San Diego State coach Sean Lewis brings in speakers from time to time who can provide motivation, education and inspiration to the football team.
On Sunday, Lewis invited former SDSU men’s basketball coach Steve Fisher to speak to the players at the Fowler Athletic Center auditorium.
Lewis said it’s a no-brainer “to bring in an outside voice, regardless of sport, what it takes to win, establishing a culture, building a program, building a team, having those connections … and nobody’s got more wisdom than him.”
“You have a living legend who has reached the mountaintop of winning a national championship,” Lewis said, “taking over the program here 25 years ago and going from what they did Year 1 in that 1999-2000 season (going 5-23) to, obviously, where the program is now.”
For those in the audience who may not have been familiar with Fisher’s history here, Lewis put up a slide titled “Building a Powerhouse Program.”
• 7-time regular season Mountain West champions
• 4-time MW tournament champions
• 13 postseason appearances
• 8 NCAA Tournament appearances
• Led SDSU to its first Sweet 16 appearance.
That, after guiding Michigan to a national championship before arriving on The Mesa. Fisher became the winningest men’s basketball coach in SDSU history (386–209, .649) before turning the program over to longtime assistant Brian Dutcher in 2017.
Fisher said he was honored by the invitation. Before speaking to the team, Fisher watched as a handful of Aztecs players were given red shirts for “earning their colors.”
Fisher, contacted by phone on Monday, told the team: “That’s impressive. Now you’ve got to back up talk with action.”
“When I talked, I said, ‘I’m going to treat you like you’re my Aztec team,’ ” Fisher said. “I start every meeting with ‘eyes and ears.’ You understand what that means? I went into if you’ve got your eyes and got your ears, you’ve got a chance.
“He’s given them all little notepads. I don’t know whether all of them but the majority of them were taking notes as I talked, which, to me, was impressive. I like the look and feel of the team. I don’t know how good they’ll be. Obviously, I think they’ll finish higher than eighth.”
SDSU, coming off a 3-9 season in Lewis’ first year, was picked for eighth place in the Mountain West in a preseason media poll.
Fisher drew parallels to the struggles when he took over the SDSU basketball program but with the opportunity to recruit to a new arena with the football team’s struggles in Lewis’ first year but opportunities presented at Snapdragon Stadium.
“Winning is a panacea for everything,” said Fisher, while also noting, “If you’re a good person, people will talk about you as a good person.”
And character counts for something as well.
Fisher also touched on the importance of those setting the tone for the program.
“He talked about the bedrock and the foundation of those Year 1 guys,” Lewis said. “To have those guys that know a good foundation of the system. But more importantly know the how and why of the things that we do to make sure that they’re upholding the standard and helping the guys learn just how and why we do things.”
Lewis said he was grateful Fisher could stop by and share some wisdom with the team.
“I know he will be at a majority of our home games,” Lewis said. “He echoed a lot of the same things we’ve been talking about. It was really cool … He said it in his way, but it aligned perfectly with what we’re doing and how we’re building this thing.”
Notable
Lewis has broken fall camp into four quarters leading up to game week and the Aug. 28 season opener against Stony Brook.
Four practices last week represented the first quarter. Four practices this week, which will feature the team’s first scrimmage, represent the second quarter. The third and fourth quarters the following two weeks each will include six workouts. The most notable date there is the Aug. 14 FanFest scrimmage schedule for Snapdragon Stadium.
“Great first day of the second quarter of camp,” Lewis said after Monday morning’s practice. “Kind of had some situational work with third down, normal down-and-distance, as we’re starting to layer situations and concepts.
“I thought the guys handled it great. Really good, competitive spirit. Really good maturity so far through camp, and now we need to be able to sustain it as we go. Pleased where we’re at.”
• Lewis said Week 1 standouts included running back Lucky Sutton, the offensive line in general and defensive linemen Brady Nassar, Niles King, August Salvati and Krishna Clay (“he probably had the most physical practice,” Lewis said) in particular.
• Redshirt freshman tight end Ryan Wolfer was back on the field Monday after watching last week from the sidelines with his right foot in a boot. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Will Cianfrini was limited with a lower body injury and true freshman offensive lineman Ashdon Wnetrzak was limited with an undisclosed injury.
Originally Published: August 4, 2025 at 5:54 PM PDT