Josh Brown takes over as Fresno City College football coach

Fresno City College handed its football program to Josh Brown, a coach with Division I and junior-college ties, as the Rams entered a reset after Tony Caviglia’s retirement. The hire puts one of Fresno’s most visible athletic programs back under the microscope at a public college that says its mission is to transform lives in the Central Valley and beyond.

Brown was formally introduced by Fresno City College on May 26, and the college said President Denise Whisenhunt attended the announcement. Dr. Derrick Johnson, the associate dean of athletics, described Brown and the school’s new men’s soccer coach as “proven leaders” with strong values and a passion for mentoring student-athletes, a signal that the college sees the role as more than a wins-and-losses job.

Brown arrives with a résumé that stretches well beyond the junior-college level. Sacramento State said he returned there in January 2025 as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, and its bio said he was slated to move to safeties and defensive pass game coordinator for the 2026 season. His coaching history also includes stops at UTEP, Hawai‘i, Nevada, Cal Poly, Kansas, Arizona State, Foothill College, Gavilan College and San Luis Obispo High School. Hawai‘i’s official bio said his background spans the high school, junior college, FCS and FBS levels.

That mix matters because Brown inherits a program with a standard already set. Fresno City College announced Caviglia’s retirement on Oct. 8, 2025, after his 26th year as head coach. The 2025 Rams went 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the Valley Conference during the school’s 78th football season, and San Mateo later eliminated Fresno City in the regional playoffs. In Fresno, where City College football has long carried local pride and recruiting weight, Brown’s task will be to keep that momentum while building a culture that fits a public institution with 21 intercollegiate teams.

The expectations around the job are bigger than a single season. Fresno City’s football rivalry with City College of San Francisco dates to 1981, and the Rams’ place in that conversation has made the program a regular point of reference for local alumni, high school prospects and families across Fresno County. Brown now has to turn that history into a next chapter that holds up on the field, in the classroom and across campus.