Posts Tagged ‘sandy barbour’

Sonny Dykes is in for a world of difference in moving from Ruston, La., to Berkeley. While working as the offensive coordinator at Arizona from 2007-09, Dykes starting setting his eyes on moving to Berkeley one day. When that one day arrived, Dykes said it kept him up at nights. 

Dykes continually referenced two themes throughout his introductory press conference: finding players and coaches that will fit the culture at Cal, and creating a healthy marriage of academics and athletics. 

"I believe there's a direct correlation between having academic success and athletic success," said Dykes. "We will have the highest expectations on the field and in the classroom. This is what Cal demands from its student-athletes."

Dykes circled back to the word fit multiple times, hoping to find players and coaches that will mesh with a culture unique to many places across college football.

"I'm a big believe in fit," he said. "Certain people fit certain places, and our duty is to find student-athletes that fit the culture at Cal."

Dykes detailed his vision for what Cal's offense will look like, saying his ideal quarterback will be a mobile guy that can run the ball 8-to-10 times a game. 

"Our brand of football is fun. We're going to move the ball and score points," Dykes said. He also noted that, unlike Texas Tech, his offense focuses just as much on moving the ball on the ground as it does through the air. His 2012 Bulldogs team famously threw for more than 350 yards a game, but also an average of 43 times for 227 yards a game.

Hoping to have his staff finalized within the next 10-to-14 days, Dykes stated that his most important task will be finding a defensive coordinator. 

"I have four or five names in mind that I want to interview," Dykes explained. "One week you may play Stanford, one week you may play Oregon. We have to be prepared to play both styles."

Among the first questions Dykes fielded from the assembled press was about the defense he left behind at Louisiana Tech, which finished the 2012 season ranked last in the country in total defense. 

"Obviously I know it's something that needs to be addressed," Dykes said, citing that his 2011 team led the WAC in scoring defense, rushing defense and pass efficiency defense. 

Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour declined to elaborate when asked about Dykes' contract or on a potential salary pool for assistant coaches, only saying that, "Sonny and I are working together to provide the resources to bring the best college football staff to Berkeley."

If the rest of his tenure as the Bears head coach mirrors his press conference, Dykes' time as Cal's head coach will focus on much more than just football. 

"There's a dedication to excellence in everything that Cal touches," Dykes said. "This is a very special institution and I'm blessed to be a part of it."

After 11 seasons and an 82-57 record as the head coach at Cal, Jeff Tedford was fired on Tuesday morning. The Golden Bears concluded their 2012 season with a 62-14 loss to Oregon State on Saturday, dropping their record to 3-9. With nearly a dozen years on the job, Tedford was the longest continuously-tenured head coach in the Pac-12 and leaves the program in undeniably better shape than he found it. 

Tedford, who inherited a team that went 1-10 the year before his arrival, led Cal to heights previously unseen, including two 10-win seasons, a share of the 2006 Pac-10 title and one top 10 finish. Tedford's tenure as a head coach and quarterback guru peaked in 2004, when junior college product-turned first round NFL draft pick Aaron Rodgers led the Bears to a 10-2 record, a No. 9 finish and within a hair of beating eventual national champion USC. 

After appearing in seven consecutive bowl games from 2003-09, this season marks the second time in three seasons that Cal will miss a bowl game. The Bears haven't finished a season ranked in the final AP top 25 since 2006. Tedford's position of expertise, quarterback, slipped noticeably this season as the Bears ranked 10th in the Pac-12 in passing yardage and passing efficiency. 

The firing comes just months after Cal AD Sandy Barbour gave Tedford a ringing endorsement. 

"Jeff Tedford is not on the hot seat. We want to win and we will win with Jeff Tedford...Anybody who wants to talk about Jeff Tedford being on the hot seat, I challenge them to go and look at his body of work, look at what he has done with facilities that would be poor high school facilities. Jeff Tedford has worked miracles at Cal. He's an icon as far as I'm concerned." 

