By CHRIS NGUON
Monday, September 19, 2005
There is one aspect of college football that even the diehard, rah-rah, go-team fans tend to ignore. The one part of college football that can make or break a team. Many times folks call it annoying and confusing. Others say it's too unpredictable, involves too many names, and that it delves too deep into the unknown. But, make no mistake about it, there is one facet of college football that is the key to building a successful and winning program.
The key? Recruiting.
The Bears' 35-20 win over Illinois Saturday showed exactly why quality depth is so important, and why Cal coach Jeff Tedford and his staff are among the best in college football in seeking out and grabbing legitimate high school and junior college talents. Since it seems like every other player on the Bears team is getting injured now, it's probably time to start looking down the depth chart. The interesting part of this process, though, is that it's not a stretch to say that the talent difference from first-string to second-string to even the third-string is not that big nowadays around Berkeley. Two of Cal's starting offensive linemen don't play due to concussions? No problem. One of the Bears' starting outside linebackers out? Meh, three fresh faces are waiting in the wings. A possible Heisman Trophy candidate breaks his finger? Plug in not one, but two dynamic running backs to pick up right where Marshawn Lynch left off. "We have so many receivers, running backs and offensive linemen that we can put in at any point," Cal quarterback Joe Ayoob said. "If these guys didn't have faces you wouldn't know any of them had changed. There's no drop-off anywhere. It's pretty amazing actually."
The depth and talent of Tedford's masterful recruiting classes over the years shined like a bright golden star Saturday. "I've said before, this is probably one of the most talented teams that we've had in a while," Cal center Marvin Philip said after the contest. "The depth that we have is amazing. We have guys that go down and guys that can come in and fill in. I think that goes to the great recruiting job that the coaching staff has done." Minus a few internet fiends here and there that surf recruiting web services such as BearTerritory.net and TheBearInsider.com, few fans would know the difference between a SPARQ rating (the overall "score" recruits receive after going through various drills at the spring Nike camps) and a Star rating. Tedford's first recruiting class, a shortened but effective core group nailed in 2002, was headlined by Marcus O'Keith and David Gray, the two gems of that class. Despite having only roughly two months to salvage a recruiting class after the Bears came off its 1-10 season, Tedford, the two-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year, garnered his first victory as the leader of the program when he convinced Gray to de-commit from Arizona and come to Cal. Tedford also grabbed O'Keith, a Southern California native, away from UCLA's reach. Since that 2002 year, the Bears' recruiting has only gotten better, hauling in back-to-back top-20 classes the last two seasons, putting them in the company of recruiting hotbeds such as Miami, USC and Florida. Saturday's contest was a perfect example of Cal's newfound strength. With outside 'backer Greg Van Housen out, true freshmen Anthony Felder and Zack Follet, as well as junior college transfer Mickey Pimental, more than picked up the pace. Specifically regarding Felder, who hails from Washington, his signing last February represents the growing presence the Bears are starting to develop throughout the West Coast. Believe it or not, Cal is now slowly starting to battle USC for the top recruits-with wide receiver DeSean Jackson as a prime example-throughout the West Region. That's something that even the most die-hard fan can't ignore.
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