Bio

Tom Craft coached the Riverside City College football program from 2010-24, announing his retirement from RCC to close out a historic 30-year head coaching run at the junior college level. He finished his career as the winningest community college coach in Southern California history and the all-time winningest coach of any two-year college football coach in the first 30 seasons at the helm of a program.  Over his career, he has been named Conference Coach of the Year nineteen times, Regional State Coach of the Year ten times, California State Coach of the Year five times, and the National Community College Coach of the Year by the AFCA twice.

After taking over the struggling program that finished 1-9 in 2009, Craft built one of the premier programs regionally, state-wide, and nationally. He left the Tigers with the highest win percentage in JC history for any coach who has coached at least 10 years at the same school with a 146-22 record (86.9 winning percentage), two National Championships, Two State Championships, 12 conference championships in the last 14 seasons, 14 consecutive years qualifying for the post season, and 11 consecutive years qualifying for the California State playoffs – which is a SCFA record. Ten of those eleven years, the Tigers played in the Southern California Championship.

In 2019, Craft surpassed the century-win mark, becoming the first California Community College football coach to win over 100 games with two programs: Palomar and RCC. In addition, Craft is the only coach to win multiple State Championships with two different teams. Under Craft, RCC went undefeated in 2019 (13-0) and 2011 (11-0) and had four regular-season undefeated records (2011,18,19,22) 

Over his 30-year career as a head football coach, Craft won more Conference Championships faster than any Community College coach. His 40-postseason bowl/playoff appearances and 28 postseason wins are national records, which he is tied for the most State Championships over that period of time after helping three different programs to State titles: three with Palomar (1991,93,98), one with Mt. San Antonio College (2009) ,and two with Riverside (2019,23). 

During his tenure at the two-year level, over 640 of Craft’s student-athletes have transferred to four-year programs that include 340 RCC football standouts, with 70% going on to Division 1 programs.  

He also served 23 years as a State representative on the Football Coaches Association, including Second Vice President, First Vice President, and chaired the All-State and All-American Committees. He also served on the SCFA Executive Board and Competition Committee, as well as the Mountain West Committee for instant replay, which influenced the rest of college football to adopt.

Prior to RCC, Craft coached at Mt. San Antonio College from 2007-2009 and helped the Mounties to three straight appearances in the 3C2A State Championship game. At Mt. SAC, he continued to coach some of the best quarterbacks in California, including one State Player of the Year and three Regional Players of the Year. In 2007, Craft coached his oldest son, Kevin Craft, who amassed over 5,600 yards of total offense, including over 4,200 passing yards and 44 touchdowns. Kevin was named a First Team All-American and 3C2A Offensive Player of the Year. He then became the starting quarterback at UCLA during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. In 2009, the Mounties finally captured a State Championship and a National Championship by defeating the College of San Mateo. 

Craft spent over 16 years with the Comets, where he led Palomar Community College to three State Championships and three National Championships. During Craft’s last 10 years at Palomar, the Comets won nine conference titles and nine bowl victories. During three years at Palomar, the program went 31-2 and staged an offensive attack that ranked among the nation’s best for five consecutive seasons. Craft also developed seven All-American quarterbacks in his last 10 years at Palomar. Craft ended his tenure with Palomar as the winningest coach in Comet history and built a win-loss record of 115-56-1.

Craft took a three-year hiatus from his duties at Palomar to become the offensive coordinator for San Diego State from 1994 through 1996. During that time, Craft directed some of the most prolific offenses in Aztec history. During the 1995 and 1996 seasons, the Aztecs finished in the top 10 nationally in total offense and scoring.

The 1995 team set a national record, becoming the first NCAA Division I team to have a running back gain over 1,500 yards rushing, two 1,000-yard receivers, and one 3,000-yard passer. During that 1995 season, George Jones broke Marshall Faulk’s single-season rushing record with over 1,800 yards and finished second in the nation in net rushing yards. In his first season with the Aztecs as their head coach in 2002, Craft’s offensive unit finished fifth in the nation in passing offense with an SDSU record 4,302 passing yards, making his offensive unit the most-improved unit in NCAA Division I football that season. He was also known as a top recruiter as shown by his 2003 recruiting class at San Diego State, where Rivals.com selected it as the best recruiting class in the Mountain West Conference.

