USA Today: California pins its Pac-10 title hopes on legs of Jahvid Best

David Leon Moore

Link.

The talk of the Pacific-10 Conference media day was about how a traditionally pass-happy league might take a more grounded approach to football this season.  Southern California's Mark Sanchez and Arizona's Willie Tuitama, the only Pac-10 quarterbacks to throw for 3,000 yards last season, are gone.

But the league returns five 1,000-yard rushers. In order of yards gained in 2008, they are California's Jahvid Best, Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers, Stanford's Toby Gerhart, Arizona's Nic Grigsby and Oregon's LeGarrette Blount. A lot of people say the best of them is, well, Best.  Arizona safety Cam Nelson: "He can change direction at the drop of a dime."

The 5-10, 195-pound junior is the closest thing the league has seen to Reggie Bush since Bush won the Heisman Trophy at USC in 2005. That is not by accident.  While Best was a high school star in Vallejo, Calif., his father, David, would tape USC games. Best would spend hours poring over Bush's exploits.

"He was the back I tried to copy every week," Best says. "I'd see him do something, and I'd try to do it the next week in my high school game. "I wouldn't watch just highlights. I'd watch every single play. I wouldn't say I try to copy specific things necessarily, but I feel like my game has been shaped by him, just by watching him so much and trying to mirror his game."

He did quite a job of it last year. It seemed to some opponents as if they were trying to tackle the ghost of Bush. Not only is Best about the same size, he has similar speed and ability to escape.  Best exploded to stardom as a sophomore last year, rushing for 1,580 yards and upholding Cal's tradition of big-play running backs such as J.J. Arrington, Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett. In fact, Cal has had a 1,000-yard rusher in each of the last seven years. USC has the record at 10 in a row (1972-81).

Best's rushing total last year ranked No. 3 in the country, No. 1 in the Pac-10 and No. 2 on Cal's all-time list, behind Arrington's 2,018 yards in 2004.   Best set a school season record with his 8.1 yards a carry, and he tied the school mark of 15 rushing touchdowns. He also set a school record with 311 rushing yards against Washington and ended the season with 186 yards in the Emerald Bowl victory vs. Miami (Fla.). Basically, he did for Cal what Bush did for USC on two national title teams. This year, Best would like to do it to USC, which is favored for its eighth consecutive Pac-10 title.   Cal was second in the preseason Pac-10 media poll and 12th in the nation in the USA TODAY preseason coaches' poll.

"We definitely feel like it's our turn to win a Pac-10 championship," Best says.  Cal is considered to have nearly everything it takes to do that, except for a question mark at quarterback, where junior Kevin Riley, who ran hot and cold last year, faces a fall challenge from sophomore Brock Mansion and redshirt freshman Beau Sweeney. "We have to be more consistent in the passing game," coach Jeff Tedford says.  The running game, though, should be electrifying, and Best is expected to make a run at being the second running back this decade to win the Heisman.  "He's as exciting a player as we've had," Tedford says of Best, "and we've had some real good tailbacks. He brings that element of a game-breaker in there. He's very versatile, like a Reggie Bush. He can come out of the backfield and catch the ball. You can line him up at receiver. He can do it all."

Can he do it as well as Bush? "I think so," Tedford says. "I'd say they're very comparable."

 

Contra Costa Times: Is Cal Ready to Step Up?

Jonathan Okanes

Link.

Last fall marked the first in recent years that big things weren't necessarily expected from Cal's football team. The Bears were coming off a disappointing 7-6 season, one in which they lost six of their final eight games after starting out 5-0 and ascending to No. 2 in the national rankings. Uncertainty was the watchword of training camp. After a respectable 9-4 season, which culminated in a win over Miami in the Emerald Bowl, the Bears begin training camp for 2009 back in a familiar position — shouldering the burden of expectations. Most pundits expect Cal, with 17 starters returning, to improve on last season and become a major player nationally. The Bears were selected to finish in second place in the preseason Pac-10 media poll.

While there is optimism in Berkeley, the Bears aren't short on questions. Most notably, whether it will be junior Kevin Riley or somebody else playing quarterback. The following are the top five questions facing Cal as it opens training camp today at Memorial Stadium:

1. Who will be the starting quarterback? The novelty is wearing off this story, as it seems every year at Cal there is a quarterback competition in the fall. Riley, who started nine games last season, is the obvious favorite. While he put up modest numbers last year — 123.6 passing yards per game and 14 touchdowns — he threw only six interceptions in 221 attempts. The lack of production also was due to an inexperienced corps of receivers and injuries along the offensive line. Riley himself will acknowledge that he didn't play to his potential last season. That's one of the reasons he lost his starting job twice to Nate Longshore. The specter of Longshore waiting for a turn on the sideline may have contributed to Riley's inconsistency.

If Riley doesn't improve, redshirt sophomore Brock Mansion and redshirt freshman Beau Sweeney will be waiting for an opportunity. Mansion struggled through most of spring practice but put together an impressive final week, and Sweeney seemed further along than most quarterbacks with just one year in the program.

2. Can the Bears get better production from their wide receivers? Cal entered last season with just 15 career catches among its entire corps of wide receivers. The growing pains were evident. The Bears never found a wideout who could produce on a regular basis, and it remains to be seen if that will happen this year.  The good news is players such as Nyan Boateng, Verran Tucker and Jeremy Ross — the top three receivers from last year — now know what it's like to play college football. Now they must take that experience and turn it into production.  There are a few compelling elements that weren't around last season. Sophomore Marvin Jones played sparingly as a true freshman, partly because of a knee injury, and excelled in the spring. He should begin camp as a starter. And Michael Calvin, who was supposed to be the Bears' top receiving threat last season, is fully healed from reconstructive knee surgery. Alex Lagemann, who has been plagued by injuries during his first two years at Cal, was finally healthy in the spring and stood out.

3. Can Cal maintain its excellence at linebacker? Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory no longer can depend on the triumphant play of Zack Follett, Worrell Williams and Anthony Felder, who not only brought talent and experience to the field but arguably were the heart and soul of the locker room. The good news for the Bears is that Eddie Young returns at outside linebacker and Mike Mohamed, who saw extensive playing time last season, will take a spot inside. Still, the Bears know they will have to use two linebackers without much experience, although Gregory is confident the candidates are talented. Sophomore Mychal Kendricks finished the spring as the other starter inside, while senior Devin Bishop was playing with the first team in Follett's old spot outside.

4. Who will do the kicking? Giorgio Tavecchio was a terrific story last season, joining the team as a walk-on three days before the opener and handling kickoffs that Saturday against Michigan State. He ended up assuming place-kicking duties as well, and connected on 9 of 13 field goals, including 3 of 4 from 40-49 yards.

