Portland State University began its spring football practice on April 7 at Stott Community Field, marking the official start of Chris Fisk’s tenure as head coach of the Vikings. Fisk, who was named the program’s 15th head coach in December 2025, is leading a roster that includes over 70 players, with a mix of returning letterwinners and newcomers.
The start of spring practice represents an important period for both player development and evaluation by the new coaching staff. Fisk said that establishing a strong team culture is his primary goal for this period: “Number one, we really need to continue to establish our cultural identity as a program. We want to be the best team in the Big Sky Conference coming out of spring, not necessarily the best team at football, but the best teammates, and have the best type of culture we can possibility put together. I want to make sure we are great at the fundamentals; ball security, tackling, all the things that lead to victory. And finally, just the enthusiasm to play football at Portland State, being excited about being a Viking.”
Fisk emphasized that evaluating returning players will be key during these practices: “From the first day we got here, evaluating who will stay and who will not has been challenging… That is the challenge right now. We think we have some guys that can play football and elevate our program, but we know nothing about them when things get tough. We will find out about that in spring football and the kind of mental makeup we have.” He also identified offensive line, defensive line and quarterback as major areas where questions remain.
Spring practice sessions are scheduled throughout April into early May with scrimmages planned at Kiggins Bowl and Hillsboro Stadium. The roster features experience on offense with several returning quarterbacks and skill position players such as John-Keawe Sagapolutele (quarterback), Delon Thompson (running back), Terence Loville (wide receiver), Cru Newman (wide receiver/quarterback/kick returner), and Tanner Beaman (tight end). On defense senior linebacker Jaxton Helmstetler returns after starting all games last season.
Fisk comes to Portland State after seven seasons as head coach at Central Washington University where he compiled a record of 48-22 including three conference titles. Several members from his previous staff have joined him in Portland along with new additions from other programs.
Looking ahead to summer preparation and fall competition Fisk said: “How will we know if spring is successful?: If we get out of spring practice healthy it is a success; If we have all of the pieces coming out of spring… If we come out of this thing better at our fundamentals… That is the starting point.”
