By Rob Calonge
As often is the case when taking over a struggling team like the Washington Huskies, you want to recruit your opponent's most successful staff in order to chart a new course towards becoming a winning organization. On Sunday, it was Cal's turn to lose one of their own to Washington when Jim Michalczik accepted a position to become the new offensive coordinator/offensive line coach for the Huskies.
Michalczik, who joined Jeff Tedford's staff when he came to Cal, has been coaching Cal's offensive line since 2002 and also has been the assistant head coach as well as offensive coordinator in 2007. Michalczik's only year as offensive coordinator with the Bears was the only year that a Tedford-run offense ranked worst than in the top-25 for scoring. In 2007, the Bears offense ranked 50th in scoring offense and 50th in total offense, while Nate Longshore struggled to maintain consistency. This season, under Frank Cignetti, the Bears have rejoined the top-25 by ranking 22nd in scoring offense and improved slightly in total offense to 45th. I learned a ton from Jeff. How to do things the right way, with integrity and honor. I'm damn grateful for the opportunity to come here and be a part of something special.
Michalczik has been a loyal Bear for the past seven years and when asked in an interview in February of 2007 to finish the statement, "Cal Football____," he responded with, "Is class ... integrity ... hard work ... high expectations ... competitive ... team work." It will be easy to wish him well for Bear Backers, but something tells me that they won't be rooting for him when Cal plays Washington next season.
Ironically, Michalczik is a graduate from Washington State, the Huskies biggest rival. This season, the Cougars defeated the Huskies for the Apple Cup. I'm excited in one aspect but a little sad on the other. I'm leaving a great situation, being on Jeff's staff. And these players have been something special. Michalczik will remain with the Bears through the Emerald Bowl before packing his things and moving back to his home state. He's originally from Port Angeles, Washington. It's been common during the Tedford era to lose at least one coach from the staff per season. Good teams normally present job advancement for their coaches and the Bears have been one of the top teams in FBS for the past seven years. Hopefully, for the Bears, this is the only major defection that the program will suffer at the end of the season.
When taking over the offensive coordinator position with the Bears in 2007, Michalczik was asked about his offensive philosophies. His response was: “To have a great offense you have to be able to strike any part of the field in multiple ways at any time, and you have to be physical. We want to be a talented, multi-dimensional and explosive offense next season.”
He's presided over seven All-Pac-10 linemen over his seven year stint at Cal, with Alex Mack being possibly his finest work. Mack is expected to be a first or second round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. If Michalczik's work at Cal is any indication of what the offense will be like in Washington, the Pac-10 will have another tough game on their schedule in the coming years. The Bears will take the following three days off and resume practices on Thursday as they prepare to defeat the Miami Hurricanes. These may not be the Hurricanes of old, but they are a young talented team that could present some match up problems for the Bears. Cal played one ACC opponent this season when they traveled to play Maryland. We all know how that turned out, and the Bears' players are aware that beating Miami could give them a little payback for that loss.
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