Dec. 6, 2001
San Diego State Football News Conference
Rick Bay Introduction Remarks: I would like to introduce the 15th head coach in San Diego State Aztec history, Tom Craft.
I pleased to say with Tom here today, not only have we wrapped up the search for a head coach but we have the person on board as our football coach who was the number one pick from both our selection committee of alumni, faculty and staff, and our players committee as well. So we got the man that we went after.
We jumped over some hurdles late last night to get to this point, but I feel pleased that we do have our number one candidate here today as our football coach.
Tom went to San Diego State, quarterbacked one of our best under Claude Gilbert. Came back here to be the offensive coordinator for Ted Tollner and under his tutelage we had two or three of the best offensive teams in our history. We played exciting football from the beginning, scored a lot of points and rolled up a lot of yards. I'm hopeful that Tom can restore that kind of offensive scheme to San Diego State in the future.
We had good candidates for this job. We had an outstanding pool. Those names have been well publicized, but what struck us about Tom, was not only that he had local roots, and is well known in the community, but also that he has been a head coach. And ran his own show. That's important, no matter at what level that occurs. There is intrinsic value in being a head coach and having to make all the decisions that come with the position. Tom had that experience, and he had the San Diego State ties. In talking with several of the most prominent high school football coaches in the county, they were very excited about the possibility of Tom Craft coming back and heading up this program.
So when all is said and done in looking at it objectively, but the committees and myself felt that of all the candidates we had, Tom Craft had the best chance of turning this program around quicker than anyone else.
So it is my honor to introduce to you, our new head football coach for San Diego State, Tom Craft.
Tom Craft Introduction Remarks:
This is a very exciting moment for both my wife and myself, being alumnus from San Diego State. It's a great opportunity. I'm very excited about this job.
I wrestled with this decision, having a real commitment with my football team and the things we were doing to get them ready for the upcoming state championships at Palomar, but I knew there was a big time restraint here at San Diego State to get this done. I didn't want to stand in the way of San Diego State because of my respect for the program. I thought about the situation and what I'd be leaving at Palomar, but this is a situation I have coveted over the years and when I had the chance and the opportunity to work this position, I knew it was the right decision. Rick was so good about everything, and with the window open, I decided to take the job. I'm really excited about this opportunity.
I think initially the sense of urgency of what we've got to get done is in the area of recruiting obviously. We are weeks behind. That is going to be a big job and a primary concern immediately to get some people in here. We've got one recruiting weekend to work with and then we have the dead period. So it will be critical for us to start working next week on rounding up a football staff at San Diego State.