Tavecchio was kicking long and accurate during the spring, and he should begin camp as the favorite. But the Bears still have two other kickers on the roster they are excited about. David Seawright missed the majority of last season with a hip injury, and after being limited during spring practice, he's finally fully healthy.

5. Who will play the guard spots? The Bears are set at center with Chris Guarnero and both tackle spots with Mike Tepper and Mitchell Schwartz, but there are questions at guard. Right guard Noris Malele has departed, and converted tackle Chet Teofilo was taking his first- team reps during the spring. Mark Boskovich started the final 10 games of the season at left guard after Guarnero went down with a toe injury but is being pushed by Matt Summers-Gavin.

What needs to be answered?

1) Who's the quarterback?

2) Who will catch the ball?

3) Can anyone replace Zack Follett at linebacker?

4) Who will be the place-kicker?

5) Who will claim the open guard spots on the offensive line?

 

CAL'S 2009 SCHEDULE

Date Opponent Time

9/5 Maryland 7 p.m.

9/12 E. Washington 2:30 p.m.

9/19 at Minnesota 9 a.m.

9/26 at Oregon 12:30 p.m.

10/3 USC 5 p.m.

10/17 at UCLA TBA

10/24 Washington St. TBA

10/31 at Arizona St. TBA

11/7 Oregon St. TBA

11/14 Arizona TBA

11/21 at Stanford TBA

12/5 at Washington 3:30 p.m

San Jose Mercury: QB Questions Await SJSU, Standord, Cal

Jon Wilner

Link.

Excerpts:

“The Bears are hoping that junior Kevin Riley has fixed his mechanics, improved his accuracy and gotten comfortable with his reads.  But Riley, who shared the starting job with Nate Longshore last season, will have to fend off sophomore Brock Mansion and redshirt freshman Beau Sweeney. If the competition is tight, Tedford might wait until the week before the season opener to name a starter. "We feel like (Riley) has to step up right now, because his experience on game day in our offense puts him a step ahead," Tedford said Monday.

***

Cal

Returning starters: 17 (7 offense, 8 defense, 2 specialists).

Expect big things from: Jahvid Best, one of the top tailbacks in the country. . . . Sophomore receivers Marvin Jones and Michael Calvin, who were limited by injuries last year. . . . Ends Tyson Alualu and Cameron Jordan, who combined for 22 sacks in '08. . . . Playmaking inside linebacker Mike Mohamed. . . . All-conference cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson.

Roster nugget: Tight end Tad Smith, who suffered a broken scapula in spring practice, is healthy.

Positions to watch: Outside linebacker, where returnees Devin Bishop and Eddie Young will try to fend off JC transfers Jarred Price and Jerome Meadows and redshirt freshman Chris Little. . . . Kicker, where a healthy David Seawright will compete with Giorgio Tavecchio. . . . Fullback, where the Bears must replace Will Ta'ufo'ou and find someone to block for Best.

Questions to answer: How will the offense function under new coordinator Andy Ludwig? Have Riley and the receivers improved their timing? How quickly will the rebuilt linebacking unit coalesce?

 

ESPN: Is Cal's Best another Bush? Maybe

Link.

By Ted Miller

The question seemed doomed to failure, sure to be deflected by California coach Jeff Tedford. Coaches don't like to compare players, and comparing a college running back to Reggie Bush is like bringing Jimi Hendrix into a discussion of a contemporary guitar player.  It's just not something a person of culture does. And yet, this Jahvid Best guy lining up in the Bears backfield sure is fancy. "I would compare him [to Bush]," Tedford said. "I'd say they are very comparable." That's sure to draw some snorts. Bush, the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner at USC, was the most spectacular college running back since Barry Sanders. With Bush, it wasn't about the yards, per se, it was about how he got there. The process was what left people gaping.

Best might not be as jumpy and twisty as Bush, but Best often seems like he's playing at a different speed than everyone else on the field. "He hits gears that are just different," UCLA linebacker Reggie Carter said.  Best, who ran a 10.31 100 meters in high school, produced 19 runs of 20 or more yards in 2008, seven of 60 or more and three of 80 or more. He averaged 8.1 yards per carry.  While some might argue he's not the nation's most explosive player, those some would be wrong. "He's as exciting a player as we have had, and we've had some really good tailbacks," Tedford said. "He brings that element of game-break in there. He's very versatile like a Reggie Bush."

Of course, not everyone knows about Best, even though he is probably the leading Heisman Trophy candidate on the West Coast. Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh mistook him for the San Jose State quarterback during the annual Bay Area college football media day this week.  Perhaps it was the 10 or so pounds of muscle Best added during the off-season. That should not only help the now-200-pound Best when he runs inside -- an underrated part of his game, by the way -- but also the added weight should help him stay healthy.  Best ran for 1,580 yards last season despite sitting out one game and being limited in others due to injury. He sat out spring practices while recovering from elbow and foot surgeries. He said he's close to 100 percent heading into camp, which starts Friday.  Best knows that high expectations will follow both him and the Bears into camp. The school is planning a Heisman campaign, and many pundits project Cal as a top-15 or even top-10 team and the leading candidate to end USC's seven-year run atop the conference.

Cal, however, has struggled with high expectations in the past. And, of course, there's the great implosion of 2007, when the Bears were poised to be ranked No. 1 but went rear-end-over-tea-kettle vs. Oregon State and proceeded to lose six of seven games.  Best was an injured freshman when that happened, but he claimed the memory is still fresh.  "Sometimes we hear about how we're ranked this or we're ranked that and we start to pat ourselves on the back too much and we lose that sense of hunger that you need to win the Pac-10 championship," he said. He said his present hunger is more about the Pac-10 than about big numbers and a Heisman. "I'm not worried about statistics. All I care about is Ws," he said. "If we're undefeated, then my stats should be there."

Undefeated? A three-week stretch from Sept. 19 to Oct. 3 that includes visits to Minnesota and Oregon as well as a tangle with USC should determine the trajectory of the Bears' season and reveal whether Best has any chance to draw some votes away from the quarterback troika of Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow, each Heisman finalist a year ago. Hard to believe any of the above three will produce more eye-popping highlights than Bush, er, Best. When Best was in high school, Bush was his favorite running back. Now Best is fitting reasonably into a comparison, potentially following footsteps that once seemed impossible to duplicate.

Sporting News: Q & A with ... California RB Jahvid Best

By Dave Curtis

Link.

Amid preseason talked dominated by quarterbacks and preseason polls focused on the South, star tailback Jahvid Best and the Cal Bears have emerged as potential factors on the national scene. Best, a junior and Cal's top offensive player, averaged 8.1 yards per carry last year and earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors. Best spoke with Sporting News' Dave Curtis about his play and his team's outlook for 2009.

Q: First up, what's the story behind your first name? Why Jahvid?

A: My dad pretty much made it up. The first part, the "Jah," that's Caribbean, where my dad's from. It means, "almighty one," like a religious one or something like that. And the second part comes from his name, David. He just combined the two.

