Rob Christoff and Eric Scott, two coaches accustomed to championship football at the college and high school levels, are joining the San Jose State University football coaching staff as assistant coaches. Brent Brennan, head coach of the 2020 Mountain West champion Spartans, made the announcement.
Christoff will be coaching the outside linebackers and Scott will be coaching wide receivers and serve as the passing game coordinator.
"We've added two successful and outstanding coaches who are also quality teachers to our staff," said Brennan. "They've been able to bring the best out of their players and we're looking forward to Rob and Eric doing the same here at San Jose State," said Brennan. "We're also able to balance out our staff more between the offense and defense sides of the ball for our players and staff."
Christoff and Scott's collective coaching experiences add up to eight major college post-season bowl appearances, three NCAA Division I conference championships, four high school state championship seasons, and four high school league titles.
Christoff has college, high school and pro football coaching experiences over the last 25 years. He comes to the Spartans after spending 2020 with the Seattle Dragons of the XFL as an assistant offensive line coach, his first coaching a position group on offense.
He has 10 seasons as a defensive coordinator – eight of them at Eastside Catholic High in Sammamish, Wash. The Crusaders won state championships in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019 and played in the 2012 and 2013 Class 3A state championship games.
The Las Cruces, N.M., native and 1996 graduate of Linfield College majored in sociology. He has 13 years of college coaching experiences throughout the Big Sky Conference. He was the linebackers coach at the University of Idaho for two seasons (2009 & 2010), spent 2007 at Idaho State, and coached linebackers and was a defensive coordinator at Montana State (2000-2006). Montana State won three Big Sky Conference championships (2002, 2003, 2005) and Idaho won the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl.
Christoff began his coaching career in 1996 as the Linfield College defensive line coach. He was a graduate assistant at the University of Colorado in 1997 and 1998 and the linebackers coach at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., in 1999. The second-generation football coach is the son of A.J. Christoff, a defensive coordinator at seven NCAA Division I schools around the country.
Scott comes to San Jose State after four seasons as the University of Nevada receivers coach. As a member of the Wolf Pack staff, he coached players to four All-Mountain West postseason honors and three consecutive post-season bowl appearances.
The 1997 UCLA graduate majored in sociology and began his coaching career in 1999 at Crenshaw High in Los Angeles. In seven seasons at Crenshaw High, the Cougars won the 2005 C.I.F. City Section championship.
Scott returned to his alma mater in 2006 as a coaching intern and coached the wide receivers in 2007. His first head coaching opportunity was at Centennial High in Compton, Calif. During the 2008 through 2013 seasons, Centennial won the 2010 Pioneer League championship, its first league title since 1965.
The Los Angeles native moved on to Los Angeles High in 2014 as head coach for a three-year stint. The Romans won at least 11 games each season, reached the C.I.F. City Section championship each year and he was named the Los Angeles City Section Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2016.
Christoff and Scott replace Kevin Cummings, now at the University of Arizona, and Ryan Gunderson, recently hired by UCLA. The Spartans' Brennan announced offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven, now entering his fourth season at San Jose State, will add coaching the team's quarterbacks to his duties.