The longest tenured member of the Menlo College Athletic Department was named interim head coach of the Oaks football program on Wednesday. Fred Guidici has long served as Menlo's special teams coordinator and director of football operations while also fulfilling the role of recruiting coordinator within the athletic department.

Guidici -- the sixth head coach at Menlo since it became a four-year institution -- takes over as the leader of Oaks football from Mark Kaanapu, who was named head coach at Merced College last week. Menlo finished the 2008 season 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the NWC.

After graduating from San Jose State with a BS in marketing and a minor in economics, Guidici's coaching pedigree began to take shape during time spent at the prep, collegiate, and professional levels. Guidici began his coaching career at his alma mater, Blackford High (1984-89) in San Jose, before moving up to the collegiate ranks at Santa Clara (1990-92) and Stanford (1993-94). Following a year spent with the Oakland Raiders (1995), Guidici assisted with the Arena Football League's San Jose SaberCats (1996-98) during his first three seasons at Menlo.

Since his arrival in 1996, Guidici has been instrumental in leading a number of record-setting special teams units at Menlo.

The Oaks have totaled 47 blocked kicks under Guidici – including seven in 2008 – and featured some of the country's top kick returners. In 2006, the Oaks special teams scored touchdowns in three consecutive games behind the strength of D3football.com All-American kickoff returner Jihad Mahasin, who led Division III with a 33.2 yard return average, and punt returner Galen Perry, who finished ninth in the country with a 15.2 yard return average. Menlo finished the 2006 season as the NWC's top punt return team while ranking fourth nationally. The Oaks ended the 2001 season ranked in the top 10 nationally in both punt return and kickoff return average.

Guidici will continue as the recruiting coordinator for Menlo athletics. The Oaks, who lost five games by 10 points or less in 2008, open the season at home against Occidental, which ended the season ranked No. 15, on Sept. 5 at 12 p.m.