Merced Sun Star: Feud Between Fresno State's Pat Hill and Jeff Tedford?

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Steve Cameron: Hill says, 'We're always recruiting Merced'

FRESNO -- Let's get right to the squabble.  Is there some sort of problem between Merced High and Fresno State?  If not, then why aren't the Bulldogs recruiting any Merced football players -- particularly those three seniors-to-be who are getting scholarship offers from all over the country?  The athletes are Bernard Bolden, Nathan Mayfield and Kenny Cooper. Full-ride deals for one or more have come from Cal, Arizona, Washington State, Arizona, San Diego State, Colorado and Nebraska. Colorado, Washington State and Arizona have made offers to the full trio.  Without running down the complete list here, it's enough to say that Bolden has offers from seven schools, Mayfield five and Cooper four. And that none of the offers -- to anyone -- has come from Fresno State. So what's up? Well, Pat Hill will tell you -- quite forcefully, in fact -- that nothing's amiss at all, and in fact, he and his staff intend to check out Merced players as they always do.

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"We heard earlier that Fresno State was going to have a coach come by, but then it was cancelled," said Merced High coach Rob Scheidt -- who finds himself in the middle of some strange rumors in this relationship.  "It's kind of odd, because they're so close to us and yet it feels like they don't pay much attention. Sometimes they don't return calls, and yet I'd like to think I still have a decent relationship with coach Hill.  "The simple truth, though, is that we've had quite a few decent athletes over the past few years and Fresno State hasn't seriously recruited any of them."  EVEN WENDELL Mathis wasn't offered a scholarship out of high school, at least not by the Dogs.  "UCLA was the only place," Scheidt said. "It was strange because Pat Hill spent almost an entire game we attended telling me that Wendell should attend Fresno State -- and then they didn't offer him. "He only got to Fresno as a transfer when it didn't work out at UCLA."

Last year, Fresno State remained on the sidelines as several big schools battled it out for receiver Jarrett Sparks. And so far this year, Hill and his staff have been quiet as all these offers have been tossed at three Merced players. In the interest of full disclosure, there is a rumor about why all this is happening.

The short version is that Hill, a stubborn guy by his own admission, has fallen out with Cal coach Jeff Tedford -- former Fresno State player and Hill assistant.  SCHEIDT LAUGHED hearing that story and suggested that some parts probably were true.  From there, you see Scheidt become close to Tedford, taking his team to Cal's camp every summer and even adopting a chunk of the Cal offense. So the story around town is that Scheidt has become persona non grata with Hill -- because of his close association with Tedford. See, that tale comes with the added suspicion that perhaps Scheidt is pushing his most talented players towards Cal.

And if you follow those bread crumbs, Hill theoretically would be showing his displeasure by ignoring possible Merced recruits.  That's what you hear on the street and at the games. "I know there maybe have been some issues between coach Tedford and coach Hill," Scheidt said, "but I certainly hope I'm not part of it.

"We try to get information and tapes out on our kids to all the schools that are interested -- including Fresno State. Personally, I hope they'll come and visit our players." HILL CLAIMS that they have, and they will. Oh, and that the entire story about a problem with Tedford or Scheidt is utter bunk. "First of all, we've always recruited Merced High and all the schools around there," Hill said. "Until this year, when they changed the rules to keep the head coaches on campus during spring, I've been to Merced personally every year since I took the job at Fresno State. "We look at all the players in the area ever year. At Merced last year, I spent a lot of time working to see about eligibility issues with Dion Bland -- because we wanted to get him. "There was talk because we didn't really go after (Jarrett) Sparks, but we didn't need a big receiver. We already had four or five big wideouts. That was simply about need. He's a good football player, but not so fantastic that we thought we should ignore our needs to fight it out for him.

"There is no problem at all with Rob Scheidt. He's done a great job at Merced, and when he was mentioned for Clovis West, I thought it would be a good fit. "And I don't know where or how people get these stories about different people -- like Jeff (Tedford). We've been friends a long time. "We have one issue, which is that I wish he'd schedule us because right now I think we could beat Cal -- but he won't play us. But we still get along fine. We talk on the phone, and we've visited each other. "That story about Jeff and Rob Scheidt is just crazy."