Q: You ever catch any heat for having kind of a funky name?

A: Not really. Honestly, I didn't know what it meant until later on. I got to high school, and I started asking around, and then I thought it was pretty cool. Until high school, it was just my name. Nobody said anything.

Q: How did you end up a running back?

A: The first time I played football was my freshman year in high school. I had just never tried it until then. I was a running back and a safety and a little bit of wide receiver. But running back looked like a lot of fun because they got the ball most. We didn't really have a great quarterback on our team, so even though I wanted to play receiver, I figured it would be hard for me to get the ball. So running back was it.

Q: Which running backs did you love to watch as a young guy?

A: The one guy I really modeled my game after in high school was Reggie Bush. I used to watch USC play on Saturdays. Sometimes, I'd even record the games and watch them during the week. I just watched how he ran and tried to mimic that in my games.

Q: Bush won a Heisman. You think you've got a chance at that, or maybe the Doak Walker Award (best running back)?

A: I don't know. I feel honored to be in that category. To me, the best back in the country is the back that keeps his team winning. You have to have the stats, too, but it's more than that. It's going to take a great offensive line, and I think we have that this year.

Q: How about the Heisman?

A: There's been a little bit of a buzz around me, but nothing I'm too worried about right now. It's the same thing. If we keep winning, my chances to win some of those things are going to go way up.

Q: What about your team? Why do you guys feel like you can compete with USC and Oregon this year?

A: For us, it's no different than any other year. We always feel that way. But it's bigger than just USC. The past couple of years, there's always a team that beats USC, but then that team goes and loses some games. You do have to beat them, but this conference is bigger than just one team.

Q: So why can you guys win the Pac-10?

A: We've got a lot of confidence in each other after the way we played some of our games last year. We have a lot of guys coming back, we had a great offseason and the focus is going to be there when we start camp.

Q: How about Kevin Riley at quarterback? What does the rest of the team think of him as probably the No. 1 guy?

A: All the guys believe that he can get in done for us. We all believe in him. He really stepped up his game during the spring. I'm really looking forward to camp and seeing him and how much better he's gotten. We need him if we want to have a big year.

Q: Break down your strengths and weaknesses as a back.

A: I'd definitely say my strength is my speed. My most underrated thing is probably my toughness. I've battled through a lot of injuries through my college career and tried to just keep playing and keep fighting. Weakness, I'd say probably my strength. There are a lot of backs you watch who can run through tackles, take a hit and stay on their feet and keep coming. That's just not part of my game.

Q: What about the next level? Any thought yet of leaving school after this season?

A: Right now, I haven't given it much. I'm just trying to play through this season and focus on winning. That's for after the season. Really, right now, I have no clue what I'm going to do.

ESPN's Pat Forde Ranks Cal #22

Link.

Excerpt:

22. California Golden Bears, selected by Pat Forde

Merely seven straight winning seasons for the Golden Bears, five of them with eight victories or more. Jeff Tedford might be the most underappreciated coach in the country, and this might be his best team. How smart will this pick look in October when unbeaten Cal is hosting unbeaten USC in a matchup with national championship implications?

Ivan Maisel’s Comment: What if you fielded a football team and nobody on your campus cared?

Sports Illustrated: Stewart Mandel's Mailbag

Link to entire story.

Excerpt:

I'm convinced that if Cal got more consistent QB production the last couple of years, it would have put the Bears into a few Rose Bowl conversations. Has "QB Guru" Jeff Tedford lost his touch?
-- Ted, Oakland, Calif.

Good question. It does seem like Cal's program took a strange turn in the middle of the 2007 season when an injured Nate Longshore inexplicably lost his mojo. Longshore, you may recall, led the Bears to a 10-win season as a sophomore in '06 and had Cal off to a 5-0 start and No. 2 ranking in '07 before spraining his ankle. Though he missed just one game, he was clearly compromised the rest of the year, throwing 11 interceptions against nine touchdowns as the Bears lost six of their last eight. Neither he nor Kevin Riley wowed too many people last year.

Let's look at some numbers.

Cal's NCAA pass efficiency rankings under Tedford Year Rank Primary QB Record 2002 34th Boller 7-5 2003 15th Rodgers 8-6 2004 5th Rodgers 10-2 2005 65th Ayoob 8-4 2006 32nd Longshore 10-3 2007 55th Longshore 7-6 2008 72nd Riley 9-4

As you can see, Cal had its worst passing season under Tedford last season yet still managed to win nine games, thanks in large part to star RB Jahvid Best's emergence. (Throw in J.J. Arrington, Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett, and it would appear Tedford has become more of a "running back guru.") If he'd had Boller or Rodgers last year, maybe Cal could have challenged USC in the Pac-10.

Heading into '09, Cal is widely viewed as a top 20 team and Best as a Heisman candidate. The defense should be solid. Perhaps with no QB controversy for the first time in three years, Riley will step up and perform like an old Tedford signal-caller. If not ... Las Vegas is a great destination in December.

 

Contra Costa Times: For Cal, Heisman Quest is to be Best

Link.

By Jonathan Okanes

Cal's athletic department has launched a promotional campaign to publicize star tailback Jahvid Best's candidacy for the Heisman Trophy. It's a good thing, too, because apparently the word isn't getting out to some pretty important people in college football.  Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, for one.  At Monday's annual Bay Area College Football Media Day, Harbaugh was busy praising the talents of some local players when he gestured toward the man he thought was San Jose State quarterback Kyle Reed.

"I remember recruiting you. Out of McClymonds, right?" Harbaugh said. "Uh, Kyle is over there," said the supposedly unrecognizable player, who just happened to be Best. Later, when Cal coach Jeff Tedford was introducing the Cal players on hand, he nudged Harbaugh in the arm and pointed at Best. "That's Jahvid Best," he explained.  Everybody had a good laugh, and Harbaugh later went over and formally introduced himself to the player many consider to be the nation's top Heisman candidate among those who weren't finalists last year. Best, who finished third nationally in rushing last season (131.7 yards per game), is expected to do big things this year but becoming a legitimate Heisman candidate may be problematic. All three of the 2008 finalists — quarterbacks Sam Bradford (Oklahoma), Colt McCoy (Texas) and Tim Tebow (Florida) — are back for another season. Plus, the West Coast hasn't exactly dominated the award.

USC has produced seven Heisman winners, but there have been only three others from Pac-10 schools, and they were all quarterbacks. Oregon State quarterback Terry Baker won it in 1962, UCLA quarterback Gary Beban in 1967 and Stanford quarterback Jim Plunkett in 1970.  "We'd probably have to go undefeated for me to have a legitimate chance, and (the other candidates) would have to mess up," Best said.  Still, Best is near the top of virtually every list of Heisman candidates to be found. He is the country's top returning rusher and is electrifying as a kick returner. With the Bears expected to be ranked in the top 15 in the preseason, Cal may just have enough national appeal to keep Best squarely in the Heisman picture.

