Much of that success can be attributed to the wide-open offense, a version of which he intends to bring with him to Hartnell. Our offense will be very similar to the one we ran at Santa Rosa -- a wide-open, high-profile passing attack that has led the nation in a variety of categories during the years I've been there," he said. "There also will be some running-game wrinkles that I won't elaborate on right now. We'll save those for game day."

Collins was born and reared in San Francisco and attended Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa, which has one of California's strongest athletic traditions. He went on to play wide receiver at Santa Rosa JC, then played baseball at Sonoma State, where he was a member of three consecutive Northern California Athletic Conference championship teams. His career as an assistant football coach included stints at Mendocino College, where he coached receivers and special teams, Sacramento City College, where he coached outside linebackers, strong safeties and special teams, and American River College, where he was in charge of the defensive secondary and special teams.