The college football landscape has seen major changes over the past few years. Between the transfer portal and conference realignment, most of the attention has been focused on the Football Bowl Subdivision. But those changes are starting to reshape the game at every level, including community college football.
One of the most recent moves was local when, in February, the Sacramento State Hornets football program announced its move to the FBS and plans to join the Mid-American Conference.
“I think it’s a really good move for them and the region. I think it’ll give our American River guys some opportunities,” head coach Lou Baiz said.
While the move brings attention to football in the Sacramento area, Baiz and Interim Athletic Director Kevin Kramer say the benefits of the move will be minimal for the American River College program, as the biggest change affecting the program is the transfer portal.
Kramer said that with the transfer portal, recruiting is like a new world where everything is different.
“[Universities] can go shop for somebody who’s been at the [FBS] level, rather than take this high school kid,” Kramer said.
Because of that shift, opportunities that once existed for high school players at the four-year schools are becoming limited, pushing more athletes toward the junior college route.
The presence of a nearby FBS program could still provide some benefits, especially through relationships and familiarity between programs.
Jon Osterhout is the new assistant athletics director and chief of staff. For the last 12 seasons, Osterhout has been the head coach at ARC, winning 10 NorCal Conference titles and finishing his career with an 88-39 record.
“With Jon being there at Sac State, you know, once you get a couple of kids to go there, it opens the recruiting window,” Kramer said.
The connection between ARC and Sac State has always been here.
There have been several ARC players who have transferred to Sac State over the years. There has been at least one ARC transfer on their roster since 2020. This upcoming season’s roster will hold ARC alums, junior running back Elias Brown and junior offensive linemen Jamin Guilbert
“They’ve always come [recruited] through here, and we will always have guys for them to evaluate,” Baiz said.
According to Baiz, success here at ARC will still come down to visibility and development.
“Schools that are winning at the community college level are going to be able to recruit top-level kids, because kids are looking to go to the places they’re gonna get seen,” Baiz said.
Even with the challenges created by the changes, the overall growth of football in the Sacramento region could still benefit every program.
“We want the Sacramento area to be known for solid student athletes, successful student athletes [who] are going to change programs for the better. And if that’s the discussion about Sacramento athletes, that helps us with recruiting, people want to come here. They want to be part of the program. They want to be part of the Sacramento athlete world,” Kramer said.