"Those are great players," Tedford said of the returning Heisman finalists. "They've all been there. All those guys are awesome players. We're not going into this as a competition for the Heisman. We're going into this to win our conference, to win a Pac-10 championship and to play at a national level."

When training camp opens Friday, Best will be back on the field for the first time since the end of last season. He missed spring practice while recovering from elbow and foot surgery.  But one player who won't be present is former Compton Community College wide receiver Markish Jones, who signed a letter of intent to play at Cal in February. Jones didn't qualify academically.

That means the Bears won't have a single new scholarship receiver on their roster this fall. Cal struggled to get consistent production from its inexperienced receiving corps last season.  "(Jones) would have been a spot player," Tedford said. "I don't know he would have broke in (to the playing rotation). He could have, but I don't know. I feel confident and comfortable with the guys that we have right now. They're more experienced. They were all so young last year. Now they have a year under their belt and they've been working very, very hard. I think there is plenty of talent there. Now it's just a matter of taking the next step."

 

SF Examiner: Bay Area teams rev up for upcoming NCAA season

Glenn Dickey

Excerpt:

Everybody was upbeat as Bay Area college football coaches met with the media Sunday to discuss the upcoming season.  Cal coach Jeff Tedford declared that the first day back with his team is “the best day of the year.” The Bears convene as a team on Thursday and begin practice Friday.

The national media has given the Bears high ratings in preseason predictions. The Bears seem especially strong on defense, and Tedford said it is potentially the best defense he’s had at Cal, anchored by Syd’Quan Thompson, ranked as the No. 1 corner in the country in some publications.  Thompson is just 5-foot-9 and 191 pounds but he’s very fast and tough. “We put him in a lot of blitz situations because he’s such a good tackler,” said Tedford. In his first start, Thompson was blitzed for long touchdowns by Tennessee in a game in Knoxville. “I didn’t know how he’d react after that game,” said Tedford, but obviously, he took it as a learning experience.

Offensively, the Bears have running back Jahvid Best, who’s getting attention as a Heisman Trophy candidate. “That won’t affect him,” said Tedford. “Jahvid is a team-first guy.”

Link to rest of article.

SF Chronicle: Q&A with Jeff Tedford

Link.

By Ron Kroichick

The start of Jeff Tedford's eighth season as Cal's football coach carries a curious soundtrack: the hum and pounding of construction work on the school's long-sought athletic-training center, right outside the window to Tedford's office on the west side of Memorial Stadium.  If that project bodes well for the future - and Tedford is counting on it - then the present hinges on a more fundamental football matter: Who's the quarterback? That's the omnipresent question for Tedford as his Bears begin training camp this week in Berkeley.  Cal went 9-4 last season and won the Emerald Bowl despite season-long uncertainty at quarterback, where Tedford bounced between Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley. Longshore has departed, leaving Riley to compete with Brock Mansion and Beau Sweeney for the starting job.

As this subplot swirls, the Bears begin preparing for their Sept. 5 season opener against Maryland. They will hit the practice field Friday with one of the nation's most dynamic running backs in Jahvid Best, a solid defense and the annual challenge of trying to unseat mighty USC.  Tedford recently sat down with The Chronicle to talk about his program, his play calling, his quarterbacks and Cal's perpetual quest to reach the Rose Bowl.

Q: What's your sense of the personality of this year's team?

A: I like the chemistry. People are working very hard and pushing one another. It's going to be interesting as we get to camp to see who's really emerged as leaders through the summer program.

Q: How is it different from past teams you've had here?

A: I think there's probably a little bit more team feeling - everyone is focused on our team goals, for the most part. That's always important. I think the players respect one another, because they've all invested the same amount of time through the summer and given the same commitment. That goes a long way in earning each other's trust.

Q: Will you call plays this season, or will (new offensive coordinator) Andy Ludwig?

A: We both will. He'll call the majority of them and I'll make suggestions here and there.

Q: Is that how it's worked in recent years?

A: That's how it worked last year. My first three years, I think I called them all - until we hired (Mike) Dunbar, then we went back and forth. I would call maybe 20 percent of the plays in a game. Last year, it was probably about the same. We'll see how it goes this year.

Q: Has that been a challenge? I know you love Xs and Os, but you obviously deal with so many other things as a head coach.

A: I'm still 100 percent involved in the game plan. But I feel like I have to have more on my mind, so my play calling is really situational - when we get to a certain yard line or something. ... In between series, I might want to talk to the official or pay attention to the defense. I always want to be conscious of what's going on in the game with penalties or injuries.

Q: I can't go too far without asking about the quarterbacks. How does that position look going into camp?

A: I think it looks great. Kevin obviously has more experience than the others, and I think he's worked hard on his fundamentals. We'll see how his experience and knowledge transitions this year. Brock and Beau are gifted - they're athletic, smart, competitive guys. I feel like we have some nice depth, and that's going to create some competition, and competition is always good to bring out the best in people.

Q: So you're starting camp thinking it's wide open among those three?

A: Yeah. Kevin will take the first snap, but it's going to be who performs the best. Nobody has a lock on the position, by any means. It's about who's going to perform, who's able to run the team and put us in a position offensively to be successful.

Q: Do you second-guess yourself at all for going back and forth last year?

A: No, I don't. The idea is to have a consistent guy who gives you the best chance to win. I will admit consistency was a problem last season. I would have loved for someone to take over the reins and be consistent, but it didn't happen. We had a guy in Nate who won a lot of games for us here. It wasn't like he was an unproven guy.   But I don't look back on last year and regret having two guys play. You're always looking for the guy to run the offense. I understand there are going to be mistakes made. Everyone needs to understand that about the quarterback position - no one is going to be perfect. There are going to be interceptions thrown from time to time.  Once you start alternating quarterbacks, people are so quick to form opinions and choose sides. That's the hard part about the fan relationship with the position. You'd like to not have any emotion involved; it's about who's producing. But as soon as one guy throws an interception, you hear, "Oh, put the other guy in."

Q: How would you assess Kevin's play last season and how does he look going into this season?

A: The thing with Kevin is, he shows signs of brilliance. He does great things from time to time. But it's just the consistency you need to have at that position. Last year, the consistency wasn't there. Some of it had to do with mechanics, which he's worked on in the offseason. I think he's done a really nice job. He ended spring really sharp, and his summer workouts have been good, from what I understand. Those experiences he had last year are going to create more confidence for him as he moves forward.

Q: You've said all three quarterbacks are fairly mobile?

A: There's no quarterback there who can't run. They can all adequately run - I'm not saying great, I'm saying adequately. They can pull it down for 10 to 15 yards.

Q: Hasn't that become such a big part of the game, being able to elude the rush and keep the play alive?

