San Diego State

1-1
Latest
San Diego State completes big move, joining Pac-12 with other former Mountain West schools - Times of San Diegoour readThe Fresno State rivalry

Pac-12 · Sean Lewis, year 3 (13-14) · Snapdragon Stadium · 35,000 · 26,913 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#46 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #57 (+3.1) · FPI #73
The marketSan Diego State by 2.5vs James Madison · our model 69% San Diego State · a number, not a pick

LastL 10–28 at UCLA · Sat Sep 12 · Mike Lindsay 1 TFL, 1 INT, 3 tackles

Nextvs James Madison · Sat Sep 19 · 10 pm ET · Snapdragon Stadium · San Diego State by 2.5 · first meeting on record · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program I#65 all-time– holding
one line from National Program III
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 94-57 12 seasons
Best season 11-2 2021
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 7-6 '15 11-3 '16 11-3 '17 10-3 '18 7-6 '19 10-3 '20 — '21 11-2 '22 7-6 '23 4-8 '24 3-9 '25 9-4

San Diego State's 2014–2025 record is 94-57. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.622
Ranked seasons (AP)
4/12
Best AP finish
#19

Program outlook

Don Coryell invented the modern passing game here. Marshall Faulk ran for 386 yards and seven touchdowns in a single game as a freshman. In 2026, San Diego State finally walks into a power conference — the rebuilt Pac-12 — three years after opening a stadium of its own.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The lineage is legitimately historic. Coryell's 104-19-2 record at San Diego State in the 1960s wasn't just winning — it was the invention of the vertical passing game that became Air Coryell in the NFL, the ancestor of every spread offense currently running. Faulk arrived in 1991 and immediately produced one of the great individual games in college history. Two of football's most consequential names share a single campus in Mission Valley. For decades, the program they built lived inside a league that never fully acknowledged that canon.

Sean Lewis bottomed out at 3-9 in his first season, then went 9-4 in 2025 — a turnaround that arrived right on schedule with the Pac-12 invitation. The Aztecs' final Mountain West game was a wild 49-47 New Mexico Bowl loss to North Texas, which is a strange note to end a conference era on, but the larger story is the arrival, not the exit: San Diego State enters 2026 alongside Boise State, Fresno State, and Colorado State in a reborn league with genuine power-conference credibility.

What 2026 will answer is the question the fanbase has been circling for years: was this always a power-conference program waiting for the room, or is the Mountain West ceiling where the Aztecs actually live? The Pac-12 seat doesn't prove the former. Winning in it does.

On the field

The Coryell passing pedigree meets Rocky Long's 3-3-5 gambling defense — that has been the historical SDSU identity: attack downfield, confuse opponents with an unusual defensive front. Sean Lewis has layered up-tempo spread concepts over that defensive foundation, modernizing the offense while preserving the physical stopping-the-run identity. Snapdragon Stadium gives the program a genuine home-field atmosphere for the first time; the crowd and the scheme are both growing into power-conference standards together.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · San Diego State

San Diego State has won 54% of its games since 1931 — 64% at home, 43% on the road.

389-324-11 all-time · 86 seasons · 1931–2026

Home 230-126-4
Away 144-186-7
Neutral 15-12
36% 1930s
9 g 1940s
0% 1950s
90% 1960s
75% 1970s
42% 1980s
53% 1990s
32% 2000s
68% 2010s
54% 2020s

Coaching Era · San Diego State

Sean Lewis

Sean Lewis in year 3 of the rebuild. The methodology is taking shape.

Era Sean Lewis · 2024–presentPrev: Brady Hoke (2020–2023)OC: Matt JohnsonDC: Demetrius SumlerPrev DC: Rob Aurich (2025)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
3 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

1991

Faulk's record day

As a freshman, Marshall Faulk runs for 386 yards and seven touchdowns vs Pacific — one of the great individual games in college history

2016 Mountain West championship

SDSU caps a 11-win season with the conference title — the program's modern high point

2022

Snapdragon Stadium opens

The Aztecs open their own purpose-built home in Mission Valley after years sharing an NFL stadium — a program planting its flag

Moment of the season — so far · San Diego State · 2026

Won 53-20 vs Portland State

Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2026

San Diego State has sent 5 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — one of them in the first round.

Developing. Pipeline emerging.

5 picks · 1 in round 1
#27 Chris Johnson Cornerback · 2026 · Miami · #13/364 final season
#87 Cameron Thomas Defensive End · 2022 · Arizona · #191/370 final season
#112 Daniel Bellinger Tight End · 2022 · New York · #42/119 final season
#58 all-time · 10 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

San Diego State is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Sean Lewis2024
  • Brady Hoke departs27-20, 4 seasons
  • Hired Brady Hoke2020
  • Rocky Long departs81-38, 9 seasons
  • Hired Rocky Long2011
  • Brady Hoke departs13-12, 2 seasons
  • Hired Brady Hoke2009
  • Chuck Long departs9-27, 3 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

San Diego State’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Bob Toledo2015–2019 · Jeff Horton2020–2022 · Jeff Hecklinski2023 · Ryan Lindley2025–2026 · Matt Johnson
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2016 · Rocky Long2017 · Danny Gonzales2018–2019 · Zach Arnett2020–2023 · Kurt Mattix2024 · Eric Schmidt2025 · Rob Aurich2026 · Demetrius Sumler
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Snapdragon Stadium 2022 Opening

since 2022

more

Snapdragon Stadium (built 2022) is San Diego State's first dedicated football venue — replacing decades of sharing SDCCU Stadium (formerly Qualcomm) with the Chargers + Padres. The 35,000 capacity + dedicated football design + San Diego setting + corporate naming-rights modernity create a venue distinct from larger flagship-state programs.

Rocky Long 3-3-5 Defensive Legacy

since 2009

more

Rocky Long — who developed the 3-3-5 defensive scheme at New Mexico — brought the scheme to SDSU in 2009 as defensive coordinator, then became head coach 2011-2019. The 3-3-5 scheme produced multiple Mountain West championships + bowl wins + national defensive rankings. Long's coaching tree extends nationally.

Don Coryell Era (1961-1972)

since 1961

more

Don Coryell's 1961-1972 tenure produced the program's all-time peak (1969 11-0 + Pasadena Bowl + #18 AP) + later NFL coaching innovations ('Air Coryell' offense at the Chargers). Coryell's quarterback-passing emphasis (Brian Sipe, Don Horn) made SDSU an offensive-pioneer program.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2025): 4-5

Most recent: 2025 — loss 47-49 (home). Last 5 postseason: 2-3.

20252022202120192018
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

298
[Postgame Thread] San Diego State Defeats Weber State 6-0
Sep 2019 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

This page may include content derived from public news sources, social media, and fan communities. We relay these sources as-is — we are not reporting them. Sources may be summarized or quoted imperfectly; for anything that matters, go look at the original source directly. The original source may also be wrong. AI-generated content is labeled and may contain factual errors. All analysis is editorial opinion, not professional reporting. Data sources · About this site