Thomas Jay Craft (born November 12, 1953) is an American college football coach.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Riverside City |
| Conference | National Southern |
| Record | 144–22 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | November 12, 1953 Iowa City, Iowa, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1972–1973 | Monterey Peninsula |
| 1975–1976 | San Diego State |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1977–1982 | Palomar (QB/WR) |
| 1983–1993 | Palomar |
| 1994–1996 | San Diego State (OC/QB) |
| 1997–2001 | Palomar |
| 2002–2005 | San Diego State |
| 2007–2009 | Mt. San Antonio (assoc. HC/OC/QB) |
| 2010–present | Riverside City |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 19–29 (college) 260–78–1 (junior college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 junior college (1991, 1993) 2 CCCAA / 3C2A (2019, 2023) 5 Mission Conference South Division (1989–1993) 4 Mission Conference Central Division (1998–2001) 2 Central East (2010–2011) 7 National Central (2013–2017, 2021–2022) 4 National Southern (2018–2019, 2023–2024) | |
Career
editHe is the head football coach at Riverside City College in Riverside, California, a position he has held since 2010. Craft served as the head football coach at San Diego State University from 2002 to 2005 and for two stints at Palomar College in San Marcos, California, from 1983 to 1993 and 1997 to 2001. Craft has also been the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California.
Under his tenure, San Diego State developed a reputation of playing the tough teams well but lacked consistency and never had a winning season. In 2004, San Diego State lost to Michigan 24–21, and in 2005, where it pushed Ohio State at home, and lost 24–21 to TCU. San Diego State fired Craft at the end of the 2005 season.[1]
Craft is a graduate of Pacific Grove High School, in Pacific Grove, California, and thereafter played quarterback at San Diego State.
After serving as an assistant coach at Palomar from 1977 to 1982 and with the school openly questioning its commitment to football, he took over head coaching duties in 1983. After a pair of 4–6 seasons, the Comets' fortunes began to improve. By the time Craft left the San Marcos school for the Aztec coordinator's job, Palomar was coming off a three-year stretch of 31–2, had an offense ranked among the nation's top five for five consecutive years and was sporting two national championships. Craft compiled an overall record of 115–56 and three national junior college football championships at Palomar.
At Palomar, Craft taught and coached seven All-American quarterbacks, which include: Duffy Daughtery, Scott Barrick, Brett Salisbury, Andy Loveland, Tom Luginbill, Greg Cicero, and Andy Goodenough.
Head coaching record
editCollege
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego State Aztecs (Mountain West Conference) (2002–2005) | |||||||||
| 2002 | San Diego State | 4–9 | 4–3 | 4th | |||||
| 2003 | San Diego State | 6–6 | 3–4 | 5th | |||||
| 2004 | San Diego State | 4–7 | 2–5 | 7th | |||||
| 2005 | San Diego State | 5–7 | 4–4 | 6th | |||||
| San Diego State: | 19–29 | 13–16 | |||||||
| Total: | 19–29 | ||||||||
Junior college football
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palomar Comets (Mission Conference) (1983–1993) | |||||||||
| 1983 | Palomar | 4–6 | 1–5 | 6th | |||||
| 1984 | Palomar | 4–6 | 2–6 | T–7th | |||||
| 1985 | Palomar | 6–4 | 4–4 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1986 | Palomar | 5–5 | 4–5 | 7th | |||||
| 1987 | Palomar | 4–4–1 | 3–5–1 | 6th | |||||
| 1988 | Palomar | 4–6 | 3–6 / 3–1 | 2nd (South) | |||||
| 1989 | Palomar | 7–4 | 6–3 | 1st (South) | W Hall of Fame Bowl | ||||
| 1990 | Palomar | 7–4 | 4–0 | 1st (South) | W Hall of Fame Bowl | ||||
| 1991 | Palomar | 10–1 | 8–0 | 1st (South) | W Merced Elks Bowl | ||||
| 1992 | Palomar | 10–1 | 8–1 / 3–0 | 1st (South) | W Orange Country Classic | ||||
| 1993 | Palomar | 11–0 | 9–0 / 3–0 | 1st (South) | W San Francisco Community College Bowl | ||||
| Palomar Comets (Mission Conference) (1997–2001) | |||||||||
| 1997 | Palomar | 6–5 | 5–5 / 3–3 | T–3rd (Central) | |||||
| 1998 | Palomar | 10–1 | 9–1 / 5–0 | 1st (Central) | W First Down Bowl | ||||
| 1999 | Palomar | 8–3 | 8–2 / 4–1 | T–1st (Central) | L Shrine Potato Bowl | ||||
| 2000 | Palomar | 7–4 | 7–3 / 4–1 | T–1st (Central) | L Southern California Bowl | ||||
| 2001 | Palomar | 10–2 | 7–1 / 5–0 | 1st (Central) | W Southern California Bowl, L CCCAA Championship | ||||
| Palomar: | 113–56–1 | 88–47–1 | |||||||
| Riverside City Tigers (Central East Conference) (2010–2011) | |||||||||
| 2010 | Riverside City | 10–1 | 5–0 | 1st | W Central Division Championship | ||||
| 2011 | Riverside City | 11–0 | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
| Riverside City Tigers (National Central Conference / League) (2012–2017) | |||||||||
| 2012 | Riverside City | 9–2 | 5–1 | 2nd | W Golden State | ||||
| 2013 | Riverside City | 10–2 | 6–0 | 1st | L SCFA Championship | ||||
| 2014 | Riverside City | 10–2 | 6–0 | 1st | L SCFA Championship / CCCAA Semifinal | ||||
| 2015 | Riverside City | 8–3 | 5–1 | T–1st | L CCCAA Southern California Playoffs | ||||
| 2016 | Riverside City | 10–2 | 4–1 | T–1st | L SCFA Championship | ||||
| 2017 | Riverside City | 10–2 | 4–1 | T–1st | L SCFA Championship | ||||
| Riverside City Tigers (National Southern League) (2018–2021) | |||||||||
| 2018 | Riverside City | 10–2 | 5–0 | 1st | L CCCAA/SCFA Championship | ||||
| 2019 | Riverside City | 13–0 | 5–0 | 1st | W CCCAA Championship | ||||
| 2020–21 | No team—COVID-19 | ||||||||
| Riverside City Tigers (National Central League) (2021–2022) | |||||||||
| 2021 | Riverside City | 10–3 | 5–0 | 1st | L CCCAA Championship | ||||
| 2022 | Riverside City | 12–1 | 5–0 | 1st | L CCCAA Championship | ||||
| Riverside City Tigers (National Southern League) (2023–present) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Riverside City | 12–1 | 6–1 | 2nd | W 3C2A Championship | ||||
| 2024 | Riverside City | 9–1 | 7–0 | 1st | |||||
| Riverside City: | 144–22 | 73–5 | |||||||
| Total: | 260–78–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
References
edit- ^ McGrane, Mick (December 6, 2005). "SDSU fires Craft: Athletic director says program needs more energy, confidence". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved November 13, 2012.