A: Exactly. ... It's nice to know you can do that. Each one of them would like to run the ball. That would be one of their options: OK, I can do this and go. Nate would be the other way, he would stand in the pocket and stay there, stay there, stay there until the cows came home just because he wasn't confident in his running ability. These guys are all confident in their running ability.

Q: What about Jahvid - how significant is it that he's added some weight?

A: I think with the pounding you take as a Pac-10 tailback, if you're going to carry the ball upward of 20-25 times a game, you need to have some bulk to handle that. I think Jahvid has done that. He's put together really well. His work ethic is great. He's gained weight and he's healthy - where last year he was banged up and maybe not as strong as he is now.

Q: How will you use him this year? Will he still return kickoffs?

A: He'll return kicks and pretty much do it all. We're not saving him for anything, but we don't want to run him into the ground, either. We feel fortunate we have quality people around him. Shane (Vereen) is right there. They complement one another. Both are game-breaking-type backs. They can take it and go the distance at any time.

Q: I know you feel good about your linebackers, but is there still some anxiety about replacing Zack Follett, given all the big plays he made?

A: Yeah, he made so many plays - who's going to fill that role? Who's going to step up and make the plays at critical times like Zack did? Is there going to be a guy like Zack, or is it going to be done by committee? We feel like we have talent and depth at linebacker.

Q: What do you think when you hear this construction work every day?

A: It's music to my ears. More than anything, it alleviates the issue of credibility. For so long, we recruited to something that was going to happen. You feel bad when you recruit an Alex Mack (former Cal center), promise something is going to get done and then his career's over and he never got to enjoy any of it. He lets me know about it from time to time, too. But now there's concrete evidence this is happening.

Q: Did you have doubts it would ever really happen?

A: Yeah, I did. I think everyone always had the right intentions, but it just seemed like there were so many things out of our control that kept popping up. It was almost like, "OK, what can happen next?" So to see this actually happening now is great for the program - not just the football team but all the student-athletes who are going to take part in the new facility.

Q: How does it affect your future and your interest in staying at Cal long term?

A: There have been many opportunities to go other places, both professionally and in college. And I've always made the decision to stay here - for the quality of life, for the investment we've made here as a coaching staff.  Early in my career here, people would say, "Cal's really going to grow on you." And it really has. I have a great deal of respect for this place. My family enjoys it here. We've worked very hard to make a positive impact on this program. And once you do that, it builds the investment and passion and loyalty to a place, because you have worked so hard to get it where it is.  That said, we still have a lot of work to do. The national championship is still out there. The Rose Bowl is still out there. We're still working hard every day to attain those goals.

Q: As much success as you've had here, do you appreciate the magnitude of the Rose Bowl and what it would mean if you take Cal there?

A: I hear it all the time: "Can you please get us to the Rose Bowl before we die?" I keep joking, "We're keeping a lot of people alive," because they say that all the time. We've been so close a couple of times. And the passion I feel from the people here to get to the Rose Bowl ... for the Cal faithful, it would just be the most unbelievable thing. I see how passionate people are about that. They're starved for it.

Q: Why do you think the Rose Bowl holds such a mesmerizing grip on Cal fans?

A: I just think that's been the carrot dangling for so long. I run into older people all the time who say, "Yeah, I didn't go to that one in 1959 because I thought, 'I'll go next year.' " (Laughs) Oops.

Who's the QB?

"Kevin will take the first snap, but it's going to be who performs the best. Nobody has a lock on the position, by any means."

Jeff Tedford, Cal head coach

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/03/SPIB192END.DTL#ixzz0NHmDiIQ7

SF Examiner: Tedford and the Bears getting ready for a challenging season

By Rob Calonge

Link.

Excerpt:

With only a few days to go before the Golden Bears suit up and take it to the practice field for fall camp, anticipation of another great year at Cal mounts.

According to head coach Jeff Tedford, it won't be easy.  At last week's Pac-10 media day, he was quick to point out, "We play a very tough schedule - our non-conference is going to be tough playing Maryland, Eastern Washington and then Minnesota on the road. Then we play Oregon on the road and USC as our opening five games. I feel like it's a challenging season for us."

A quick look at the schedule and you realize that 'tough' is relevant. Their opening night against Maryland will end up being a payback of sorts when it comes to the scheduling drama of last year.  As you may recall, the Bears played the Terps at 9am California time, and looked as though they didn't wake up for the game.  This year, the rematch is scheduled for 10pm -- Maryland time.

SF Chronicle: Pac-10 Media Day Summary

Link.

Excerpts:

Even in down years, the Pac-10 at least had some established quarterbacks, guys who had started for a few years and were well known to NFL scouts. Not anymore.  The Pac-10 is a running backs league now. There are stellar backs all over the conference, while the list of returning quarterback starters who figure to keep their jobs this year goes like this: Jeremiah Masoli (Oregon), Lyle Moevao (Oregon State) and Jake Locker (Washington). Masoli, who went to junior college at City College of San Francisco, is more of a running threat than he is a conventional passer. The latter two are coming off surgery.

Yes, other quarterbacks have returned, but Cal's Kevin Riley split time with Nate Longshore last year, while Stanford's Tavita Pritchard, UCLA's Kevin Craft and Washington State's Kevin Lopina are long shots to fight off younger challengers (namely, Andrew Luck, Kevin Prince and Marshall Lobbestael) for the No. 1 spot. Mark Sanchez (USC), Willie Tuitama (Arizona) and Rudy Carpenter (Arizona State) are gone, so the Pac-10 - celebrated as a great passers' conference - will rely more than ever on great running backs.  The talk at Thursday's Pac-10 media day was mainly about the backs and the defenders who will have to stop them. There's Joe McKnight, one of a herd of backs at USC - which, what a surprise, was picked by the media to win its eighth straight title.

McKnight averaged 7.4 yards a carry last year, a figure that would be captivating except that Cal's Jahvid Best averaged 8.1 on his way to a conference-leading 1,580 yards. The Heisman candidate, faster than a coffee stain, is a big reason Cal was picked to finish second, ahead of loaded Oregon.  Stanford, picked sixth, has its 237-pound wrecking ball, Toby Gerhart; Arizona has Nic Grigsby and Oregon has LeGarrette Blount, all of whom rushed for 1,000 yards. And then there's Jacquizz Rodgers of Oregon State, who was Pac-10 offensive player of the year as a freshman.  "Now you see the running game being more efficient than it's been in a long time," Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson said. How good is the Pac-10? "Our most difficult games come from our own conference," USC's Pete Carroll said. "I can't imagine anybody better than this conference." Thorny Rose Bowl: Cal's Jeff Tedford said he would be "disappointed" if the Bowl Championship Series' new deal, which starts next year, deprived an otherwise deserving Bears team of a Rose Bowl berth.

