Fall Camp Opens

First Huddle, Fall Camp, 2005 By Chris Avery Publisher
Date: Aug 8, 2005
At 9:30 am this morning in Memorial Stadium, the California Golden Bears opened fall camp, beginning a 26-straight-day workout leading to the September 3rd season opener against Sacramento State.
"Fall Camp opening day is the happiest day of my year," coach Tedford said in an interview with the Bear Insider in August 2003. He was expressing his pleasure at the moment each fall when the whole team assembles for the first time, ready to take on the strenous efforts of fall camp, finally beginning serious preparation for the first game of the year.
The morning drills this first day consisted primarily of calisthenics with the whole team participating. Early in the process, coach Tedford interceded to teach a key lesson. The team had been asked to point their arms straight forward, level to the ground, and to then kick alternating feet as high as possible as they walked forward, with each kick intended to reach the level of the outstretched hands. Coach Tedford had noticed that some leg kicks were not vigorous, that many were not reaching the level of the outstretched hands.
"Details," he said. "On this team you have to pay attention to the details. When a coach tells you to make that kick reach the level of your hands, he means it, so let's get to it."
As running backs coach Ron Gould said in a recent interview, "Running to a yard marker and actually touching the line with your finger as you turn around has nothing to do with winning, not physically, but it has everything to do with winning, mentally."
After the calisthenics session, the team broke into offensive and defensive units at opposite ends of the field. Offense veterans lined up in defensive positions while offense newcomers lined up on offense - and the team ran through formation drills where plays were called but not run. These drills are the basics - getting the newcomers familiar with nomenclature and how practices are structured.
Cal fans who follow recruiting carefully would have enjoyed seeing #51 Kevin Bemoll and #76 Matt Laird (among others) line up in a Cal uniform (no pads) for the first time. These are big solid players that we will hear a lot more about as the season progresses.
At the defensive end of the field, an unusual formation was being employed. The players started with a normal defensive set, but instead of having just one player at each position, the 2-, 3- and 4-deeps lined up directly behind the front line player at each position. This resulted in a literal "4-deep" across the entire defensive backfield.
Then, as the offense (represented by just a few key position players) got set, a defensive formation call would go out and the defense would shift to new positions. With all four players at each position moving simultaneously.
Each defensive backfield set had a name, like "Connie" or "Sally", and as a set was called, players moved to their new positions.
As they moved, the DB's were all required to shout out the new formation name while making the shift. So when coach Gregory moved another offensive player, the entire defensive backfield would again yell out the new position name and move to their new slots. From a distance, this drill had a humorous side effect. With the large numbers of players in motion (at least three times the usual number), and with defensive set names being shouted out at random, the players looked (and sounded) like nothing so much as a gaggle of squawking geese flapping their wings as they moved about. As loud as geese can be – these players did better.
We won't chide the players too much about this, because this is no doubt an effective teaching tool where as players actively and interactively learn the set names and what their location responsibilities are.
Among the newcomers lining up on defense we spotted #57 Mickey Pimentel, #4 (note number change) Thomas DeCoud, and #7 Robert Peele. Others were present, of course, players who will emerge in coming weeks.
On the east side of the field, near the south end zone, wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau pulled together a small gathering of wide receivers for some drills. These included #22 Jesse Canada, #1 DeSean Jackson, and #19 Syd'Quan Thompson.
They ran only the most basic of drills, against no defense, as Kiesau began his promised regimen: start from the absolute beginning, cover everything, make sure everything is learned and nothing is skipped. These drills afforded us no opportunity to see the speed and skills of these young receivers, leaving just the pleasure of seeing them finally on the field at Memorial, beginning their D-1 football education.
After the first hour, veterans were excused, leaving the new incoming class on the field. Without missing a beat, the coaches moved directly into basic formation drills, walking the newcomers through sets, calling out formation and play names, instructing all on the play calling sequence used by the quarterback at the line. (Sample: "If you hear 'X', you know the play is being changed, so listen for the new play in the next numbers spoken. But that only applies to a 'Y' down. If it's a 'Z' down, then listen for a 'Q' instead). [ Editor's note: encrypted, of course].
As the newcomers left the field to get some classroom time in the Hall of Fame room, we found Joe Ayoob relaxing in the stands alongside Nate Longshore. As we arrived, Nate was just departing, so we spoke with Joe for a few minutes.
"Watching the new guys?" we asked.
"Yeah," said Joe, stretching out on a seat. "I'm watching all the new talent. It's fun to see some of the guys you're going to be playing with. There's some serious speed out here, guys like Lavelle (Hawkins) and DeSean (Jackson)."
We said: Given the personnel turnover at QB and WR, many observers expect Cal's running game to be the team strength early on. If that's right, you may see opponents stacking to stop the run.
"I'd love to see that," said Joe. "That just means our receivers are going to be out there one-on-one, and there's no way you can guard these guys like that. One missed step by the defender and they're gone to the house."