Ponciano Wastes No Time

NORTHRIDGE — It was only a two-hour meeting but Ron Ponciano, Cal State Northridge’s new football coach, made a big impression on the Matador assistants who attended the Saturday encounter.

“We sat down and hashed in detail our needs and how we want to attack it,” said Rob Phenicie, Northridge’s offensive coordinator. “I like his fire. I’m fired up for him, for the school and for everybody.”

Ponciano, 38, was hired Friday. He was defensive coordinator at San Jose State last season, at Northridge in 1995-96 and at several other schools before that.

He drove out of San Jose only hours after accepting an offer from Paul Bubb, Northridge’s athletic director, and headed for his new office soon after visiting relatives in Rancho Cucamonga.

Northridge will introduce Ponciano at a news conference Wednesday at the school. That’s also the first day of the signing period for high school seniors and the Matadors are aiming to land their fair share.

“I like the direction Ron is getting us in recruiting,” Phenicie said. “I only wish it could have been done earlier.”

Ponciano could not be reached Saturday. He went house hunting with his wife, Lisa, after meeting with the Matador assistants. The couple has a infant son.

Phenicie and Jeff Kearin, running backs and special teams coach, said they like Ponciano’s pledge to keep in place Northridge’s high-powered passing game.

Kearin and Tom Mason, Northern Iowa’s defensive coordinator, were the other two finalists for the job.

“The players didn’t want a new system, so I think he feels confident the offense will stay the same way,” Kearin said.

Kearin said Ponciano did not discuss specific staff assignments but would address that issue in the coming days. But at least one assistant, defensive coordinator John Rosenberg, said he won’t return.

“I have a couple of other situations I’m dealing with,” Rosenberg said.

“I would think that his background being defensive he would like to [put together] his own staff.”

Rosenberg was with the Matadors for one season and applied for the head coaching job vacated Jan. 5 by Jim Fenwick, who left to become offensive coordinator at New Mexico.

Rosenberg is a former assistant at Penn State, and a former coach at Brown and in the Football League of Europe, which he might join in the spring.

Other than Rosenberg, Phenicie and Kearin, Northridge’s other full-time assistants are Aron Gideon, the offensive line coach, and Kevin Singleton, the inside linebackers coach.

Phenicie, fresh off his first season with Northridge, believes the often-maligned Matadors are about to get some vindication.

“It’s been so easy to bash Northridge lately,” Phenicie said. “Everything has been so negative. This is such a great thing for this program. . . .

“We are moving on and this program is going to get better.”