Alonzo Carter will be the next head coach for the Sacramento State football program. Carter was most recently with the Arizona Wildcats as an assistant head coach and running backs coach for the past two seasons.
Carter played collegiately at Cal State Hayward, which is now known as Cal State East Bay, in NCAA Division II. After a stint as MC Hammer’s choreographer and backup dancer, he began coaching in 1993 at the high school level for the football and track & field teams. In 1999, he became the head coach at McClymonds High in Oakland, and followed that up with three seasons at Berkeley High from 2007 through 2009.
In 2010, he took the head coaching job at Contra Costa College of the California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) in San Pablo. Carter went 47-27 overall with four conference championships in his seven seasons. In 2017, he moved to San Jose State as the running backs coach and later became an assistant head coach for the 2021 through 2023 seasons. He joined Arizona in 2024 with the same assistant head coach and running back coach responsibilities.
Carter will take over for Brennan Marion, who spent one season with the Hornets and went 7-5 overall. Marion left to become the offensive coordinator at Colorado. Sacramento State’s 2026 plans are still uncertain, as they previously announced a move to the FBS, but that hasn’t come to fruition. FBSchedules notes that Sacramento State has four opponents lined up for 2026: at Fresno State on September 12, Youngstown State on September 19, Southern Utah on November 21, and a game versus Lamar on an unknown date.
Photo Credit to San Jose State University Athletics
