Ponciano Was Chosen for His Staying Power

Cal State Northridge, left in football limbo in the past two years by coaches who quit unexpectedly, on Wednesday introduced new Coach Ron Ponciano with a new approach.

“We were looking for someone who would stay longer than 11 months,” said Paul Bubb, Northridge’s athletic director. “My hope is [Ponciano] will choose to stay at Cal State Northridge and help this program. . . . Being able to provide some continuity was a critical factor [in the hiring process].”

To help ensure that, Bubb said Ponciano’s three-year contract with a yearly base salary of $75,000 has a penalty clause for an early departure. Men’s basketball Coach Bobby Braswell is the only other Matador coach with a similar stipulation in his contract.

The school, obviously tired of being used as a springboard for head coaches, included the safeguard in the agreement after getting burned by Dave Baldwin and Jim Fenwick the past two years.

Baldwin bolted after the 1996 season to coach at San Jose State and Fenwick resigned on Jan. 5 to become offensive coordinator at New Mexico.

Not that Ponciano, hired Friday, sounded anything but committed at a Wednesday news conference attended by his wife, Lisa; their infant son, Chad; school President Blenda Wilson and Matador assistants.

“I have no intentions of [leaving] real quick,” Ponciano said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do here.”

Ponciano, 38, defensive coordinator at San Jose State last season and at Northridge in 1995-96, said he returned to the promising but financially strapped program because he likes the school and the community.

His wife, Ponciano said, found a house last weekend and they put a bid on it.

“I evaluated my goals and dreams, and this is the place for me,” said Ponciano, Northridge’s 10th coach and fourth since 1994. “It was an opportunity I had been looking for a long time.”

Ponciano spent considerable time talking about making the Matadors a top Division I-AA program.

Northridge was expected to be a Big Sky Conference contender last year, but finished 6-6, 4-4 in the conference.

“We got to get the best available student-athletes here,” Ponciano said. “We got to go out and win. That’s the bottom line.”

Ponciano also has to go out and get some assistants, especially on defense. Other than offensive coordinator Rob Phenicie, offensive line coach Aron Gideon and assistant head coach Jeff Kearin, all holdovers from last year, Ponciano hasn’t finalized his staff.

Kearin, a three-year Northridge assistant who was a finalist for the head coaching job, might switch to defense after handling the running backs and special teams last season, and calling plays the previous two years.

“There’s a lot of guys who want to coach here,” Ponciano said. “I guarantee you I’ll get a quality staff. . . . I got probably 15 applicants for defensive coordinator.”

Ponciano said he is not concerned about the substandard football facilities, especially North Campus Stadium, or the urgency to produce a winner halfway through an ambitious five-year program.

“It’s important to me to do well before we get [a new] stadium,” Ponciano said. “I don’t want the stadium to be the reason we do well. . . . Nobody is putting pressure on me that I’m not putting on myself.”

Ponciano downplayed comments by Baldwin last week that portrayed Northridge as an undesirable outpost, saying his former boss was only looking after his own program.

“He didn’t want me to leave, that’s all Dave was saying,” Ponciano said. “We’ll always be friends. . . . I’ll always be in debt to him.”

Ponciano was ecstatic about the seven recruits signed by Northridge on Wednesday, the first signing day for high school seniors, to go with six transfers secured in the past few weeks.

The latest to sign with the Matadors include linebacker Andre Pepper from Riverside College, receiver Anthony Ramos from Santa Barbara City College and safety Chris Karibee from Riverside Pacific High.

“A coach told me today we got a steal [with Karibee],” Ponciano said. “He could play right now. . . . Andre Pepper is expected to help right away.”

Others signed by Northridge on Wednesday are offensive lineman Jake Ashabraner of Anaheim Esperanza, running back Isaac Gardner of Monterey Seaside, linebacker Pieter Keus of Carlsbad and offensive lineman Keith Kincaid of Riverside North.

The transfers previously signed by the Matadors include quarterback David Lins, who played at Crespi and Valley, but who was out of football last season.

Ponciano expects to add about 20 more players to the program, either through partial scholarships or as walk-ons.