Foothill Alum Settling in as Stanford Co-Defensive Coordinator

The way football coach Matt Sweeney remembers former player Jason Tarver, you'd think he's describing a Stanford student. 

"He's just so smart," Sweeney said. "You thought he'd of been the guy to develop something, start a company and make millions of dollars."

It just might have worked out that way for the 1993 Foothill graduate if it weren't for football — and coaching more specifically.

Sweeney's description also helps explain why Tarver fits in so well at Stanford, where he is in his first season as the school's co-defensive coordinator.

Tarver spent the last 10 years on staff with the San Francisco 49ers — the last six coaching linebackers — before opting to accept an offer from coach David Shaw to go to the Farm.

"There's only a few places you'd think about going and Stanford was definitely one of them," Tarver said. "The type of student athletes you have, what Stanford is and stands for. I was born (at Stanford Hospital), this is home. Coach Shaw made my family a good offer and it has been great."

In the fourth-ranked Cardinal's first three games with Tarver on staff, the defense ranks No. 1 in the country in rushing defense (36 yards per game) and No. 4 in scoring defense (9 points per game). The team will take a national-best 11-game winning streak into Saturday's home game against UCLA.

Tarver's path into coaching was a bit unorthodox. He attended Santa Clara University after graduating from Foothill and after a year away from football due to knee surgery, he joined the football team as a defensive back at nearby West Valley College.

"I just woke up one morning and missed it," Tarver said. "They cut the program at Santa Clara, so I was able to go to class in the morning there, go to football practice at West Valley in the afternoon and then take classes there at night. I had to jump through a lot of hoops to do it."

After two years at West Valley as a player, Tarver joined the program's coaching staff while in his senior year at Santa Clara. 

From there he made his way to UCLA.

"I had good enough grades to get into graduate school and medical school there," Tarver said. "It's just like I tell these guys, 'Do as good as you can so you can do what you want. If you don't know what you want yet, that's fine.'"

Tarver's academic succes allowed for endless possibilities, but his first big break in coaching came in 1998 when then UCLA defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti — who now serves in the same capacity at Oregon — hired him as a graduate assistant under head coach Bob Toledo.

"I'm really thankful for Nick because he gave me a shot, him and coach Toledo," Tarver said.

In three seasons as a graduate assistant, Tarver coached special teams and defensive backs.

"Nick gave me a lot of responsibilities," Tarver said. "He left after a year to go back up to Oregon and (current UCLA senior associate athletic director) Bob Field was the defensive coordinator after that."

When he completed his master's degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, Tarver was hired as the 49ers as a quality control coach.

"It was a great opportunity to be in the same building as Bill Walsh, Steve Mariucci, Greg Knapp, Jim Mora (Jr.)," Tarver said. "That was actually my interview, it was all of them lined up at a table."

During his first years with the 49ers, he coached special teams and running backs before switching back to defense. 

"I was fortunate enough to be around a lot of football knowledge," Tarver said. "I was a defensive assistant with coach (Mike) Nolan and then outside linebackers coach with coach Sing Mike Singletary)."

Jim Harbaugh offered Tarver a job to stay with the 49ers when he took over after last season, but Tarver decided to make the jump back to the college game.

Tarver, who lives on campus at Stanford with his wife Katie and sons Merrick and Keegan, remains fond of his Pleasanton childhood.

"Pleasanton is a great place to grow up," he said. "When we moved there there were only three traffic lights."

It's also where he first developed his love of football — first in the Pleasanton Junior Football League, then at Foothill under Sweeney, who is among the Bay Area's all-time winningest prep coaches with 211 victories.

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Coach Sweeney," Tarver said. "He teaches you how to be a part of a team. He teaches you how to be a leader."

The Falcons missed the playoffs in Tarver's senior year — when the team started nine players both ways — but responded the next year with the program's first North Coast Section championship the following season.

They haven't missed the postseason since.

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Kyle Bonagura covers Stanford for CBSSports.com. Follow him on Twitter