Under the new deal, any team from a non-BCS conference that qualifies for a BCS game would fill the vacancy left by a Pac-10 (read: USC) or Big Ten team that qualified for the national title game. In other words, for one time only, a Cal team that, say, went 11-1 could be aced out for its first Rose berth since 1958 by an undefeated non-BCS team. "Our fans would prefer to go to the Rose Bowl than the national championship," Tedford said. "That's the mind-set at Cal. There's such a drought there. They're so starved for the Rose Bowl." He said if the Bears wind up in that predicament, "it would be disappointing."

Orlando Sentinel: Q&A with Cal's Jahvid Best

Link.

Cal running back Jahvid Best is coming off a fantastic sophomore season and is perhaps the top running back Heisman candidate for 2009.  He is the nation’s leading returning rusher after blazing his way to 1,580 yards and 15 touchdowns while averaging a phenomenal 8.14 yards per carry (he missed a game or two due to injury).  He was an amazing track athlete in high school with career bests of 10.31 in the 100 meters and 20.65 in the 200 meters and he has been able to carry over his speed onto the gridiron.  He’s a humble, low-key guy who is very team-oriented, a rare thing nowadays.  I sat down with him at Pac-10 media day and conducted the following Q&A session:

Q: First off, you had some injuries last year that caused you to miss a couple games.  What are you doing now to get more durable and are you worried that it could affect your speed and explosiveness?

A:  I’ve been trying to get bigger.  But I’ve been really cautious about putting on weight.  I’ve been very careful about it.  I feel like I’ve put on the right weight.  I was 180 pounds when I ran a 10.31 in high school.  I’m 200 pounds now and I feel faster, definitely more explosive. 

Q:  What do you think you have to do to win the Heisman?

A: As far as I’m concerned, the people that win the Heisman are on a winning team, so I figure my role is to do the best I can to help my team win.  The more we win, the more Heisman attention I’ll get.

Q: What about stats?  What kind of season do you have to have?

A: I just need to have a season similar to last season.  I feel that would be good enough, but to add a Pac-10 championship would help more.  I never really have a yardage goal.  The last seven or eight years we’ve had a 1,000-yard rusher at Cal, so I do want to keep that tradition going.

Q: Your backup, Shane Vereen, is a pretty capable runner, too.  How does his presence help you?

A: I’m blessed to have a back like Shane Vereen behind me.  I do something and that gets him going and then he comes in and does something special and that gets me going.  I feed off of him and he feeds off of me.  When we’re in there together, it’s just great.  We’re great friends after practice, too.

Q: Whose style do you try to emulate as a running back?

A: I try to emulate Reggie (Bush) a lot, but that was mostly when I was in high school.  I used to watch film of him in high school and tried to do what he does.  I think my game is pretty similar to his.  He was an idol of mine when I was growing up.

Q:  Given that, was there any thought of following in his footsteps at USC?

A: I’m from the Bay Area and didn’t really want to leave.  That’s why I chose Cal, because it was so close to home.  I’m a family oriented person, so this way my family can see all the home games.

Q:  You had a huge high school career and were one of the fastest players in the country coming out.  Yet, your recruitment process was mostly a mystery to those who following recruiting.  Why was that?

A:  I kind of liked to keep a low profile.   I only took two official visits, Cal and Oregon.  I took some unofficials to USC a couple times.  But I didn’t do the whole big recruiting thing, I kept it simple.  And I was so busy running track anyway in the spring, so that was my main focus.

Q:  What other current college backs do you enjoy watching?

A:  DeMarco Murray of Oklahoma.  I like that kid.  Joe McKnight, when we’re watching games at the hotel, I look at him. Noel Devine of West Virginia.

Q:  I put out an annual list of the fastest players in college football.  I have you sixth heading into the season.  How would you match up speed-wise with guys like Jeff Demps, Trindon Holliday and C.J. Spiller?

A:  I feel like my quickness is up to par with the best of them.  I think I could still run a 10.3 if I were running right now.  If I had concentrated on track, I’m sure I would’ve gotten a lot faster.

Q:  How do you feel about all the media attention you are getting?  If Cal has a big year, how is the team prepared to handle it?

A:  I’ll be able to handle it.  The better we do, the more attention we get.   The attention is good for the Pac-10 conference and Cal.  It depends on how we take it.  If we think we’ve ‘arrived’ as a team, that could be bad for us, but if we take it as a grain of salt, that’ll be good for us.

Q:  Do any other running backs give you advice?  What do they tell you to work on?

A:  Marshawn (Lynch) is always up there and he’s always telling me to keep doing what I’m doing and to keep working hard.  Justin Forsett came back into town and he gave me some words of wisdom.  The biggest thing I need to work on is pass blocking and running more physical.  There are times where I try to make a big play out of something. That’s my style, but there was really nothing there.  That’s when I need to use a physical style of running just to get those extra couple yards instead of forcing it.

Q:  Being a home run hitter, defenses key on you a lot.  What defenses posed the biggest challenges for you last season?

A: Oregon, Maryland and USC probably were the toughest.  As far as the level of talent and speed, USC’s guys were slightly more talented, but they were just so good at executing and controlling their gaps.  That was what set them apart.  It was frustrating, but I have to give them credit for keeping me in check.  They controlled the line of scrimmage.

Q: Say it’s game 12 and you are one of the main Heisman candidates with a chance to win it.  And then you break a big touchdown run to break the game open.  Think you might pull a Desmond Howard and make a Heisman statememt?

A:  You’ll never see me strike a Heisman pose.

ESPN: Cal to Travel Early to Minnesota

Link.

California coach Jeff Tedford said the Bears may travel to Minnesota for their Sept. 19 game a day early to get acclimated to the time change, but he also said he doesn't believe the a.m. kickoff last year at Maryland was as much of an issue as the humidity.

Seattle Times: Pac-10 football has a different look - except for that team on top

Link.

Not to imply that the league is totally inverted. USC was picked by media for the 37th straight year — no, make that the seventh straight — to win the conference, with California second. So maybe it's merely all about finding new ways to try to beat the Trojans.  Under Jeff Tedford, Cal has had USC in its crosshairs for years. In 2004, with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, it came within a last-minute, inside-the-10 misfire of setting the Trojans dynasty ablaze, but nobody has one-upped USC since.

If the Bears do it this year, no doubt they'll have Jahvid Best to thank. He rushed for 1,580 yards in 2008, about nine-tenths of it against the Huskies and Cougars, and an 8.1-yard average. He's the most notable offensive returnee in a conference that has eight of its top 10 rushers back. "He's worth the price of admission," said Tedford.

Los Angeles Times: USC and UCLA - Here's How Your Rivals Stack Up

Link.

