By Alex Stoev (@alexstoevsjsu) – Spear Reporter | Redshirt junior wide receiver Jerry McClure during the spring game (Photo by Max Garcia – Content Editor)
The San Jose State football wide receiver room has big shoes to fill with the conclusion of spring camp.
During a disappointing 3-9 2025 season for the Spartans, one of the bright spots came from the passing offense, which ranked 13th in the country at 3391 yards.
Within that offense was the nation’s leading wide receiver in yards, then redshirt sophomore Danny Scudero. Once the season concluded, Scudero entered the transfer portal and went on to join Deion Sanders at the University of Colorado.
Other receivers who played big parts in the offense were junior Leland Smith and redshirt junior Kyri Shoels, who have transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Utah, respectively.
In the wake of those losses, the Spartans added some new talent on the outside in the portal, including redshirt junior Jerry McClure from San Diego State and redshirt senior Anthony Ivey from Penn State.
SJSU head coach Ken Niumatalolo praised the speed that the wide receivers bring to the team.
“We feel like we have a lot of guys that are super fast. I think top to bottom we feel deeper than we were,” Niumatalolo said.
With how deep the receiver room is for next season, it was redshirt junior Jerry McClure who stood out the most to Niumatalolo and offensive coordinator Craig Stutzmann.
“Jerry comes in and you can tell he’s a little quiet and has lost a bit of confidence. Then we go into spring and he’s just making plays,” Stutzmann said. “Next thing you know, he’s really attacking the football anytime the ball is in the air.”
One receiver SJSU hopes to see the full potential of next season is redshirt junior Malachi Riley, who missed all but one half of 2025 with a knee injury. Stutzmann is hopeful that Riley will be fully healthy by fall training camp.
Outside of the new additions in the wide receiver core, redshirt junior Cooper Hoch, going into his fourth season with the team, looks to take a leap and take on the leadership role this season.
“The Stutzmanns have done a great job with this offense,” Hoch said. “You gotta learn through it, take some growing pains, but being able to give up my wisdom to some of the younger guys and some of the new guys has been awesome.”
Hoch’s goal for the season is to go with the flow and follow the leadership of his captains.
Stutzmann’s ‘spread and shred’ offense has been the home to the nation’s last two leading wide receivers in yards. Scudero in 2025 with 1291 and Nick Nash in 2024 with 1382.
Stutzmann hopes to continue that feat and make it three years in a row, but also wants to see the team’s depth flourish.
“I hope we’re talking about that in the fall,” Stutzmann said. “Since we have more depth, you won’t see one guy playing 80 snaps. I think we’re going to see a rotation, so maybe the ball’s gonna be distributed a little bit differently. I’d love to see two guys with a thousand yards and the third guy with 700.”
The Spartans will now have 101 days off until the start of fall camp in July before gearing up for their week 0 matchup against USC in Los Angeles, Calif, on Aug. 29.
