Daily Cal: Cal Coaches Have Had a Calling for the Ducks

Five Different Bears Coaches Have Spent Time With Oregon

BY Brian Bainum and Steffi Chan

• Before Cal coach Jeff Tedford arrived at the helm of the Bears football program in 2002, he was the offensive coordinator on Mike Bellotti's Oregon squad between 1998 and 2001. During his time there, the Ducks were 38-10 and made four bowl appearances.  "I have a lot of respect for the way they do business there on daily basis, whether it be administration or fundraising," Tedford said.  "It just seems like they are always on the cutting edge of things. They were always very proactive. They took care of the details. It was very efficient. I'm not comparing it to here, but I just know that in my time there, everything seemed very efficient."   Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory was the defensive backs coach for Oregon from 1998-2000. Linebackers coach Bob Foster, wide receivers coach Dan Ferrigno and running backs coach Ron Gould also previously held positions on the Ducks staff before joining Cal.  "Working with people, you get a true understanding of what they are all about," Tedford said. "Fortunately, the people we have on our staff from Oregon, we have a great comfort level with in terms of work ethic."  

• Marshawn Lynch has made it a point to say the next game is the most important game throughout his career.  This week's clash with Oregon, however, should be extra special for the junior tailback.  Lynch is close friends with several Ducks players, including quarterback Dennis Dixon, wide receiver Cameron Colvin and cornerbacks Willie Glasper and Jackie Bates.  Colvin, Glasper and Bates attended De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., while Dixon played at San Leandro High School.  "It's a little rivalry between me and those guys," Lynch said. "On their defense, I got a couple of boys over there, and I am sure they'll be coming after me. It's a whole different game with them."  Lynch, who was heavily recruited by Oregon, said he kept in contact with many local players during the recruiting process.  "We all wanted to end up at the same school," said Lynch, who played his high school ball at Oakland Tech. "We talked all about it."  

• Nate Longshore has found himself as a blocker in several occasions this season. One such an instance occurred in last Saturday's game against Oregon State on a reverse to Lavelle Hawkins.  Longshore was the lead blocker on the play.

"I had my eyes set on the biggest guy on their team, but he saw me, so I just got out of the way," Longshore joked. "I didn't think it would be a very good matchup."  Longshore said he took a fair amount of ribbing from his teammates when the offense watched film of the play this week.

• The Ducks' secondary is one of the younger areas of the team, but Tedford said the unit looks impressive nevertheless.  Redshirt freshmen Walter Thurmond and Jairus Byrd start at the cornerback positions, and sophomore Patrick Chung starts at rover. The experience of the group comes from senior free safety J.D. Nelson.  "(The cornerbacks) are very fast and it helps when you can run," Tedford said. "They are solid at safety, and it helps when you are a corner and you know where your help is."  The unit's speed stood out to Lynch in film sessions.  "They have great team speed," Lynch said. "No. 15, Chung, he's got a nice set of wheels."

• As a part of Homecoming week, the Bears will be honoring its 2005-06 NCAA champions during the game. Cal captured nine titles-three team and six individual-this past year.