Napa Valley Register: Practice Begins

For a second consecutive year, UC Berkeley is ranked No. 12 to begin the football season, according to the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Coaches’ Top 25 poll, which was released Friday.  This marks the fourth straight year under head coach Jeff Tedford that Cal has started a season ranked in the coaches’ top 25. Since taking over the program in 2002, Tedford has built the Bears into one of the top programs in the country, leading Cal to four straight bowl appearances and top 10 national rankings in each of the last three years. Cal’s 36 wins over the last four years are the most in any four-year stretch in over 50 years for the Bears.  Cal returns eight offensive starters, including tackle Mike Gibson, a Napa High graduate who also played at Solano Community College-Suisun. Gibson had an outstanding debut season for the Bears in 2006, earning All-Pac-10 Second-Team honors after moving into the starting lineup in the fourth game of the year. He played in all 13 games with nine starts and recorded 30.5 knockdown blocks.
Fall practices for the Bears began Monday at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.  “It’s nice to see the guys all together again,” Tedford said on the school’s athletic web site. “They worked hard and had a lot of energy. We have a lot of work to do, but they’re anxious to get it done. I’m excited to get back out here to get into the flow of practice and get the young guys acclimated to what goes on.”  All Cal football practices are closed to the public.