Hail Spartans: San Jose State stalwart celebrates team’s rise from dregs to dominance
Lawrence Fan loaded up his Ford Granada to the hilt in the summer of 1980 — books, files, laundry — and headed west. He left Philadelphia in the rear-view mirror.
The San Francisco native came home, accepting the task as sports information director at San Jose State. In the 40 years since, the man known for his kindness, class, attention to detail and baking “Fan Cakes” for those who frequent San Jose State events is still charting new ground.
This goes beyond Fan going about his work amid change. He has gone from typewriters to the Internet, from newsprint to social media, from a rotary phone to Zoom calls. He has chronicled every touchdown, inspiring victory and crushing defeat suffered by San Jose State over four decades. He maintained a cheerful tone during a dreadful 12-year stretch through 2004 when the Spartans managed a single winning season, and when there were back-door discussions of dropping football.
The start of his fifth decade as a Spartan included a challenge unlike any other with COVID-19 hovering and altering lives, or shattering them.
Now Fan updates the sporting world on San Jose State’s historically great season. The Spartans are 6-0 this truncated, stop-and-start season, their best start since the 1939 team went 13-0. Fan didn’t see that outfit. He’s not that old. He is 64, old enough to recall watching Y.A. Tittle play for the 49ers at Kezar Stadium in the 1950s, seated next to his father.
The Spartans are ranked 25th by The Associated Press after rallying from 20-7 down at the half last week to defeat Nevada, 30-20. That effort placed San Jose State into Saturday’s Mountain West Conference Championship game against Boise State in Las Vegas, another program first.
Entering this season, San Jose State produced just three winning seasons since 1993. The Spartans seek their first conference championship since 1991.
The subtle efforts of nine players with Sacramento-area ties have added to the intrigue, and Fan knows the trends of each one of them. The lot includes Sacramento native Kenyon Reed starting in the secondary, Andre Crump of Monterey Trail High School in the receiver rotation, Lorenzo Burkes of Jesuit on special teams, John Weiss of Ponderosa in the trenches on special teams and Jackson Canaan of Jesuit getting some time at tight end.
Hilariously hip with the lingo of any era, Fan said, “we have quite a few players on the roster from the 916 and 530,” in reference to home area codes.
‘We’re the traveling nomads!’
If San Jose State isn’t the college story of the year, then it is certainly on the short list. It is a team with no home, with every practice and game contested out of state, to stay a step ahead and in compliance with county health guidelines that have also relocated the 49ers to Arizona for practices and home games. Fan has waited a career for a Spartans team this good, this fun, but he has no home fan base to show the product off to live.
“We’re the traveling nomads,” Fan said with a laugh.
Fan’s business card also includes the title of associate athletics director for football communications and special projects. In short, it means Fan gets things done. One doesn’t make the College Sports Information Directors Hall of Fame by just taking statistics and setting up interviews.
Fan was at the forefront of helping San Jose State relocate from COVID-19-heavy Santa Clara County for training camp at Humboldt State before the Oct. 24 opener. Road games against Fresno State and Boise State were canceled due to COVID-19 concerns within those programs. The last home game for San Jose State was Nov. 14. The Spartans have resided in Lake Las Vegas since Dec. 6, located some 30 minutes from the Vegas Strip.
Players haven’t seen family in person since before the season started.
“That’s the toughest thing for players, coaches and staff, not seeing family or loved ones, especially over the holidays,” Crump of Monterey Trail said. “But we made a decision as a team and that we had business to take care of.”
More Crump, “If I had to put this season in one word, I’d say unique. It’s made us grow together, mesh. We’re most thankful for the opportunity to play.”
Said Fan, “We were in Honolulu for the Hawaii game (on Dec. 5) and we could almost drive a tank across the beach without running over anyone — there was hardly anyone there. We were in Humboldt for 12 days before the first game. We haven’t been home. It’s been an interesting season. I have to make sure I don’t screw it up!”
If Fan is anything like his old vehicles, there’s a lot left under the hood, more to do, more to give. He told Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News in 2012 of any tales of sleeping in his office or in his car, “That’s a bit of an exaggeration. I haven’t done that more than five times.”
Fan attended Cal in the mid 1970s to study mathematics but was intrigued by sports business. His first gig was as sports information director at La Salle University in Philadelphia. Fan’s reputation sparkles, much like the team he now champions.
”So happy Lawrence has a winning team to promote,” said Doug Kelly, the longtime radio voice for UC Davis football who has run into Fan a ton over the years at various events. “Win, lose, draw, whatever, he’s always the same guy. In sports media, that’s tough to do.. San Jose State isn’t exactly Alabama when it comes to resources. Lawrence Fan has done great work.”
SID Fan impact and local-player impact
The last first-round pick out of San Jose State football was defensive back Gil Byrd in 1983. The one before that was Gerald Willhite in 1982, out of American River College and Cordova High School.
People smirked when Fan drummed up a Heisman Trophy promotional package for Willhite, an electrifying running back. Fan’s pitch was, “See the Light: Vote Willhite.”
Fan succeeded in getting media to notice the Spartans. When Willhite was inducted into the Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame nearly a year ago, Fan went to work again, loyal to long-ago Spartans. He rounded up 15 former players to attend the event.
”On draft day, Gerald had no place to go and didn’t want to impose on anyone, so I insisted he come to my apartment, three blocks away from campus,” Fan said. “I told him at least at my place, you’ll be accessible. The Broncos called my phone to tell him he was drafted. Watched it on my 13-inch TV set. We stuffed all sorts of camera crew and people into that two-bedroom place.”
Fan vows that the “the Fan Cake will return in 2021,” a tasty treat to others because that is what he does. The rustic Ford Granada he drove cross country and all over California was retired years ago with 410,000 miles. Fan’s current ride is a 2000 Oldsmobile, just warming up with “397,000-plus,” said a man who knows his numbers.
If San Jose State beats Boise State, San Jose State will sit at 498 victories since the school first hit the field in 1893. Fan has worked with 12 San Jose State head football coaches over his 40 seasons, starting with Jack Elway. Others included John Ralston, Terry Shea and Dick Tomey.
Now it’s Brent Brennan, who has worked wonders to elevate the program. He went 2-11 in 2017 and 1-11 in 2018 and 5-7 last season. Fan understands success leads to coaching opportunity. Elway went from San Jose State to Stanford, Shea led San Jose State to its last conference titles, in 1990 and ‘91, and he left to work with Bill Walsh at Stanford. Mike MacIntyre led the Spartans to a 10-2 showing in 2012 before bolting for Colorado before a bowl game.
Brennan will be courted. He is also a homegrown story of note. He said there is more work to do at San Jose State.
Said the coach, “I grew up here. My dad played here. I went to these games as a young man. As a kid, rolling down the hill before the stands were in the north end. That’s been my whole life. When I said that, that came from the heart. I love this place. I love what we’re doing.”
San Jose State players love their coach, including carrying him on their arms in a coach-surf scene in a giddy locker room after defeating Nevada. Crump, the receiver from Monterey Trail, said, “We’re in the rise. I’m excited for the future.”
Canaan, the tight end out of Jesuit, echoed Crump when he said San Jose State was the right fit. Canaan tore his ACL the first game of his senior season at Jesuit and didn’t know if he could even land a scholarship.
“I’m very happy to be here,” he said. “I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason. It’s more than I expected here.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2020 at 7:20 AM.