is interested in coming [to San Jose] but I also feel he is maybe the most qualified guy for [the Northridge] job,” Baldwin said. “I’d hate to lose him but, if it’s to Northridge it’s OK.”

Bubb plans to convene a search committee next week and hopes to have the position filled by January. It means Northridge will probably be without a coach when the signing period for junior college players begins Dec. 18.

Marc Goodson, a junior linebacker, said he was shocked.

“I thought he was going to finish out the next year and take us to national championship and then go with a [bigger school],” Goodson said. “You’ve got to respect what he’s doing. He’s just trying to better himself. I never thought he would do that this early. That will hurt us next year.”

Junior quarterback Aaron Flowers, key ingredient of a strong returning nucleus, while happy for Baldwin still expects Northridge to be a Big Sky contender.

“I think we have enough quality players and leadership on this team to pick up the slack,” he said, “but it’s up to the administration now to bring in a competent replacement who can lead us to the Big Sky championship, because we definitely have the players to do it.”

Baldwin, who also was interviewed for the opening at New Mexico State, became a hot prospect when he led Northridge from a 2-8 season in 1995 to a 7-4 mark and a third-place finish in its first season in the Big Sky Conference.

Northridge finished 26th in the Division I-AA poll, perhaps one victory short of a playoff berth.

“I felt I gave everything to Northridge,” Baldwin said. “I slept in the locker room. I watered the field. It’s an emotional time leaving because it’s my alma mater.

“We took the program into the Big Sky and went farther than anyone’s expectations. I really believe that if [Northridge] brings in the right guy, they can go far in the Big Sky and go into the I-AA playoffs.”

Baldwin inherits a San Jose State team was 3-9 this season. The Spartans were 3-5 in their inaugural season in the WAC, finishing sixth in the Southern Division.

Coach John Ralston, who was 11-34 in four seasons at San Jose State after a distinguished career at Utah State, Stanford and with the Denver Broncos, announced he was retiring late in October.

By moving to San Jose State, Baldwin continues traversing the state in a pattern he began nearly 20 years ago.

After graduating from Northridge in 1978, Baldwin was an assistant with the Matadors for two seasons. He was a San Jose assistant for four years and was at Stanford for five.

In 1990, Baldwin returned south, taking over as head coach at Santa Barbara City College. Four years later, he moved north again to coach Santa Rosa Junior College.

He spent one season there before returning to Northridge in 1995.

Baldwin, 42-31 in seven seasons as a college head coach, developed a reputation for successful passing games. He was passing game coordinator in 1988 at Stanford and his Santa Barbara teams set Western State Conference passing records in three of his four seasons.

When Baldwin brought his ball-control passing game to Northridge, it often confused his players early in his first season. The Matadors also struggled because they didn’t have the personnel for the scheme.

But this fall, after a full year of recruiting and with a 20-scholarship hike, Baldwin ran one of the nation’s top passing offenses. The only stain on Baldwin’s Northridge record was an incident in August when he lied to reporters to cover up the shooting of one of his players at an off-campus party, instead saying running back Shayne Blakey had appendicitis.

When the truth surfaced, Baldwin publicly apologized for his actions--”I’m a disgrace to myself,” he said--and he received a written reprimand from the university president.

“[Baldwin] and I spoke about [the incident],” said Brennan, the San Jose State athletic director, “and their president spoke with our president and we are convinced people sometimes don’t show judgment when they should, but it’s not something we are concerned with.”

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Baldwin’s Career Record

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Year School Overall Conf. 1990 S. Barbara CC 5-5 5-5 1991 S. Barbara CC 9-2 9-1 1992 S. Barbara CC 6-4 6-4 1993 S. Barbara CC 5-5 5-5 1994 Santa Rosa JC 8-3 5-1 1995 Northridge 2-8 1-2 1996 Northridge 7-4 4-3 Totals (7 seasons) 42-31 35-21

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Northridge at Division I-AA

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Year Coach Overall Conf. 1993 Bob Burt 4-6 1-3 1994 Bob Burt 3-7 0-3 1995 Dave Baldwin 2-8 1-2 1996 Dave Baldwin 7-4 4-3 Totals (4 seasons) 16-25 6-11

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* Northridge was in the four-team American West Conference from 1993-1995 and in the nine-team Big Sky Conference in 1996.