Two Former Titans Coaching in Super Bowl XLVII

Drevno and Donatell
Lost amongst the hoopla surrounding the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens advancing to Super Bowl XLVII was a connection to the Cal State Fullerton Football program. Former Titan Football player and coach Tim Drevno and former Titan Football coach Ed Donatell will both be on the sidelines in New Orleans coaching the San Francisco 49ers.

Most of the media will focus on what everyone is calling the “HarBowl” which will pit San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh against his brother, John Harbaugh, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. For those Cal State Fullerton fans who are fans of other teams that did not make it to the Super Bowl, the Drevno and Donatell connection should make their decision to root for the 49ers a bit easier choice.

Ed Donatell currently is the defensive back coach with the San Francisco 49ers, after leaving the Denver Broncos during a 2 year run from 2009 through 2010. With over three decades of coaching experience, including 21 years in the NFL, Donatell has worked with several of the most highly regarded defensive backs in pro football history, including Ronnie Lott, Steve Atwater, LeRoy Butler, Darren Sharper, Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy, Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins. Donatell coached at Cal State Fullerton, coaching the Titan defensive backs in 1989.

Tim Drevno was first a player for the Cal State Fullerton Titan Football team before becoming a graduate assistant under Titan Football patriarch Gene Murphy. Drevno began his collegiate playing career at El Camino College in Torrence, where he helped lead his club to a national title in 1987 and earned All-Mission League honors the following season. He then went on to start on the Cal State Fullerton offensive line for two seasons. In the NFC Championship game this past Sunday, Frank Gore became the 49ers franchise leader in rushing touchdowns with much of the credit going to a Drevno coached offensive line clearing the path for Gore.

When it comes to who Titan fans will be rooting for in Super Bowl XLVII, the Drevno and Donatell connection should help make that decision quite easy. In this one case, it is okay to root for THESE 49ers.

Fullerton Athletic Director Search Down to Four

James Donovan

James Donovan

The reassignment of former Cal State Fullerton Athletic Director Brian Quinn to the development office in charge of athletic fund-raising left a vacancy and a huge opportunity for a new Athletic Director to guide Cal State Fullerton’s athletic department in a new direction. Coupled with the departure of former CSUF President Dr. Milton Gordon’s retirement this summer, it appears as though the waters for a return of Titan football may be warming.

Now comes news that the search committee has narrowed the field of potential Fullerton Athletic Directors to four highly qualified candidates. Those four include; Vince Otoupal, the Director of Athletics at California State University Monterey Bay, James Donovan, former Athletic Director at the University of Hawaii, Jamie Mullin, Associate Director of Athletics at Syracuse University and Jim Sarra, the Deputy Director of Athletics at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).

Jim Sarra

Jim Sarra

Vince Otoupal was on the Cal State Fullerton campus today for his interview. Other candidates will also visit campus including James Donovan on campus November 28th, Jamie Mullin on campus November 29th and James Sarra on campus December 3rd. The remaining three candidates will all have very busy schedules on the day of their interview but for an hour, will be available for an open forum to field questions from students, alumni and community members. All three of those open forum meetings will be held from 10 am to 11 am on the days the particular candidate is visiting campus and will be held in the Academic Senate chambers located within the Titan Bookstore.

The committee dedicated to bringing back Titan Football would highly encourage everyone who is interested in getting the Titan Football program reinstated to attend these open forum sessions and to specifically ask the candidates’ stance on bringing back Titan Football.

To see the bios and resumes of all four candidates, please visit the AD search section on the official Cal State Fullerton website HERE.

FJC Poker Fund Raiser

Tim Byrnes is a former Titan Football Player and is currently the Head Coach of the Fullerton Junior College Football Team. Help a former Titan player with this fund raiser if you can.

Video: Mel Franks Remembers Gene Murphy

Long time Cal State Fullerton Sports Information Director Mel Franks recently retired after 30+ years of service. In this interview Franks recalls former Titan Football head coach Gene Murphy and his impressions of the now suspended Titan Football program.

Tell New CSUF President To Bring Back Titan Football

Mildred GarciaThe woman pictured at left is Mildred Garcia. Garcia recently took over for the departing Cal State Fullerton President, Milton Gordon. Gordon’s retirement opened the door for Garcia to come to Cal State Fullerton after serving as President of Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Given past President Gordon’s track record regarding athletics, many thought the probability of bringing back Titan Football would require Cal State Fullerton getting a new president that was more open to the idea. That ideal has become a reality with Gordon’s retirement. Now it is uncertain the stance and enthusiasm Garcia has for athletics as being a major driving force as to how she will conduct her duties as President of Cal State Fullerton. Her track record for promoting athletics is quite limited in that CSUDH is not an athletic powerhouse and plays in a lower NCAA division than Cal State Fullerton.

Earlier this week, current students and alumni were sent an email from Dr. Garcia asking for advice and direction on where her administration should focus their collective efforts as she makes the transition to her new post at Fullerton. Her email is as follows:

This is my second week as your new president and I am so pleased, excited and humbled to be working with you! As we begin this journey together, I would like to have your input to inform and shape our collective thinking and direction. Therefore, I am requesting your open and candid response to five questions. This is an opportunity for me to learn from you about our campus and to receive your suggestions and advice about moving forward.

I hope you will take the time to complete this brief five-question survey by going to the following link: https://survey.fullerton.edu/classclimate/online/presidentsoffice.

Please complete the online survey by June 29, 2012.

Rest assured that your responses are completely anonymous and your personal identification is not in any way required or collected.

Please know I will read each response and I look forward to reporting back what I learn from the survey. Thank you for agreeing to participate.

Mildred GarcĂ­a, Ed.D.
President

Here is your chance Titan Football fans to have your voice heard. Dr. Garcia is asking you to let her know what is important to you by offering this survey. If bringing back Titan Football is important to you, we highly encourage you to fill out the survey and ask that she make bringing back football to Cal State Fullerton a top priority.

You know what they say…. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”. Let’s have our voices and opinions about Titan Football be heard. Let’s be that squeaky wheel that she can’t just ignore. Let’s share this survey with as many people we know so that Dr. Garcia can truly get the magnitude and enthusiasm that we all have for bringing back Titan Football.

Please take five minutes and fill out the survey right now, right HERE