The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.
Sophomore Dominick Gonzalez gives CSM some experience at the running back spot after he was second on the team in rushing for 624 yards. He capped his freshman year by being named MVP of the 3C2A state championship game last season.
Jalen Arnold was second on the team in receiving as a freshman last season, but he was one of the best all-around players on the squad. He finished the season with nearly 600 all-purpose yards. Photo by Ronald Rugel.
There is a saying in the world of finance: past success does not ensure future results. So while the the College of San Mateo football team has won three of the last four state championships and the last two in a row, Bulldogs head coach Tim Tulloch knows that doesn’t mean a whole lot going into Saturday’s 2026 season opener at College of Sequoias in Visalia.
There is no tougher coaching position than those who coach at the community college level. The roster churn is never ending, with players moving in and out after playing two years. Community college coaches are constantly having to break in new starters while also introducing a new crop of recent high school graduates to the college game.
“You lose the majority of one and two deep (first- and second-string players) on both sides of the ball. It’s the nature of [community college] football,” Tulloch said. “If you have a returner, you lean on them and you build the next class.”
As the CSM program has emerged as a state and national power over the last decade, the turnover on the roster has been even greater because Bulldogs are in demand across the country. Sometimes the coaching staff gets a player for one season before they transfer on to either a four-year school or other program.
“We’ve transferred 80 players over the last two years,” Tulloch said. “We always have used the approach of, ‘If you have a great opportunity, take it.’ It just creates an opportunity for the next guy.”
That trend is highlighted at the quarterback spot, where the Bulldogs will enter their sixth straight season with a new starter. Luke Alexander, who was 8 for 11 for 84 yards and a touchdown in last year’s 28-27 win over Golden West in the state championship game, has moved on, as has Johnny Koett, who shared quarterbacking duties last season.
Replacing them are two more freshmen — Brayden Turner (Monte Vista-Danville) and Austin Rovig (Rocky Mountain-Meridian, ID). Both are 2025 graduates who sat out the 2025 college season.
“Both have good arm strength. … We’re excited about them,” Tulloch said. “It’s been a tremendous competition. Both these guys have pushed each other.”
The 6-4, 220-pound Turner was the varsity starter in the East Bay his final two seasons in 2023 and 2024. He combined to throw for more than 3,800 yards, with 33 touchdowns.
Rovig — who is listed at 6-3, 190 pounds — was an intra-city transfer to Rocky Mountain High for his senior year in 2024. He threw for nearly 2,300 yards, with 24 scores as he led the Grizzlies to a 10-1 record.
Tulloch said he has made a decision on Saturday’s starter, but did not divulge it.
Rovig did not come empty-handed, either. He brought a couple of former high school teammates with him in, in running back Kafari Jordan and receiver Jeff Thompson, two more freshmen.
“[Rovig] we knew about and then he had a couple of teammates who wanted to come along. We looked at their tape and whatnot, and told then to come on down,” Tulloch said.
Tulloch said he gets hundreds of emails a week from prospective out-of-state recruits. But he won’t even mess with them unless vetted by someone in the coaching staff’s recruiting web that stretches across the country.
“We don’t follow up … unless there is someone we have connection that we trust (to vouch for the student-athlete),” Tulloch said.
Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, Washington and Washington, D.C., are represented on the CSM roster this year, but they are the exception. Twenty-nine of the 84-person roster have ties to the Central Coast Section, including 16 from Peninsula Athletic League schools. Serra is the most represented, with seven.
Another dozen players are representing East Bay schools — including a trio from state powers De La Salle and Pittsburg. There are another 17 players from the Central Valley and the Interstate 80 corridor up to and through the Sacramento area.
But three more freshmen, who have not taken a snap in a college football game, only adds more inexperience for a team that has a lot of it.
“In the running back room, the only kid who has played in a game (in college), is Dom (Dominick Gonzalez),” Tulloch said. “In the tight end room, there is only one guy who has played a college game.”
Gonzalez (Roosevelt-Fresno), however, is a good piece to have back after winning MVP honors in the 3C2A state championship game last season, rushing for 74 yards on 11 carries. He was second on the team in rushing last season, finishing with 624 yards and four touchdowns, averaging nearly seven yards a carry.
“Dom will definitely be a guy we lean on in the first game,” Tulloch said.
The Bulldogs also return receiver Jalen Arnold (Moreau Catholic-Hayward), who proved to be a key player on offense and special teams. He led the Bulldogs with 21 catches last season, but also had 108 yard rushing, 158 yards on punt returns and another 49 on kickoff returns.
“If there is any [position group] where we have a few guys (with experience), it’s at wide receiver,” Tulloch said. “Jalen did a great job at being an all-purpose guy and he’s gotten better. We expect him to impact the game multiple ways.”
One of the bigger question marks coming into the season is at offensive line, where CSM will replacing all five starters from last season. But Ryan Mason (6-0, 280, Helix-La Mesa), Rimia Numia (6-3, 315, Immanuel-Reedley) and William Ohai (6-4, 325, McClymonds-Oakland) did get some playing time last season.
Linebackers Jojo Latu (Serra) and Veni Wolfgramm (Inglewood), along with edge rusher Beaux Sauve (Del Oro), all return for their second seasons with the Bulldogs and were among the team leaders in tackles.
“What you want is, by the end of Week 3, you hope to have an identity; know what your guys can do,” Tulloch said. “But with us, our first five games are against bowl or playoff teams. We’d better grow up fast.”
