Quad City Times: Cal coach knows what Zook's going through

By Mark Tupper | LEE NEWS NETWORK   

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — If one could take the current-day comments of University of Illinois coach Ron Zook, step back in time three years, then insert them into the mouth of Cal coach Jeff Tedford, you’d have a mirror image of two college football programs trying to jump-start their futures. Back in 2002, Tedford took over a Cal program that had just endured a 1-10 season, leaving players, fans and the school’s administration feeling empty and without much hope. Tedford, a quarterback guru who has worked with Kyle Boller, David Carr, Trent Dilfer, Akili Smith and Joey Harrington, said his first mission was to change the culture of defeat, to replace the habit of losing with an expectation of winning. He did it with a constant barrage of positive reinforcement directed at players already in the program, players whose egos and self-image were stinging.

Now, three seasons later, Cal is viewed in a much different light. Tedford’s first season (2002) resulted in a 7-5 record, which was followed by 8-6 and an appearance in the Insight Bowl. Last season, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers leading the way, Cal zoomed to 10-2, the only regular-season loss being a 23-17 heartbreaker to eventual national champion USC. Cal is currently 2-0 and ranked No. 15 in the country. On Saturday, the Golden Bears will host an Illinois team that is trying to duplicate Cal’s image transformation. During the nine months Zook has been on the job, he repeatedly has talked about changing the habit of losing into an expectation of winning. He has asked players to believe and to buy in, just as Tedford did during his initial season at Cal.

And if Zook wants the parallel to go farther, he needs only to look at what happened to Cal in Tedford’s first season. The Golden Bears opened the seasons with a pair of victories at home, just as Illinois has done this season. Then Cal went on the road to play a team ranked 15th in the country and sprung the upset at Michigan State. Illinois has the exact same chance Saturday, even if an upset seems like a long shot. Tedford said his rebuilding process started with some psychological repair. “Mainly it was to build some self-esteem and confidence, to make a positive environment,” Tedford said. “We had a group of guys who were very eager for change and direction. It was pretty easy. We had a lot of good leadership, even though they felt like they were beat down a little bit.”

The quick start, sparked by the victory at Michigan State, helped Tedford sell his notion that Cal’s struggles could be put in the past. “We won the two games early then went to Michigan State and won there, and that gave our players a lot of belief that we had something going,” Tedford said. “Winning three in a row gave them a lot of confidence.” Zook has been speaking the same language. He has praised the work of the players he inherited, saying they have given great effort and want to win. And he feels a comeback victory over Rutgers and a rout of San Jose State has finally given them something to feel good about.

In fact, he was upset after the 40-19 victory over San Jose State to find his team looking down in the dumps, mainly because it gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown and played sloppily down the stretch. “I was a little guilty of it myself,” Zook said. “I told them, ‘What’s wrong with you? It’s hard to win a game. You guys need to enjoy it. We’ll get it straight. We’ll get it coached up. You need to enjoy this game.’  “And all of a sudden, everyone had that (winning) atmosphere again.” Winning the first two is nice, but getting a third in a row over a quality opponent on the road could do wonders.

“We’ve had some examples where we feel like we’re changing that (losing) mindset, but it’s not done,” Zook said Tuesday. “I’ve been talking all along about changing habits. Winning is a habit and so is losing. It takes 21 days to change a habit. How do you continually impress and enforce your ideals? We’re not close to where we need to be, but the more positive things we can have happen after some adversity, that will help in developing a new attitude.”

Offensive tackle J.J. Simmons said winning Saturday, “would be great. I haven’t experienced a winning streak since I’ve been here. In high school it was normal to go 8-0 or 9-0. I know it’s hard for our fans to have that (optimism). It’s hard after the last two years. We’ve had to jump on our bandwagon after just two wins.

“Maybe 3-0 would have people believing.”