San Diego State offensive line coach Mike Schmidt spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons at Syracuse.
Among the relationships Schmidt built at the school was one with a big, talented guard from Hawaii.
That relationship has been renewed, with Syracuse transfer Kalan Ellis g this week with SDSU.
The 6-foot-6, 385-pound Ellis is the first player added by the Aztecs from the spring portal period.
The 10-day period for players to add their names to the portal concluded Friday. In coming days or weeks, SDSU will likely add half a dozen players from the portal.
Most, like Ellis, will be expected to make an immediate impact for the 2025 season. Ellis is a potential starting guard for the Aztecs.
Ellis made an impact as a true freshman in 2021 at Syracuse, starting in five of the nine games he played at both left and right guard. He impressed coaches with the composure to compete in the ACC just a couple of months out of high school.
The Orange rushed for 2,562 yards that season, the fifth-highest total in school history. In 2022, Ellis played 11 games, with nine starts at left guard on an O-line that improved from 108th to 45th the country in ing efficiency.
Ellis redshirted in 2023 after suffering a season-ending Lisfranc injury to his foot. He was a coaching change casualty in 2024, dismissed from the team when Dino Babers was fired and replaced by Fran Brown.
Ellis remained at Syracuse, spending the past school year regaining his health and fitness while completing a degree in sociology. He will come to SDSU as a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility, though he could petition to regain the year lost last season following the coaching change.
SDSU’s offensive line was inconsistent last season, due in part to injuries and transfers that thinned the ranks. The Aztecs could have one of the top offensive lines in the Mountain West this season the way things are shaping up.
SDSU completed spring practice last week with three returning senior starters, left tackle Christian Jones, center Ross Ulugalu-Maseuli and right guard Tyler McMahon, ed on the first team by two senior transfers, left guard Dallas Fincher (Michigan State) and right tackle Bayo Kannike (Utah Tech).
Ellis will compete to start at guard, resulting in depth that has been absent at the position.
The Aztecs also will have significant depth at tackle, with the return to health of senior tackle Joe Borjon and junior tackle Cam May.
Borjon started at left tackle in last year’s season opener against Texas A&M-Commerce before suffering a season-ending knee injury. May, a Howard University transfer, was in a boot much of the spring following foot surgery.
Both are expected to be healthy when preseason practice begins in August.
