Robert Anthony Toledo (born March 4, 1946) is an American former college football coach and player. Toledo served as the head coach at

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

(1974–1975), the University of the Pacific (1979–1982), the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(1996–2002), and

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

(2007–2011). He resigned as head football coach at Tulane on October 18, 2011. On January 10, 2013, he was named offensive coordinator at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. Toledo retired from coaching after the 2014 season.

Playing career

Toledo played football at Lincoln High School in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. He was the starting quarterback from 1961 to 1963. Toledo played for

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

during the 1964 season. In 1965, Toledo transferred to

San Jose City College San José City College (SJCC) is a public community college in San Jose, California. Founded in 1921, SJCC is located in the West San Jose neighborhood of Fruitdale. History The college was founded in 1921, opening its doors to students in Sep ...

, where he was the starting quarterback and was a junior college All-American. Toledo was the starting quarterback for the

San Francisco State Gators The San Francisco State Gators are the athletic teams that compete at San Francisco State University in San Francisco, California. The nickname applies to the college's intercollegiate NCAA Division II teams. The nickname was published in the stud ...

during the 1966 and 1967 seasons. While at SFSU, the team went 16–5 and played in the 1967 Camellia Bowl, a defeat against

Don Coryell Donald David Coryell (October 17, 1924 – July 1, 2010) was an American football coach, who coached in the National Football League (NFL) first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973 to 1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978 to 1986. ...

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level. The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...

. Toledo graduated from San Francisco State in 1968 and then tried out for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Coaching career

Prior to coaching at the

, Toledo was a head coach at Archbishop Riordan High School in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He coached the freshman team in 1969, and the varsity team from 1970 to 1972. Toledo was the offensive coordinator for UC-Riverside in the 1973 season. In his first collegiate head coaching job, Toledo led UC-Riverside to a 15–6 record from 1974 to 1975. When UC-Riverside ended its football program after the 1975 season, Toledo worked as an assistant to John Robinson at USC. Toledo's second head coaching position was at the University of the Pacific from

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

to 1982. At Pacific, his teams compiled a 14–30 overall record in those four years. After leaving the Pacific program, he worked from

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. He assisted R. C. Slocum as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, starting in 1989, until he was hired as offensive coordinator at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

for the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

seasons. As the head coach at UCLA from 1996 until 2002, Toledo went 49–32 overall and 32–24 in conference play. The 2003 football season represented the first time since before high school that Toledo was neither playing nor coaching football. Toledo was the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

in 2006, and was the head coach at

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

from 2007 to 2011.

UCLA

In 1996, his first season as head coach with UCLA, the team finished with a mediocre 5–6 record. The highlight of the season was a comeback win over USC. The 1997 team finished as co-champions of the Pacific-10 Conference with

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. However, with Washington State defeating the Bruins in the season opener, the Cougars earned the right to play in the Rose Bowl. The highlights of that season were a 66–3 win over the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and a victory at the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

over

, and a victory over USC. The 1998 season started out as one of the best in the history of UCLA football. The team was high enough in the BCS standings to merit entry to the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

game, and all UCLA needed to do was beat unranked

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, who were major underdogs after a 66–13 loss to Syracuse the week before. UCLA was also coming off of their eighth consecutive victory over USC and 20th straight win overall. However, Miami won 49–45, ending UCLA's chances of playing in the national championship game. They instead settled for a trip to the Rose Bowl as Pac-10 champions, but lost to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. This is seen as the

turning point A turning point, or climax, is the point of highest tension in a narrative work. Turning Point or Turning Points may refer to: Film * ''The Turning Point'', a 1914 silent film starring Caroline Cooke * ''The Turning Point'' (1920 film), an Ame ...

for both UCLA and USC's football programs. The 1999 season was a major disappointment, with the team finishing 4–7. This was the first year that USC had defeated them in the annual Battle for the Victory Bell since 1990. The year also had the dubious distinction of a 55–7 loss to Pac-10 foe

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, the worst defeat of the Bruins in 69 years. In 2000, the Bruins finished 6–6 with a loss in the Sun Bowl, again against

. The 2001 season started with promise as the Bruins got off to a fast start with a 6–0 record. However, four straight losses to Stanford,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, and USC, the Bruins faded out of postseason contention. UCLA finished off 8–5 in Toledo's final season in 2002. The team finished 7–5 in the regular season, but Toledo was fired after a fourth straight loss to USC. The Bruins did reach the

Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada before moving to the ...

, but interim coach

Ed Kezirian Ed Kezirian (born August 4, 1952 in Fresno, California) an American athletic administrator who was the interim head coach of the UCLA Bruins football team for one game. Kezirian worked as the Football Academic Coordinator at University of Californ ...

coached—and won—his only game in charge of the program. Toledo was the head coach at UCLA for seven years from 1996 to 2002. He finished with a record of 49 wins and 32 losses, for a

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of .605, including one winning streak of 20 consecutive victories, a school record. Toledo's greatest accomplishment with the team may have been in the 1997 season, where the team finished 10–2 with a victory over

in the

. Toledo was 3–4 against UCLA's cross-town rival, the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...

in the

UCLA–USC rivalry The UCLA–USC rivalry is the American collegiate athletics rivalry between the UCLA Bruins sports teams of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and USC Trojans teams of the University of Southern California (USC). Both universit ...

New Mexico

In 2006, Toledo returned to college football after a three-year absence becoming the offensive coordinator of the University of New Mexico Lobos, under head coach

Rocky Long Roderick John Long Jr. (born January 27, 1950) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the defensive coordinator at Syracuse. Prior to being hired by Syracuse, Long was the defensive coordinator at New Mexico. He play ...

who had previously been Toledo's defensive coordinator at UCLA for the 1996 and 1997 seasons. In addition to being the offensive coordinator, Toledo was also the associate head coach and quarterbacks coach.

Tulane

In December 2006, Toledo was named the new head football coach at Tulane, replacing Chris Scelfo. The team finished with a record of four wins and eight losses in Toledo's first season as coach. His first year also saw the development of

Matt Forte Matthew Garrett Forte (born December 10, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tulane Green Wave and was drafted ...

, who came off a knee injury to rush for 2,127 yards and 23 touchdowns. Toledo resigned as head football coach at Tulane on October 18, 2011, and was replaced on an interim basis by co-offensive coordinator

Mark Hutson Mark Hutson (born August 29, 1966) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Sallisaw High School. Hutson played college football at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a consensus selection at o ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

New Mexico profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toledo, Bob 1946 births Living people New Mexico Lobos football coaches Oregon Ducks football coaches Pacific Tigers football coaches San Diego State Aztecs football coaches San Francisco State Gators football players San Jose City Jaguars football players Texas A&M Aggies football coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches UC Riverside Highlanders football coaches UCLA Bruins football coaches USC Trojans football coaches High school football coaches in California Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from San Jose, California