Sac State football starts camp under new coach. 5 things to ponder for Hornets
Jamar Curtis is one of 72 new players for the Sacramento State football team.
The senior running back with Maryland roots said Friday that he was getting used to all of his new friends, each of whom he calls “the family,” and he exhaled when asked about the heat of living in the state capital. Curtis’ assessment of the new-look Hornets as the squad kicked off the start of fall camp was also right to the point.
The transfer from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania is all of 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds, but he’s a blur in action with plenty to say and a pedigree that includes 3,064 career rushing yards and 32 touchdowns from his time with the Leopards. He was a two-time Walter Payton Award finalist and is in the running for the FCS’s top collegiate award this fall. So by any measure, he’s a player with a lot to play for, just like everyone else in green garb.
“We’ve got a lot of dawgs,” Curtis said of his squad in the most complimentary of terms. “And we have a lot to prove. The talent is there.”
How seamlessly and how fast Sacramento State first-year coach Brennan Marion and staff can put this all together is the biggest question looming for the Hornets and for the entire FCS landscape. The Hornets are gearing up for a monstrous opener on Aug. 30 at South Dakota State in a meeting of nationally ranked FCS programs.
South Dakota State is ranked third, having won FCS championships in 2022 and 2023, and Sacramento State is ranked 10th by HERO Sports. The Hornets have visions of capturing the program’s fourth Big Sky Conference crown since 2019. The team slumped to a 3-win total last season amid a crush of injuries and late-game setbacks.
Marion turned over the bulk of the roster with the addition of a high school recruit class and a haul from the transfer portal. This includes 34 transfers from FBS schools with newcomers on offense and defense. The new quarterbacks include Jaden Rashada, a transfer from Georgia; and Cardell Williams, who relocated from Tulsa.
Rashada is a Bay Area native who knows Sacramento and got to know Marion, convincing him to give the Hornets a shot.
“We are a very talented football team,” said the 6-foot-4 Rashada, a 4-star recruit out of Pittsburg High in the East Bay. “We’re nowhere near where we want to be but we’ll work on it.”
Rashada said he has embraced his role as a newcomer with the same championship goals as his teammates.
“I want to touch everyone’s life,” he said. “I want to win and be the best teammate and leader.”
On the theme of all the new players and the hype that comes with it, Rashada said, “With this day and age of college football, you’ve got to be able to adapt or die.”
What also snuffs the life out of a football team is a lack of stops, and the Big Sky Conference exposes defensive flaws.
The Hornets allowed nearly five touchdowns a game last season. Sacramento State returns starting linebacker Derek Houston of Rocklin High School roots. He was second on the Hornets with 62 tackles in 2024. Among the defensive transfers is linebacker Je’Kob Jones of Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, where he had 130 tackles in 36 games.
Here’s a peek at talking points to ponder with the Hornets as they gear up for the 2025 season.
Bulk and experience in the trenches
With all of the additions, one unit has remained largely intact: the offensive line. It helps that longtime position coach Kris Richardson is still in place, the only position coach holdover from the previous coaching regime.
Richardson’s presence and impact prevented Hornets linemen from transferring out, and Marion continues to rave about Richardson as a person and coach, as well the team’s guards, tackles and centers.
“Any time you talk about an O-line, it’s always about chemistry and continuity, and those guys, the Hammerheads, have done a really good job of staying together, staying in the family, and bringing everyone else along, because that’s our most veteran group, and you want that to be your most veteran group,” Marion said. “I always love what K Rich has done.”
The unit returns three starters who had at least 500 snaps in 2024 in Aidan Meek (6-5, 305), a Bakersfield native who will also wear his cowboy hat now and then; Sawyer Hays (6-6, 305) of Christian Brothers in Sacramento, and Kenndel Riley (6-3, 325) of Lincoln of Placer County.
One of the FBS transfers is Dean Abdullah, who had 10 starts at San Diego State in 2023 before redshirting in 2024. Abdullah starred locally at Antelope High and American River College.
Has Marion caught his breath?
Marion is a renowned recruiter, including his two seasons as offensive coordinator at UNLV before his Hornets hire. He is big on his motto that “One great year can change your life.”
A high-energy, confident-speaking coach, Marion is a free spirit who wears a cowboy hat in practices and when he tools around town to meet people. Marion might have even worn the lid last week when his wife Maddy gave birth to their baby girl, Beverlee Aichelle Marion, of whom the coach said was listed at delivery at 7 pounds and 18 inches.
“Mom was tough,” the coach said with a laugh. “Maddy got out of there quick!”
Family is the theme of camp: everyone together.
Marion said the emphasis on camp is not to decide who starts at quarterback, in the backfield or on defense. It’s to get tough mentally and physically.
“The details will get cleaned up, the techniques will get cleaned up,” Marion said.
Is Rashada the guy at QB?
Marion isn’t about to roll out a depth chart just yet, but Rashada could be the leader in the quarterback battle, and he was the quarterback who did speak to the media on Friday.
Sacramento State has an immediate need at the position as last year’s starter, Carson Conklin, transferred to Fresno State, where he is in the running to secure the starting role.
Rashada and Williams, of Tulsa, offer experience and talent. Rashada is a redshirt sophomore who did not appear in a game with Georgia last season. He played in three games at Arizona State before redshirting. He passed for 5,275 yards and 59 touchdowns for Pittsburg High over two seasons in Contra Costa County.
The 6-2 Williams is a Houston native who attended Tulsa for three seasons. He tied a Tulsa program record for touchdown passes as a freshman with 15, and he played in nine games in 2023 and six in 2024. Like Rashada, Sacramento State offered Williams a fresh start.
Others in the quarterback mix include senior Luke Sprague, a 6-5 FCS transfer from Bethune-Cookman of Florida, where he played two seasons, and 6-2 freshman Jamar Malone, who was a 3-star recruit out of Warren High in Los Angeles.
What makes the Go-Go offense go?
Marion’s fast-paced, up-tempo and prolific offense called the “Go-Go” is designed to gas teams with waves of players and misdirection.
You cannot have too many runners in this system, and Sac State has a bevy of backs that join holdover Hornets Curron Borders and Michael Johnson. The FBS transfers at running back include: Rodney Hammond Jr. of Pittsburgh, Damian Henderson II of Colorado State, Savion Red from Nevada, Sam Adams II from Washington and Sammy Norris from UNLV.
Hammond rushed for 1,546 yards and 14 scores in 36 games with Pittsburgh; Red churned out 687 yards and eight TDs last season at Nevada, and American River College transfer Elias Brown of Rocklin High roots earned Junior College All-American honors last fall when he rushed for 1,148 yards and 10 scores.
What is Sac State’s FBS-quest status?
The Hornets’ waiver to the NCAA to move up to the FBS was denied, but that doesn’t derail the school’s expectation of an elevation.
Had Sac State been approved, the Hornets would have been ineligible to compete in the FCS postseason. They are now eligible, and a Big Sky crown is the first of two championship goals for the program. This will be Sac State’s final season in the Big Sky after joining nearly 30 years ago. The program will play as an independent next season, meaning no conference affiliation.
“We’re going to try to be at the top of any list,” Marion said of expectations. “Wherever we play, whatever league we’re in, whatever we’re trying to get accomplished, it’s to be great, to be the absolute best, to be No. 1.”
He added of the team’s hunger to compete, “We’re starving, and we’re hunting everybody.”