SF Chronicle: Cal's spring practices will be more than routine in key areas

Bruce Adams, Chronicle Staff Writer

In addition to the routine drills on fundamentals and the early competition for starting jobs, Cal goes into spring football facing several major issues.  Coach Jeff Tedford led his team in the first day of spring practice Monday, hoping to resolve the uncertainty at quarterback, to incorporate a new system on offense and to rebuild his coaching staff.  Last year, the Bears were characterized by uncertainty and inconsistency at quarterback. Nate Longshore began as the starter but was lost for the year with a severe ankle injury in the season-opener. Joe Ayoob took over the job, but didn't thrive. He was replaced by Steve Levy in the Big Game and the Las Vegas Bowl.  They're all back, along with Kyle Reed, who is coming off a redshirt freshman season.  Longshore goes into the spring as the starter.  "But that's obviously a key position for us to evaluate through the spring," Tedford said.

Tedford gives the early nod to Longshore by virtue of his having won the job last year.  "I was very comfortable with where he was in his development," Tedford said, "but obviously there's going to be a bit of rust there from not being behind the center."  Tedford also has some off-field issues. This is the first time in three years he has had turnover in his staff.  Bob Foster, who was at Cal for Tedford's inaugural season in 2002, returns as linebacker coach, replacing Justin Wilcox. Foster coached 19 years at UC Davis and was defensive coordinator at Oregon when Tedford ran the offense.  Dan Ferrigno, an assistant at Cal for four seasons (1996-99) who also coached with Tedford at Oregon, returns as wide receivers coach. He replaces Eric Kiesau.  And most notably, Mike Dunbar joins the staff as offensive coordinator. Dunbar spent the past five years at Northwestern where he directed an offense that ranked No. 4 in the nation last year. Dunbar will play a more high-profile role than his predecessor, George Cortez, did.

His hiring reflects Tedford's desire to incorporate the spread into his more conventional system.  "Trying to put it together is the challenging part," Tedford said.  The spread can employ as many as five receivers. Meanwhile, Cal will retain, with some possible modifications, its basic formations, which include sets with two backs, two tight ends and/or two wide receivers.  And unlike in many spread offenses, the fullback and tight end will continue to be an integral part of Cal's offense.

"That's where we differ from teams that are solely spread," Tedford said. "That's a work in progress as we try to find what the right combination is."  He said the spread elements of Cal's offense would be similar to systems that run the so-called Utah spread-option, which retains a strong running game, as opposed to the Texas Tech-style pure spread, which relies heavily on the pass.  Tedford said his new staff is coming together nicely, although things that were routine in the past, such as practice schedules, have to be specified again.  "It really forces us to re-address everything," he said.  Spring drills conclude April 22.