Riverside City College head football coach Tom Craft announced his retirement after 14 years leading the Tigers on Dec. 9.
The announcement comes following the Tigers 37-35 loss to Mt. San Antonio College in the Southern California Football Association championship.
“This was my last season,” Craft said in an exclusive interview with Viewpoints.
RCC won the national championship in 2023
“I’m 71 years old, after last season I was burned out,” Craft said. “But my son Kevin joined the staff this year and helped take some of that load off of me.”
His contract with RCC will end as the year comes to a close.
Staff personnel had known of Craft’s intention to retire before the start of the season as Craft emphasized that he wanted to be as transparent with them as possible.
His players however were told during halftime of their Nov. 30 Southern California Football Association semifinal game against San Diego Mesa while the Tigers were trailing 27-0
“I told them I didn’t expect them to come out like that so I might as well let you know this is my last season,” Craft said in hopes of his team to begin to work their way back into the game.
The sentiment worked as RCC would come back to win 37-30.
Craft, 71, coached college football at the junior college and Division I levels for over 40 years, 35 of which were as head coach. As head coach of RCC Craft amassed a 146-22 record winning three national championships and 11 conference titles.
He also coached five out of his last six quarterbacks to California State Players of the Year and First Team All-American honors. This year’s Tigers quarterback Brady Jones will also likely join that list.
Starting his coaching career at Palomar College as an assistant in 1977 before becoming the head coach in 1983, Craft spent 11 years as leader of the Comets before transitioning to the Division I level at San Diego State.
At SDSU Craft spent three years as offensive coordinator before heading back to Palomar to serve as head coach.
He would find his way back to SDSU in 2002 as head coach, where he led some of the school’s best offensive seasons but recorded a 19-29 record before being fired in 2005.
Craft headed back to Southern California in 2007 as offensive coordinator for Mt. Sac where he got to coach his oldest son and current RCC offensive coordinator Kevin Craft. From 2007-2009 Craft helped led the Mounties to three consecutive state championship appearances while winning one in 2009.
As the book closes on the legendary career of Tom Craft he has cemented himself as arguably the greatest coach in school history and one of the best across any collegiate level.
The Tigers will have a tall order searching for a replacement for Craft with many California junior college coaches and former NFL assistants being rumored for the job. Craft expects the announcement of his succeeder to come in Feb. 2025.
Craft will be honored with his induction to the Riverside Sport Hall of Fame in the summer of 2025.
