"Every coach on my staff will be from California or have connections to California,’’ San Jose State head coach and San Jose native Brent Brennan said at his introductory press conference in December 2016. “We have to win the in-state recruits."
Entering their Week 8 game vs. San Diego State, San Jose State has scored 176 points in starting 3-3 this season. All 176 points have been scored by California natives. Of the 106 players on San Jose State's 2019 roster, 97 are from California. At 91.5 percent, San Jose State has the highest percentage of in-state players among all FBS teams. The Spartans rank fourth in total in-state players, though all three teams with more in-state players (Texas A&M, SMU, and Texas Tech) have more total players.
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San Jose State has more in-state running backs (eight) than two programs, Air Force and Notre Dame, have total in-state players (seven apiece). Army is the only other team with fewer than 10 in-state players, and Navy is the only other team, alongside each of those three, with less than 10 percent in-state players.
The top five teams — and eight of the top 10 — come from the Group of Five. Texas Tech (82.4 percent) is the highest-ranked Power Five team.
Here's the full list:
| Rank | Team | In-State Players | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose State | 97 | 91.5% |
| 2 | USF | 90 | 88.2% |
| 3 | Fresno State | 95 | 84.1% |
| 4 | Texas State | 93 | 83.8% |
| 5 | FIU | 90 | 82.6% |
| 6 | Texas Tech | 98 | 82.4% |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 105 | 79.5% |
| 8 | Houston | 89 | 78.8% |
| 9 | FAU | 92 | 78.6% |
| 10 | North Texas | 84 | 77.1% |
| 11 | Baylor | 89 | 75.4% |
| 12 | Texas | 85 | 73.9% |
| 13 | SMU | 100 | 72.5% |
| 14 | UCLA | 84 | 70.6% |
| 15 | Rice | 72 | 69.9% |
| 16 | Cal | 74 | 67.9% |
| 17 | USC | 73 | 67.6% |
| 18 | UCF | 81 | 67.5% |
| 19 | UTSA | 74 | 67.3% |
| 20 | Georgia | 88 | 66.7% |
| 21 | Florida | 74 | 64.3% |
| 22 | Georgia Southern | 83 | 64.3% |
| 23 | NC State | 76 | 63.9% |
| 24 | Georgia Tech | 75 | 63.0% |
| 25 | Central Michigan | 75 | 62.5% |
| 26 | San Diego State | 66 | 61.7% |
| 27 | Cincinnati | 73 | 61.3% |
| 28 | Florida State | 65 | 59.6% |
| 29 | Louisiana | 78 | 59.1% |
| 30 | Georgia State | 64 | 58.7% |
| 31 | UAB | 69 | 58.0% |
| 32 | UTEP | 65 | 57.0% |
| 33 | Miami (FL) | 61 | 56.5% |
| 34 | Rutgers | 64 | 54.7% |
| 35 | LSU | 62 | 54.4% |
| 36 | TCU | 69 | 54.3% |
| 37 | Troy | 59 | 53.6% |
| 38 | Charlotte | 62 | 53.4% |
| 39 | Louisiana Tech | 53 | 51.5% |
| 40 | Mississippi State | 60 | 50.8% |
| 41 | Ohio State | 63 | 50.4% |
| 42 | Northern Illinois | 54 | 49.5% |
| 43 | Maryland | 52 | 48.6% |
| 44 | Ohio | 57 | 48.3% |
| 45 | Toledo | 55 | 47.8% |
| 46 | East Carolina | 49 | 47.6% |
| 47 | Southern Miss Golden | 55 | 47.4% |
| 48 | BYU | 56 | 47.1% |
| 49 | Ball State | 54 | 47.0% |
| 50 | South Carolina | 52 | 46.8% |
| 51 | Kansas State | 59 | 46.5% |
| 52 | Michigan State | 55 | 46.2% |
| 53 | App State | 53 | 46.1% |
| 54 | Akron | 53 | 45.3% |
| 55 | Illinois | 48 | 45.3% |
| 56 | Louisiana-Monroe | 48 | 44.9% |
| 57 | Nebraska | 69 | 44.8% |
| 58 | Bowling Green | 47 | 44.8% |
| 59 | Wisconsin | 52 | 44.4% |
| 60 | North Carolina | 52 | 43.7% |
| 61 | Virginia Tech | 51 | 42.9% |
| 62 | South Alabama | 51 | 42.9% |
| 63 | Old Dominion | 48 | 42.9% |
| 64 | Penn State | 51 | 41.8% |
| 65 | Hawai'i | 48 | 41.4% |
| 66 | Western Michigan | 42 | 39.6% |
| 67 | Pittsburgh | 43 | 38.7% |
| 68 | Washington | 41 | 38.7% |
| 69 | Coastal Carolina | 45 | 38.5% |
| 70 | Auburn | 47 | 38.2% |
| 71 | Ole Miss | 45 | 38.1% |
| 72 | Arkansas | 46 | 38.0% |
| 73 | Iowa | 47 | 37.9% |
| 74 | Tennessee | 45 | 37.8% |
| 75 | Memphis | 43 | 37.4% |
| 76 | Utah State | 39 | 36.4% |
| 77 | Clemson | 42 | 35.6% |
| 78 | Iowa State | 45 | 35.2% |
| 79 | Arizona State | 39 | 35.1% |
| 80 | Minnesota | 41 | 35.0% |
| 81 | Middle Tennessee | 41 |
