Cal Poly hires new head football coach

December 4, 2025

Tim Skipper

By KAREN VELIE

Cal Poly announced Wednesday that Tim Skipper, most recently the interim head coach at UCLA, has been named the 19th head football coach at the San Luis Obispo based university.

Skipper arrives in San Luis Obispo with 25 years of collegiate coaching experience and positive momentum following the job he did this past season at UCLA. He began the 2025 season at UCLA as special assistant to the head coach before being elevated to interim head coach following the Bruins’ 0-3 start.

Under his direction, the Bruins went 3-6 the rest of the way with victories over Penn State, Michigan State and Maryland.

“I am extremely excited to become the next head football coach at Cal Poly and want to thank Carter Henderson and President Armstrong for entrusting me with this opportunity,” Skipper said. “The ‘Learn by Doing’ approach and the academic excellence that has been achieved at Cal Poly have been inspiring to me for many years, and I look forward to pursuing the same type of excellence on the football field. It will take the full support of our community coming together to win championships, and I can’t wait to engage with the Mustang family to chase our fullest potential together.”

A New Orleans native, Skipper earned his bachelor’s degree in communications from Fresno State in 2001.

A formal introductory press conference will take place Monday, Dec. 8 at 10:30 a.m. in the lobby of the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center.