Jeff Tedford knew he was where he belonged, back home at Fresno State, by the relaxed greeting he got from a woman he knew on campus 20 years before.

“Man, that’s what coaching does to you?” she said.

For Tedford, 55, there has been a lot of mileage over the past two decades, most of it good. During an 11-year stay as coach at Cal, he lifted the Bears to heights they hadn’t seen in more than half a century before being fired after going 3-9 in 2012.

He took a year off, then was hired as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But his foray into the NFL was derailed by emergency angioplasty heart surgery, and he left Tampa after one season.

Then came one-year stops with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the University of Washington before his alma mater called last November.

“It definitely feels like home,” said Tedford, whose Bulldogs bring a 2-2 record to the Bay Area on Saturday to face San Jose State.

Happy and healthy, Tedford has settled in quickly at a place he knows well. Bulldog Stadium had just opened when Tedford was a record-setting quarterback for the Bulldogs in the early 1980s. He and his wife, Donna, reside in the same part of town where he lived as an assistant coach to Jim Sweeney for six seasons.

“Not a lot that’s changed, except we all look a little different,” he said, laughing.

The challenge of elevating Fresno State to its past glory will be significant.

The Bulldogs posted one victory last season and were winless in Mountain West play — exactly the scenario he inherited at Cal in 2002.

“There are a lot of similarities,” Tedford said. “You get here and the kids are deflated. Trying to build the trust and confidence in the kids is Step 1. That doesn’t happen overnight.”

The Bulldogs’ schedule didn’t make it any easier. Fresno played road games against Alabama and Washington last month, one-sided defeats sandwiched between decisive victories over Incarnate Word and Nevada.

Tedford’s first season at Cal was a revelation: road victories over Top-25 foes Michigan State, Washington and Arizona State, before a season-ending win in the Big Game against Stanford for a 7-5 record.

The Bears went on to play in eight bowl games in his 11 seasons, and he was the program’s winningest coach by his exit in 2012.

“It seems like a long time ago,” Tedford said. “A lot of great days, a lot of great friends. I have no regrets at all about my time at Cal. I do keep an eye on them. I hope for the best for them and Coach (Justin) Wilcox.”

Freshman running back Ronnie Rivers, who came to Fresno from Freedom High in Brentwood, had a scouting report on Tedford even before meeting him.

“He was offensive coordinator when my dad played at Fresno State,” Rivers said of his father, Ron, a running back who went on to a six-year NFL career. “My dad had a lot of good things to say about him.”

Wide receiver KeeSean Johnson, a junior from Palo Alto, knew nothing about his new coach. A quick Google search provided credibility.

Since then, Johnson has gotten a first-hand view. Tedford made it a point to meet the parents of all the returning players last spring. “My mom and dad liked that,” he said.

Mostly, both players said, Tedford set a standard for hard work and attention to detail in practice.

“That pushed everyone to a whole other level,” said Johnson, who has 92 receptions the past two seasons. “He’s coached a lot of good players. He’s coached great teams.”

Rivers, who leads the Bulldogs with 200 rushing yards, was a fan of the elite running backs Tedford’s Cal program sent to the NFL, especially Jahvid Best. He likes where the Bulldogs are headed.

“I think we’re going to be all right. We should be able to do some big things, turn the program around,” he said. “Definitely from when I came here in the summer, I’ve seen a lot of progress. Our confidence level is high.”

Fresno State hasn’t enjoyed a winning season since 2013, but success would not be unprecedented. The Bulldogs once were a powerhouse, starting with an 11-1 season in 1982, when Tedford threw 24 touchdown passes.

“This is the only game in town, so there’s a lot of support here, lot of energy, a lot of people motivated to be successful,” Tedford said. “The tradition of this program has been very strong. To regain that at some point is the mission.”