New coach lays out vision for Cal Poly football. ‘We’ll be playing in December’
A total of 11 Division I wins in the past five seasons is the reality of where Cal Poly football stands. This year’s four-win step forward was their best finish in recent memory, but not enough to change the program’s trajectory on its own.
That’s the program Tim Skipper now inherits, stepping into his first full-time head coaching role after 26 years in the profession and a recent interim stint at UCLA this past season.
Skipper, who was named the Mustangs new head coach on Dec. 3, pointed to that stretch in Westwood as a moment that shaped how he’ll approach Cal Poly’s rebuild and didn’t hide how personal the opportunity felt.
After a stint at Fresno State, he spent six months out of coaching before UCLA’s DeShaun Foster brought him back onto a staff. That stretch, he said, sharpened his appreciation for the work and shapes the urgency he brings into his first full-time head coaching role.
“When you take over a program in the middle of the season, that is tough,” Skipper said. “But I will use all those experiences. That will not go to waste.”
Skipper acknowledged the challenges Cal Poly has dealt with in recent years, saying every program has hurdles, but the difference comes in how a team responds. For him, overcoming those issues starts with culture — the daily mentality and habits that he believes will turn Cal Poly into a winning program.
“We will win every single day to build into when you guys see us on game day,” Skipper said. “We’ll build wins to where you see the bigger picture once we get to the fall next year.”
Skipper’s focus on culture shows up in the everyday details. He ties it to the small habits he believes separate a stagnant program from one that knows how to win. Being early to meetings, keeping the locker room clean and improving by the day were all examples he pointed to as non-negotiables.
“The standard is a standard, and it’ll always be discipline and always gonna be where people are watching,” Skipper said. “And the people that are gonna enforce it are the players. Once you get to that, that’s where you know championships could be won, and championships will happen.”
For all the talk about long-term vision, Skipper made it clear his first step isn’t hiring assistants or diving into the portal. It’s getting face-to-face with the players he’s inheriting.
Considering the number of players returning or coming off multiple coaching changes, Skipper’s urgency makes sense. Many in the locker room have lived through shifting philosophies and expectations, and he knows buy-in won’t happen on its own.
“I have to get around the players,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 thing. I’ll start that today, this afternoon.”
After reviewing film of the offensive and defensive lines, he was clear about the style of football he expects the Mustangs to play, and it starts up front. He described his approach in simple terms: tough, physical and built from the inside out. The trenches, he said, will define everything Cal Poly does moving forward.
He pointed to the offensive line, defensive line and quarterback as the foundation he plans to build around, calling them the positions that set the tone for a team’s identity.
“You have to be sufficient there,” he said. “You have to close your will in all three of those spots, and we will do that.”
The culture and identity Skipper describes are far from established. He’s joining a team that has become more familiar with losing than winning, but he believes that changes only when the daily habits do. He repeated throughout the press conference that the reset starts immediately.
Beyond the on-field identity and locker room culture, Skipper emphasized that rebuilding Cal Poly football will take more than the roster and staff. He repeatedly invited alumni, students and the broader Central Coast community to be part of the program’s resurgence, calling the support system “critical” to establishing a championship standard.
He closed with the long-term vision he wants the program to chase.
“We need to be playing games in December,” Skipper said. “And if we all uphold the standards, we will be fine. … We’ll be playing in December, playing playoffs and playing matches that are important.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2025 at 2:45 PM.