California

Talk all you want about two-deep zones. California Coach Jeff Tedford found himself discussing time zones.  Last season, when his team fell behind quickly and lost at Maryland, fans wondered about the 9 a.m. Pacific kickoff and whether Tedford erred by bringing his team east only a day earlier. Though Tedford still insists his players had time to acclimate, he will add an extra day to the travel schedule when Cal visits Minnesota for another morning game. "I know there was a lot made of the Maryland trip," he said. "I don't want to stick my head in the sand and be stubborn."

Arizona Daily Star: Cal Excerpts

Link

A recent tweak to the Bowl Championship Series could put an unlikely team in the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl will be obligated to take a team from a non-BCS conference school that has qualified for the BCS — provided either the Pac-10 or Big Ten team is playing in the national championship game instead.  So if USC plays in the national title game, Utah or Boise State or Ball State, for example, could replace the Pac-10 runner-up in Pasadena.  The tweak starts in 2010 and runs through 2013. The Rose Bowl is obligated to insert the non-BCS conference team only once.

"I think it would be unfortunate if we weren't able to have a chance to go to the Rose Bowl," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "Our fans, I think, would prefer to go to the Rose Bowl than the national championship. That's the mindset at Cal. There's such a drought there and they're so starved for a Rose Bowl."

***

Another sign of the economic times: Cal will take a charter bus instead of a plane to face UCLA on Oct. 17 in Pasadena, Calif.  "I don't think that's going to hinder us whatsoever, either on the football field or what we're doing academically," Tedford said.  The trip is about six hours. Tedford said he figured that "it's maybe going to be one more hour" than the Golden Bears would put in to travel to an airport and fly.

Oregonian: Can Cal Contend? Jeff Tedford says, sure

Link.

Cal coach Jeff Tedford says high expectations don't bother him or his team.  "We welcome it and embrace it," Tedford said.  The Golden Bears have one of the best running backs in the country in Jahvid Best, who led the Pac-10 in rushing last season. Best is gritty enough to get the tough years, and explosive enough to strike from anywhere. Best is a known commodity -- assuming he stays healthy.

A bigger key to Cal's ability to challenge USC for the conference title probably will be Kevin Riley, the former Beaverton star high who figures to be the starting quarterback when the Bears open the season at home against Maryland. Riley has all the tools. Tedford says what he wants is "consistency." "We have to be more consistent in the passing game," Tedford said. The Cal coach said Riley -- who completed barely 50 percent of his passes last season -- has been working hard to improve himself.

The Bears could be good on defense, assuming the can fill the holes at linebacker. Their three starters completed their eligibility last season. The secondary returns intact. The Bears have a relatively easy nonconference schedule, with Maryland and Eastern Washington at home, and Minnesota on the road. Then things get serious with a road game at Oregon and a home date with the Trojans.

SF Chronicle: Cal's path to Rose Bowl more crowded

By Ray Ratto

It is a measure of the diminishing importance of college football on this coast that the big Rose Bowl news was broken in late May in Atlanta and only became a point of contention Monday in Chicago.  The big Rose Bowl news being, of course, that as part of the new Bowl Championship Series deal, the Rose Bowl no longer gets the right to reserve its vacancies for the Big Ten and Pac-10. Among the larger consideration, it also means that Cal's already-narrow path to the one bowl its fans crave most is now blocked by the rest of the country. You know, like Utah. Or Boise State. Any team from a non-BCS conference that qualifies for a BCS game would fill the vacancy left by a Pac-10 or Big Ten team that qualified for the national championship game.

In short, Cal's flirtations with second place behind the planet-eaters at USC don't necessarily mean the Rose Bowl as the fallback position. And Cal fans must now cheer as ardently against the Utes, Broncos or whatever other top 12 team from outside the heart of the BCS can run its own table. True, the old runner-up method never helped Cal, and the even older method of winning the conference outright has evaded the Golden Bears since 1958. In that time, every school in the Pac-10 and Big Ten have reached at least one Rose Bowl - except Arizona and Indiana - and each school has reached at least twice except the aforementioned two, plus Oregon and Northwestern.  But there was always hope that with a good enough team and a great USC team, the Golden Bears would finally answer the Cal fan's bedtime prayer: One Rose Bowl Before I Die.

Now the smart money is on, well, death - if it hasn't been there already. There is, of course, another caveat here, as there usually is in the backroom-deal world of college sports: The scenario can happen only once in the life of the current BCS contract, which goes through 2014. If, say, Boise State ends up in the top 12 and the conference champion (read: USC) goes to the national title game, the Broncos could go to the Rose Bowl. But that can only happen one time before the game reverts to the old rules.

But knowing Cal's traditional buzzard's luck on this, it will happen at least once. And then the window will close again, because that, too, is the way being a Cal fan works. We'd make more of a point of Stanford's potential risk here, but the Cardinal hasn't the same grand football aspirations, and its fan base recognizes the Rose Bowl as a happy accident, as it was in 1999. With Cal fans, the agony lingers to the point of being a near-addiction, and even if the new roadblock never happens at all, the symbolism is intriguing enough.

In other words, when it's been UCLA or Washington or Arizona State, that's been annoying enough for Cal fans. When it became Miami and Nebraska and Texas and Oklahoma, it was worse, but still understandable. But to think that it could be Hawaii or TCU or Fresno State ... even as a hypothetical, it has a bilious taste to the average Cal fan.

Of course, the BCS system you all know and love needed to play with the Rose Bowl to quiet the complaints of the Utah folks who thought their boys got hosed in January. This is the minimal chicken bone it took to buy off Orrin Hatch, and it tells you how much money actually talks. The Rose Bowl opened its doors so as not to lose its turn in the national championship rotation, and the Mountain West Conference that tilted at the big windmill to get Utah its belated due got a potential slice of the Rose Bowl.

Did Cal get wronged? Not really. Big-city politics works that way, and the BCS eats when it needs to eat.

But just for laughs, consider what the Cal fan might do if in 2014 the bizarre specter of a Wisconsin-San Jose State Rose Bowl rears its head. And then call the street cleaners. It will be a very busy Sunday morning indeed.

Link.

SF Examiner: Tedford to attend Pac-10 media day

By Rob Calonge

Thursday morning, the Pac-10 will be holding their annual media day featuring all of the head coaches and each teams' top returning player.  It will be held at the Sheraton in Los Angeles.  Sorry, I won't be there. It's not that I didn't want to partake in the event, it's just that I have other responsibilities that will have me covering the Oakland Raiders at training camp for the day. Unlike last time, I'll try and not 'suck'.  I'll work on getting a moment with Nnamdi Asomugha if it's possible, but those 'moment's' aren't as easy as they might sound.

Link to rest of story.

Pac-10 Media Day Live on the Bear Insider

From the Bear Insider:

All ten Pac-10 head football coaches will be featured at a Media Day event tomorrow (Thursday) morning - along with a top returning player from each team. New Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott will also speak.  The event will take place at the Sheraton Gateway LAX Hotel - and according to the official Pac-10 press release - it will begin at 9:30 AM.  A Flash video widget has been placed on the Bear Insider front page so that you can see the event live. To do that, visit our website

http://www.bearinsider.com and click on the widget.