The exact amount of Tedford's buyout is unknown, but Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury - News estimates it to be around $7 million. 

The Tedford era met an unceremonious end as Cal ended the 2012 season on a five-game losing streak in which the Bears were beaten by an average score of 42-14 and the newly-renovated Memorial Stadium sat mostly empty for a nationally televised Friday night game with Washington.

In the official statement delivered by the university, Barbour had this to say: "This was an extraordinarily difficult decision, one that required a thorough and thoughtful analysis of a complex set of factors," she said. "Ultimately, I believed that we needed a change in direction to get our program back on the right track."

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Below is a statement from Jeff Tedford:

“I want to thank the University of California for the opportunity to be a part of this great university and community. I am so grateful to all of the coaches, players and support staff for playing such a vital role in making Cal Football relevant while enjoying winning seasons nine of 11 years. All involved can feel a great sense of pride with their sacrifice, contributions and commitment that have made it possible to have the winningest tenure in Cal Football history. We all can be very proud of helping to build a renovated Memorial Stadium that will have a positive impact on many athletes, fans and staff members for years to come. I will never forget the most gratifying part of these last 11 years, and that has been the relationships with the players I have had the special opportunity to watch grow academically, physically, socially and spiritually. To watch this process and be a part of their growth and development has been a blessing. The Tedford family is blessed to have built so many great relationships and create memories that will last a lifetime. I am most proud that through the sacrifices we have made over the last 11 years, my wife and two sons are the foundation and joy of my life. We wish the university much success – Go Bears!”

Tedford is a good man. 

Jon Wilner, the respected writer from the San Jose Mercury-News, recently detailed the situation facing Cal head coach Jeff Tedford and the future of Cal athletics. In his 12th year as Cal's head coach, Tedford is 82-55, but a 21-13 loss to Washington on Friday dropped the Golden Bears to 3-7 this season, clinching an early hibernation for the Bears for the second time in three years. 

If a decision is indeed made to make a coaching change, Wilner thinks it would start with athletics director Sandy Barbour. Any change would likely start with her and run through UC Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. It is unclear exactly how the dynamics of their relationship works and how a final call would be made, but any movement likely begins and ends with those two. 

The economics of the situation are complicated like seemingly everything else in that state, Cal athletics is facing budget issues. To make a coaching change, unless Tedford was willing to accept a negotiated buyout, Cal would owe Tedford $6.9 million - the full salary of the remaining three years on his contract. That's just the start, considering the cost to run a search, hire a new coaching staff while also turning over the existing staff.

There is also another dollar figure to consider - $321 million. That's the price Cal paid to renovate Memorial Stadium. To finance the renovation, Cal is asking for 50-year seat license fees. Cal must put fans in seats to make its economics work and, if you watched the Golden Bears' game with Washington on Friday night, you saw that this will be a big hill to climb if things don't improve on the field. Any cost associated with changing the coaching staff must be weighed against the cost of tickets gone unsold.

As Wilner points out, it is possible that Barbour's voice in the process may be minimized due to the contract she approved for Tedford. Wilner wrote a detailed breakdown of Cal's economic conundrum in October. She also could be replacing the person that she referred to in late August as "an icon". Add all three factors together and it's not out of the question that Chancellor Birgeneau takes the decision-making process in another direction. 

The Tedford era began very strongly in Berkeley. He earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors in his debut season of 2002 and again in 2004. Tedford led the Golden Bears to 10-win season in 2004, when they famously pushed eventual national champion USC to the brink of an upset, and in 2006, when they shared the Pac-10 title and won the Holiday Bowl. Tedford's tenure peaked in October of the 2007 season, when a 5-0 start rocketed Cal to the No. 2 ranking in both major polls. However, the Bears went 2-6 to finish that season and are 34-35 since earning the No. 2 ranking. 

Another factor not weighing in Tedford's favor is Cal's performance in the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate. According to the figures Wilner provided, Cal's 2002-05 entering classes finished with a 48 percent success rate, the lowest figure in the Pac-12.