Fresno State football coaching staff talk about Signing Day hopefuls

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's a new year and a new era for Fresno State football.

Head coach Jeff Tedford met with the media for the first time in 2017, and Action News also got a chance to meet offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer and defensive coordinator Orlondo Steinauer.

With the dead period ending on Wednesday, Tedford and his staff will be hard at work as Signing Day approaches on February 1. Here's what the trio had to say about what kind of players they are looking for.

"Kind of going over our philosophy and we came up with 'Dog-wired dudes,'" Tedford said. "Guys that are wired the way we want them to be wired. That's guys that are leaders, guys that are good guys off the field, guys that are hard workers, guys that are tough. Great character kids, do well in the classroom."

"When you walk off the football field after playing us, you just know you saw the toughest guys that you are going to see all season," DeBoer said. "Watching film, you know you are in for a battle when it comes to that Saturday. I think that's where 'Dog-wired dudes' start."

"Those criteria that coach Tedford set forth along with the rest of the staff they need to check boxes and as they check those boxes, they become a 'Dog-wired dude,'" Steinauer said.

"We spent last week really talking about the philosophy of who we are looking for and what the Fresno State guys look like and we spent a couple days on that and I thought that was very beneficial," Tedford said.