In his first head coaching position, Tedford inherited a Golden Bears team that had won only one game in its 2001 season.

His brother Dennis, 10 years his senior, helped raise Tedford, taking him on camping trips and driving him to football practice and games.

[3] Tedford attended Warren High School in Downey, California, where he was a letterman in football, playing quarterback and earning an All-League selection.

As a senior, Tedford led the Bulldogs to a Pacific Coast Athletic Association conference championship and a last-second, 29–28 come-from-behind victory in the 1982 California Bowl.

[4] After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in 1983, Tedford played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for six seasons with Hamilton, Calgary, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg.

[7] In evidence of his turnaround of the Cal program, season ticket sales jumped from 16,200 in 2002 to 41,336 in 2007, setting new records each year from 2004 through 2007.

Despite their resurgence, the Bears didn't go to a bowl due to NCAA sanctions for academic fraud that were handed down shortly before Tedford took over.

[10] In the 2003 season, Tedford's record of 8–6 included the upset of eventual national co-champion University of Southern California in triple overtime, as well as a 52–49 shootout victory against Virginia Tech in the 2003 Insight Bowl.

Following the regular season, Tedford signed an extension of his contract through 2009, which nearly doubled his base salary to $1.5 million per year; in the deal he also had the pay of his assistant coaches raised significantly.

In 2006, the Bears recorded an eight-game win-streak, including five straight games scoring 40 or more points, rising as high as No.

Following the season, Tedford signed a contract extension through 2013, which raised his base salary to $1.8 million per year and included significant performance and retention bonuses.

A few days after the final game of the season, Tedford was fired as head coach, but was owed $6.9 million over the remaining three years of his contract.

[14] On January 4, 2014, newly hired head coach Lovie Smith selected Tedford to become the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League, which was his first position on an NFL staff.

Tedford was with the team throughout the offseason, including the NFL draft, summer training camp, and the beginning of the 2014 preseason.

In a press release, Tedford thanked Coach Smith and the Buccaneers organization for their support and declared that he was "healthy now and feeling great.

[25] Tedford got his first win as a CFL head coach on July 10, 2015, over the Saskatchewan Roughriders to lift BC to a record of 1-1.

[27] Within the first couple weeks after being ousted from the playoffs, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that NCAA search firms had contacted Tedford about returning to the collegiate ranks.

[29] In 2016, Washington head coach Chris Petersen announced his hiring of Tedford, who served in an offensive consultant role for the Huskies.

[30] On November 10, 2016, Tedford was announced as head coach of the Fresno State Bulldogs following the firing of Tim DeRuyter.

[14] Two of his pupils have achieved the highest success in the NFL: Super Bowl champions Trent Dilfer and Aaron Rodgers.

Joey Harrington, Akili Smith, David Carr, and Kyle Boller also had outstanding college careers and were first round picks in the NFL draft.

Tedford also successfully recruited NFL quarterback Jared Goff, 1st overall 2016, Los Angeles Rams, but was fired before he had the opportunity to coach him at Cal.

Though known primarily for his quarterbacks, Tedford, along with running backs coach Ron Gould, produced eight 1,000-yard rushers during his tenure at Cal.