Saturday, March 17, 2007

SF Examiner: Dickey: Cal fans, Tedford's here to stay

In offering a contract extension to Jeff Tedford that should keep him in Berkeley for many years, the Cal athletic administration has learned from the mistakes of the past. In 1991, as Bruce Snyder entered the final year of his contract, athletic director Dave Maggard was working on an extension. Before it could be concluded, Maggard left the university. His successor, Bob Bockrath, did nothing to keep Snyder, even after Snyder’s team went 10-2 and won a New Year’s Day bowl game, the first for Cal in more than 50 years. When Tedford was hired as the Bears’ football coach, then-athletic director Steve Gladstone and associate AD Mark Stephens structured the contract with multiple incentive clauses. They were determined that Tedford would not be in a Snyder-like situation, where the coach was not being paid commensurate with his success. Current AD Sandy Barbour has continued that practice. The extension, which was scheduled to be approved by the university regents Thursday, calls for Tedford to get more than $1.8 million, with the possibility of more if he reaches certain incentives — including an average 2.8 GPA for his players.  That puts him well ahead of the average for Pac-10 Conference coaches.

 

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