"My name was not mentioned in this job, and yet I'm here," said DeRuyter with a smile. "All that rumor stuff is rumors and conjecture. It's the time of year for all that stuff. If you guys all decided who the head coach would be I wouldn't be here right now."
Touché Coach. But that won't stop the topic from being at the forefront of Red Wavers' minds, especially after DeRuyter led the Bulldogs to a piece of the Mountain West championship in his first year as head coach.
"It's all a reflection on what our guys did," said DeRuyter. "I can't stop those rumors. Hopefully our Red Wave and our players will take pride that people are talking about them because of what they did."
"What those schools are doing are talking to the people that they want to be talking to, and they're not talking to the people that the fans and the media are floating out there," said Fresno State Associate Athletic Director Paul Ladwig. "So it's an honor for coach but we know coach is going to be here next year."
With a crucial recruiting season upon us, Coach DeRuyter says that will be his message to potential recruits, as he looks to sign somewhere around 28 incoming Bulldogs on Signing Day.
"We've had pretty good success this year," said DeRuyter. "With the guys we have returning I think it only bodes well for the future. So we ought to be able to capitalize on this in recruiting."
As for the current Bulldogs, they'll have this entire week off from practice, allowing for time to rest and get caught up in the bowl game hype considering no one knows for sure where Fresno State will be heading next month.
"No matter what game we go to it's going to be a great reward for our players and our coaches and their families," said DeRuyter. "Whether we're going to Hawaii or whether we're going to Vegas or anywhere else, we're going to have a great time and play a great opponent, and have a great week."
