SAN DIEGO – San Diego State Football is now 10 days away from the 2026 season opener against Portland State. The Aztecs practiced with the sounds of 1990’s hip-hop and temperatures reaching the mid-80s.
The day began with an emphasis on special teams and position groups meeting before taking the turf field. The strength and conditioning staff put the players through a stretching routine before breaking off into various special teams’ drills. The second half of practice was held on the grass field with the team emphasizing various 1-on-1 exercises with the offense and defense facing off against one another.
The 2025 season saw San Diego State field an elite linebacker unit that helped anchor one of the best statistical defenses in the nation. As a group they collected four sacks, 13 tackles for loss, defended 10 passes, snagged two interceptions and returned one for a touchdown. Two of the team’s top three players in total tackles were also linebackers.
New linebackers coach Scott White brings a strong southern California football pedigree to The Mesa having spent the past two seasons at UCLA and eight years with the Bruins in total. With UCLA, White helped oversee numerous high-level players such as first-team Associated Press All-America selection Carson Schwesinger in 2024 and national award winners Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks.
White has acknowledged the duo of three-time captain Tano Letuli and Sione Hala as the leaders of his position group but is excited for the depth that has developed behind the projected starters.
“Coming into this thing, it's all about developing the depth, and it's really coming together nicely. You’ve got Dean Harrington, Cameron Cooper, those guys can get in there and really start for us. They're really reliable. We're going to ask a lot of Cooper. He's going to play a lot of different roles for us. He's going to play up on the EDGE some. He's going to play behind the ball some. He's going to play out at the big nickel. He's going to be a key cog. So overall, you need four to five really solid guys that you trust that you can put in the ball game and right now, it's coming together really nicely.”
With a core group of players that can be called upon, White has emphasized the group’s goals, particularly stopping the opposition’s ground game.
“You have to be able to run the football on offense and stop the run on defense. That is required in any championship-level defense. So, the first thing is keeping the ball leveraged, keeping the formation leveraged. Second thing is layering. Third thing is pursuit. Fourth thing is tackling. When you watch elite run defense, you're going to see those things show up. When you watch really poor run defense, those things or the lack thereof will show up.”
Tano Letuli became the first three-time Aztec captain since current Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was a four-time captain from 2004-07. He captained a defense last year that ranked among the top 25 in the country in multiple categories. Letuli totaled 30 tackles with a 31-yard interception, two pass breakups and four quarterback hurries in parts of six games last year before an injury sidelined him for the season. Letuli, who earned all-MW honorable mention each of the last two years, has been named to the Polynesian Player of the Year Watch List (Polynesian ancestry), the Pac-12 Preseason Impact List, a preseason first-team all-Pac-12 selection by Phil Steele Magazine, Athlon Sports and Lindy’s Sports.
When asked about his role as both a team leader and local “hometown hero” Letuli said “Just excited to serve the guys like I do and get to show up and give my best every single day…I want to just keep showing up every day for my city, and it's a logo and it's a brand that I've always wanted to be a part of and always looked up to. So now, leading the team, it's really special to me.”
Alongside Letuli, newcomer Sione Hala has emerged as a leader on and off the field. Hala brings years of college production having posted 64 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss and an interception last season at Weber State. He began his career in the ACC playing in 22 games for Boston College.
Hala has already injected a level of energy and leadership into the locker room highlighting his passion for the game.
“I'm an older guy in the room. Tano and I are the only seniors, so I knew what I was getting myself into as a leader. I love football. I love being high energy. I love making plays, and it's about spreading that energy. That's what I'm trying to deal with right now, spreading the energy and getting everybody on the same level I'm at every day.”
The Aztecs will now look to wrap up the final week of fall camp. The first game of the season will be a home matchup against the Vikings of Portland State on Saturday, September 5. SDSU’s home slate also includes a non-conference game on Sept. 19 against James Madison (7 p.m. PT), and Pac-12 home matchups with Texas State (Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. PT), Fresno State (Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. PT), Washington State (Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. PT) and Utah State (Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. PT).
Fall Camp Recaps
8/5/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/6/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/7/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/11/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/12/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/13/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/14/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/17/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/18/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/18/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/20/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/25/2026 Fall Practice Recap
Ticket Information
Season Tickets
Season tickets remain the best value for Aztec football at Snapdragon Stadium. Season ticket pricing has been lowered across the board to make tickets more affordable and accessible for the loyal fans and community. Fans are encouraged to purchase season tickets through San Diego State, which start as low as $175 ($150 plus $25 Aztec Club Membership), only $29.17 per game. This shift supports SDSU’s focus on strengthening local connections and building a gameday atmosphere worthy of the program’s next chapter. PURCHASE SEASON TICKETS
Family 4-Packs
The four tickets can be purchased for $76 (plus fees), which includes parking (a combined $125 value). Additional seats can also be purchased for $20 apiece (plus fees). The four available games at Snapdragon Stadium include the Sept. 5 opener against Portland State at 6:30 p.m. PT, the Sept. 19 game vs. James Madison at 7 p.m. PT, SDSU’s inaugural Pac-12 game on Oct. 3 against Texas State at 7:30 p.m. PT and the final home game of the season on Nov. 14 vs. Utah State at 6:30 p.m. PT.
Single-Game Tickets
Single-game tickets start as low as $23, which includes all fees. PURCHASE SINGLE-GAME TICKETS