‘Go-Go’ era for Sacramento State football is a go. Who are the new coaches, staff and players?
Brennan Marion vowed to make sweeping changes within the Sacramento State football program, and the freshly hired new Hornets coach wasn’t kidding as his motto of “Go-Go Sacramento” has already hit high gear.
The “Go-Go” reference is to Marion’s innovative and prolific offensive that he created years ago and nurtured the last two seasons as offensive coordinator at UNLV, a mix of running with power and speed and down-field passing.
Marion’s offensive ingenuity and ability to relate to and recruit student-athletes has made him a rising star in college in recent years as he endured challenges growing up, experiences that humbled and hardened him.
Since his arrival with the program Dec. 20, the 37-year-old Marion has added a host of new coaches to his staff while retaining offensive line coach Kris Richardson, who came aboard before the 2019 season after years of championship coaching success at nearby Folsom High School.
Richardson’s offensive lines were anchors for Sacramento State’s Big Sky Conference championship teams in 2019, 2021 and 2022 and for an FCS playoff team in 2023. He has coached 13 All Big Sky players, and his line has allowed just 30 sacks in 25 games despite a rash of injuries, including losing three starters in 2024 during an injury ravaged three-win campaign.
“He’s a great coach, and it starts up front,” Marion said of Richardson, calling him a “local legend.”
The Hornets as of Thursday morning had announced 13 new additions to the program this week, including holdovers Bobby Fresques, the team’s former offensive coordinator who is now a lead analyst for the football program and the director of alumni relations. Fresques played quarterback and graduated from Sacramento State in 1992. He will join in the front office an old friend in Chris Parry, who arrived to the Hornets front office before 2019 and is now the assistant general manager.
Other additions to the Hornets football staff: Lem Adams as offensive quality control, Anthony Laws as special teams analyst, Jeff Goldsmith as director of football operations, Marshawn Friloux to player personnel, Joey Moss as director of player personnel, CJ Pollard as recruiting and special projects coordinator, Anthony Rozier as special assistant to Marion, Dan Reakes as director of scouting, Melquise Stovall as a graduate assistant, Kyle Wager as offensive analyst and Aliyah Walker as director of football administration.
Sacramento State this week announced the appointments of the following new coaches and personnel:
▪ Robbie Bell as tight ends coach. He started on the offensive line at Louisville and worked as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech and Eastern Kentucky.
▪ Josh Brown as co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach. He coached at Sacramento State in 2007 and 2008 and was the co-defensive coordinator at McNeese State in 2024 with previous coaching stops at UTEP, Hawaii, Nevada and Cal Poly.
▪ Nathan Kenion as safeties coach. He coached at prep powerhouse De La Salle of the Bay Area from 2010-22.
▪ Sidhart Krishnamurthi as receivers coach. He played at Stanford from 2015-19 and coached receivers at San Jose State this past season, which included an opening-night victory over Sacramento State.
▪ Kenneth Merchant as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He played at Southern Connecticut State and worked on the UNLV staff during the 2024 season with Marion.
▪ Ed McGilvra as defensive line coach. He had assistant coaching gigs at California junior colleges College of the Canyons and Moorpark.
▪ Kenny O’Mary as strength and conditioning coach. He was the associate athletic director for high performance at William & Mary from 2021-24 and worked as the director of strength and conditioning at Howard between 2018-21.
▪ AC Patterson as co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach. He played at UTEP and was the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Portland State, a rival of Sacramento State in the Big Sky.
▪ Marcus Patton as defensive coordinator. He played at Kansas State and served as defensive coordinator at Tarleton State from 2016-21 and as defensive backs coach for Colorado State from 2022-24.
▪ Zach Potter as general manager. While serving in the front office in management, Potter helped the Birmingham Stallions win three consecutive championships in the professional leagues USFL and UFL.
▪ Jake Vang as edge rusher coach on defensive. He had previous assistant-coaching stops with Colorado State, Michigan State and Kansas State.
▪ Brennon Scott, a defensive lineman who played four seasons at UNLV after earning four-star status in high school in Texas.
▪ Brodie Tagaloa, a defensive lineman out of De La Salle High in the Bay Area who played at Nebraska.
▪ Darrin Walls as cornerbacks coach and defensive passing-game coordinator. A Pennsylvania native like Marion, Walls starred in the secondary at Notre Dame, played six seasons in the NFL and had been co-defensive coordinator at Albany since 2021.
▪ Rob Wenger as special teams coordinator. He played at Colgate and worked as an assistant coach at Western Michigan and Rutgers and six seasons at Minnesota.
And the players
Marion and Sacramento State announced that they have signed players to binding letters of intent, including some out of the transfer portal from the higher-level FBS ranks. The signees include:
▪ Dean Abdullah, an offensive lineman who prepped at local Antelope High School and starred at American River College in Sacramento before accepting a scholarship to San Diego State.
▪ Hayden Anderson, a three-star recruit by 247Sports who had 3,444 yards receiving and 61 total scores at Windsor High School of Sonoma County.
▪ Jordan Anderson, a receiver from Oregon State who was a four-star recruit coming out of Newport High in Los Angeles County, where he caught 99 passes for 995 yards and nine scores as a senior.
▪ Miles Bailey, a defensive lineman who played at Murray State in 2024 and is a graduate from Benicia High School in Solano County.
▪ Timothy Conerly, a receiver from UNLV where he played under Marion. Conerly goes by “Flash” and appeared in 16 games at UNLV after playing two seasons at Fresno City College.
▪ Jamar Curtis, a running back from Lafayette, where he was a two-time first-team all-Patriot League selection and a two-time Walter Payton Award finalist that goes to the top player in the FCS. He rushed for 3,064 yards and 32 touchdowns in three seasons at Lafayette.
▪ Jayden Davis, an Oakland native who played in 10 games in the secondary for Idaho State in 2024 after a season at Central Michigan.
▪ Taison Fa’asuamanu, a linebacker who earned all-Mountain East Conference honors last season at West Liberty. He is from Waianae, Hawaii.
▪ Ricky Lee III, a cornerback who spent two seasons at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, or UAB, and he led his Georgia high school team to a state championship.
▪ Sammy Norris, a fullback who played at Colorado State and UNLV. He started his college career as an offensive lineman.
▪ Damien McDaniel, a redshirt at UNLV as a defensive back in 2024 who was a three-star defensive back recruit out of Texas.
▪ Logan Tanner, a tight end who spent the last three seasons at San Diego State and was an all-state performer in high school in Texas.
▪ Cardell Williams, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound dual-threat quarterback from Tulsa, where he passed for 1,149 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2023.
▪ Jace Wilson, a receiver who played 29 games at the University of Texas at San Antonio, or UTSA. He helped power his high school team to a Texas state championship.
Other players have given verbal commitments to Sacramento State and will sign letters of intent in the coming weeks.
One local recruit verbal commit to the Hornets is Elias Brown, the former Sacramento Bee All-Metro running back out of Rocklin High who earned junior college All-American honors in 2024 with American River College while rushing for 1,148 yards and 16 scores.
This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 12:12 PM.