Tim DeRuyter was named the 17th head coach in Fresno State football history on Dec. 14, 2011.
DeRuyter comes to Fresno State with 22 years of experience, 16 of which have been spent as a defensive coordinator. He takes over the program after serving the past two seasons as the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator at Texas A&M. There, he also served as the interim head coach for the Aggies in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas against Northwestern on Dec. 31, leading A&M to a 33-22 victory.
DeRuyter hails from a pair of Hall of Fame coaches, as he was mentored by Fisher DeBerry at Air Force and by Chris Ault at Nevada. DeRuyter was a 2010 nominee for the Broyles Award that honors the nation's top assistant coach, when he was working under former Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman.
In DeRuyter's two seasons with Texas A&M, he has done what he has consistently accomplished throughout his career - developing defensive units that are among the best in the nation.
DeRuyter made an immediate impact during his first season in Aggieland as the 2010 squad improved fifty spots in the national rankings for total defense, rising to No. 55 in the country as the resurrected Wrecking Crew helped lead A&M to the Cotton Bowl.
Highlighting a long list of players who excelled under DeRuyter's scheme was Von Miller, who in addition to earning All-American honors was awarded the 2010 Butkus Award, given annually to the nation's most outstanding linebacker. Miller went on to become the second overall pick of the Denver Broncos in the 2011 NFL draft.
In 2011, Texas A&M led the nation with 51 sacks and the Aggies were second in the Big 12 by only allowing 106.0 rushing yards per game.
Before coaching the Aggie defense, DeRuyter spent three years as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at his alma mater, Air Force. He also held the title of associate coach in 2008 and 2009.
• St. John Bosco HS, Bellflower, Calif. (1981)
• Air Force: B.A. in Management (1985) •Regis University: MBA in Market Strategy (1992)
Playing History
OLB at Air Force (1982-84)
Family
Wife: Kara Children: Jake and Christina
COACHING HISTORY
•2010-Pres: Texas A&M (Asst. Head Coach/Def. Coordinator)
•2008-09: Air Force Academy (Assoc. Coach/Def. Coor./Safeties)
•2007: Air Force Academy (Def. Coor./Safeties)
•2005-06: Nevada (Co-Def. Coor./Safeties & Pass Defense)
•2002-04: Ohio (Def. Coor./Secondary)
•1999-2001: Navy (Secondary)
•1995-98: Ohio (Def. Coord./Secondary)
•1991-94: Air Force (JV/Varsity Asst)
COACHING HIGHLIGHTS
•Has coached in 12 Bowl Games.
•Coached under Hall of Fame Coaches Fisher DeBerry (Air Force) and Chris Ault (Nevada).
•2011 Texas A&M defense led the nation in sacks (43).
•2010 nominee for the Broyles Award for the nation's top assistant coach.
•Coached Von Miller, the 2010 winner of the Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker. Miller was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
•2010 Aggie defense only allowed 21.9 ppg after it ranked No. 105 in the FBS by allowing 33.5 ppg the year before he took over.
•2009 Air Force defense was 11th in the NCAA in total defense & 5th in passing defense.
•2009 Air Force defense ranked 5th nationally in turnovers forced.
•Improved Ohio defense that ranked 99th in the FBS in 2001 before he arrived and to a No. 22 national ranking in total defense in his last season there.
His last year at Air Force saw the Falcons sport one of the top defense's in the country. Air Force ranked 11th in the NCAA in total defense in 2009, allowing just 288.3 yards per game. The secondary, under his watch, ranked fifth in the country by giving up just 154.3 passing yards per game and its 20 interceptions were the seventh-most in the FBS. For the season, Air Force created 34 turnovers to rank No. 5 nationally and the Falcon defense also ranked high nationally in fewest first down's allowed (No. 4 at 14.62 per game), scoring defense (No. 10 at 15.69 points per game) and third-down efficiency (No. 13 at 30.86 percent).
His transformation of the Falcon defense was evident in the fact that the year before he took over, Air Force ranked 70th nationally in turnovers gained, 78th in both total and scoring defense and dead last in third-down defense.
From 2005-06, DeRuyter was the co-defensive coordinator at Nevada while also holding the coaching responsibilities for the safeties and pass defense. At Nevada, the Wolf Pack defense was ranked 79th the year before he took over, but after his final season (2006), the defense was ranked 48th in the NCAA.
DeRuyter served two different stints as the defensive coordinator/secondary coach at Ohio, first from 1995-98 and then again from 2002-04. Sandwiched in between is a three-year stop at Navy coaching its secondary.
Ohio had dropped off into a defense that ranked 99th in the country in 2001 without him, but by DeRuyter's final season with the Bobcats (2004), Ohio's defense was ranked 22nd in the nation in total defense.
The 48-year old coach got his start in the business in 1991, where he served as the JV coach and varsity assistant at Air Force.
DeRuyter has coached in 12 bowl games in his career, including one in each of the past six seasons, and as an outside linebacker at Air Force in the early `80s, he led the Falcons to three-straight bowl victories.
A native of Long Beach, Calif., DeRuyter was born on Jan. 3, 1963 and graduated from St. John Bosco High School (Bellflower, Calif.) in 1981. He holds a bachelor's degree in management from Air Force (1985) and a MBA in market strategy from Regis University (1992).
Upon his graduation from the Air Force Academy, he served seven-and-a-half years of active duty in the Air Force.
DeRuyter and his wife, Kara, have a son, Jake, a freshman at the Air Force Academy, and a daughter, Christina, who is a junior in high school.