Craft, who played quarterback and was the team captain of the 1976 Aztecs team that went 10-1, graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Arts in kinesiology and earned a master’s degree from Azusa Pacific. Craft and his wife, Kathy, have three children: daughter Lacey (Head Softball Coach at Palomar College), and sons Kevin (Head Football Coach at RCC) and Kyle (Manager).

CAREER COACHING HIGHLIGHTS

Riverside City College (2010 – 2024) – The 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19

- 2019 & 2023 State & National Champions

- 12 conference titles (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024) 21 in 24 years

- 146-22 overall record (14 seasons)

- 19-9 overall bowl game record

- 28 bowl game appearances

-14 consecutive years to postseason

- Four-Time Southern California Champions

-Coached Vic Viramontes, Stone Smart, Jake Retzlaff, and Jordan Barton to California Offensive Player of the Year & First-Team All-American Honors

- Coached five quarterbacks in the last six years to California State Players of the Year & First-Team All-American honors

Palomar College (1983-93, 1998-2001)

- Nine (9) conference titles (’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01)

- 115-56-1 overall record (16 seasons)

- 9-3 bowl record in last 10 years

- Three (3) State Championships (1991,’93, ’98)

- Three (3) National Championships (1991,’93, ’98)

- Four (4) Southern California Championships (1991. ’93, ’98, 2001)

- Seven (7) All-American quarterbacks

Overall Community College Highlights 30 Years

-Five-time National Champions (1991,1993, 1998, 2019, 2023)

-Five-time California State Champions (1991,1993, 1998, 2019, 2023)

-21 conference titles in his last 24 years

-40 bowl game appearances

-28 bowl championships

- 24 consecutive postseason appearances

-261-78-1 overall community college record (28-12 in postseason)

San Diego State University – Offensive Coordinator (1994-96)

-In 1995 and 1996, the offense was rated in the Top 10 in the nation in total offense and scoring

- In 1995, George Jones broke Marshall Faulk’s single-season rushing record (over 1,800 yards) and was ranked No. 2 in the nation.

- In 1995, SDSU became the first offensive unit in NCAA history to have a running back with over 1,500 net rushing yards, town receivers with over 1,000 receiving yards and a quarterback with over 3,000 passing yards.

San Diego State University – Head Coach (2002-05)

-Broke school record for passing offense in his first year with over 4,300 yards. SDSU went from 89^th in the country in passing offense to FIFTH in his first season.

-Was the third-most improved offense in the nation, going from 89^th to the Top 20.

-J.R. Tolver led the nation in receiving yards as Craft put together the most prolific receiving duo in NCAA history with Tolver and Kasim Osgood combining from 244 receptions in 2002. The duo combined to lead the nation in receptions, yardage, and touchdowns.

-Helped San Diego State improve its attendance from 20,000 to over 36,000.

-Beat Utah and BYU in the same season for the first time in 19 years.

Quarterbacks under Coach Craft

Palomar College

Duffy Daugherty (Univ. of New Mexico) – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, Academic All-American

Scott Barrick (Stephan F. Austin) – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Brett Salisbury (University of Oregon) – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Andy Loveland (Oklahoma St.) – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Tom Luginbill (Georgia Tech) – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Tony Alverez (Utah) – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Greg Cicero (Baylor)  – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Andy Goodenough (Arizona State)  – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Tyler Lorenzen (U-Conn)  – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Mt. SAC

Kevin Craft (UCLA) – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Nick Lamaison (Tennessee)  – 1^st Team All-State

Matt Falkner (San Jose State)

Riverside City College

Dolton Livingston (Utah)  – 1^st Team All-State

Skylar Howard (West Virginia) – 1^st Team All-State

Ian Fieber (Sioux Falls)

Vic Viramontes (Minnesota)  – 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Matt Struck (Idaho)

Travis Johnson (Montana)

Stone Smart (Old Dominion)  – 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Jake Barlage (Nevada) – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State

Jordan Barton (Sacramento State)  – 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Jake Retzlaff (BYU)  – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

Brady Jones (Western Michigan) – Led State Passing, 1^st Team All-State, All-American

San Diego State University

Billy Blanton – 2^nd highest efficiency rating in the history of college football, SDSU Hall of Fame Inductee

Adam Hall – Strength Coach at SDSU

Kevin O’Connell – Newcomer of the year MWC (New England Patriots), NFL Coach of the Year 2024-25 (Minnesota Vikings)

Darrin Mougey – General Manager for the New York Jets

Tanner Engstrom – Offensive Coordinator for the New York Jets