 

Sports Illustrated College Football Mailbag: Even in down year, USC still looks like team to beat in Pac-10

Letter from Travis Pederson: Last year, USC needed help from Oregon in the final week of the season to reach the Rose Bowl and, after losing so much talent to the NFL, seems to be ever-so-slightly down from its lofty standards. Meanwhile, Oregon, Cal and Oregon State all look improved from last season. So is this finally the year USC's streak of Pac-10 titles comes to an end?

Stewart Mandel’s reply: It's highly unlikely the Trojans will be as dominant as last year, when they boasted a top five NFL quarterback (Mark Sanchez) and a world-class defense. Nevertheless, I still have more faith in a USC team featuring an untested QB and eight new defensive starters than in any of the teams you mentioned.

Of the three, Cal is the only one I feel reasonably certain will be improved. The Bears return the entire starting front four and secondary from the nation's 26th-ranked defense, a third-year QB (Kevin Riley) and a Heisman-caliber tailback (Jahvid Best). But not since Aaron Rodgers' 2003-04 tenure has Cal put any sort of scare into the Trojans, and we have to wonder at this point whether Jeff Tedford's otherwise successful program will ever get over that hump.

Link to rest of article.

2009 Cal Football Schedule

Here’s the current 2009 Cal Football schedule:

 

09/05/09 vs. Maryland  @ Berkeley - 7:00 p.m. PT

09/12/09 vs. Eastern Washington @ Berkeley - 2:30 p.m. PT

09/19/09 at Minnesota - 9:00 a.m. PT

09/26/09 at Oregon - 12:30 p.m. PT

10/03/09 vs. USC (Homecoming) @ Berkeley - 5:00 p.m. PT

10/17/09 at UCLA - TBA

10/24/09 vs. Washington State @ Berkeley, Calif. - TBA

10/31/09 at Arizona State @ Tempe - TBA

11/07/09 vs. Oregon State @ Berkeley - TBA

11/14/09 vs. Arizona @ Berkeley - TBA

11/21/09 at Stanford’s Tiny Stadium - TBA

12/05/09 at Washington - 3:30 p.m. PT

 

If you want to buy single season tickets, here’s the link.

Memorial Stadium Seating Rights Available to Highest Bidders

From this article in today’s Daily Cal:

“The Cal athletic department kicked off the Endowment Seating Program-a massive fundraising campaign-on January 1. The program aims to collect between $300 and 325 million dollars by selling the rights to between 40 and 50 years of priority seating at Cal football games. That money will go toward funding athletics across campus, including field hockey.  Ranging in cost from $40,000 to $225,000 per seat, each newly constructed section will include benefits from private restrooms to catered food, drinks and pregame field access.  If the UC Board of Regents votes to pass the project in September, the sale of these 3,000 seats will fund seismic upgrades for Memorial Stadium.”

SF Examiner: Bear Tracks - July 20

Soon, football camp will be in full-swing and the speculation will begin on who Tedford will select to be his starters at nearly every position on the roster.  Unfortunately, we can't just fast forward to that time. Instead, we'll have to wait until things get busy again with football, and the other sports, in order to help make those Monday mornings go by just a little faster and give us something to look forward to during the long work week. Due to technical difficulties, I'm holding on to a few articles that may be of interest.  Instead of giving you something to chew on, I did a little work for you so you don't have to go searching all on your own for something to talk about around the water cooler (do they still have those anywhere?).  Well, if it's not the water cooler, I'm sure it will be the line at Starbucks or the office coffee machine. Either way, maybe this will help.

Link to rest of article.

Former Cal Player Pleads Guilty to Ponzi Scheme, another Gets Four Years for Rape

A bad day for Cal Football alumni.  The San Francisco Chronicle reported today that former Cal lineman Reed Diehl pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.  He was indicted on charges that he bilked a developer out of $2.5 million.  He faces 70 years in prison.  The FBI press release states:

According to a plea agreement in the case, Diehl falsely represented himself to potential clients as a banker who made "hard money loans" to businesses or individuals. Diehl also admitted that he fraudulently collected deposits for lines of credit for people who desired financing for construction and development projects in Mexico. In relation to the "hard money loans," Diehl told investors that he would pool their funds and make secured loans to individuals or businesses that had shortterm cash needs. Instead of using investor funds to make loans, he used investors' money to repay earlier investors and to fund his lifestyle.  In relation to the second part of his scheme, Diehl told victims involved in construction projects in Mexico that he could secure multimillion dollar lines of credit. Diehl told one victim that it would cost $1.175 million to secure a $24 million loan and that the deposit would be used as collateral for the line of credit. The victim eventually paid Diehl $2.5 million, money that Diehl used to pay, among others things, other people who had made investments with Diehl. None of the victims ever obtained a line of credit through Diehl.

According to this blog,

“While attending Cal, Diehl married his wife, Rachel, and they had two children. The player's ability to juggle football, family and academic duties impressed the San Francisco Chronicle, which wrote “At 6-4, 300 pounds, he is Cal's best offensive lineman and has started college games at tight end, tackle, center and guard. He has a chance to play in the NFL.  He is a husband to Rachel, the person he knew he would marry the first time he saw her, when he was 16.  He is a father to Preston, a football-crazed 4-year-old boy who wants to wear football jerseys everywhere, who loves hanging out with his father in the locker room to soak in the discussions and the atmosphere, and who has collected hundreds of the smelly wristbands and gloves discarded by players after games.  He is a father to Madison, a delightfully cute girl who has suffered through four scary bouts of pneumonia and who kisses the television screen when daddy's games are on TV.”

A very sad story all around, especially for his wife and two children.

 

Also making the news today was Noah Smith.  The Oakland Tribune reports that Noah Smith was convicted of rape and sentenced to four years in prison:

A former Cal football player found guilty this year of raping one student and trying to rape another was sentenced Tuesday to four years in state prison.  Ending a case that included unsubstantiated admissions of football player drug cover-ups and accusations by three other women of sexual assault by the former top high school prospect, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon sentenced Noah Smith to four years in prison instead of the 17 years sought by the county's district attorney. Smith, 23, who must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, was arrested in May 2007 after a fellow student told police the football player had forced her to give him oral sex and then raped her in her apartment during what was to be a meeting about a class. Investigations by the UC Berkeley Police Department found another woman who said Smith tried to rape her but she escaped. Smith was arrested and charged with one count of rape, one count of forced oral copulation and one count of attempted rape. During the trial, two other women stepped forward and said Smith raped them. Although they testified in the case, no separate charges were filed because they had not reported the rapes to police when they occurred and did not want to pursue criminal charges afterward. Both women told similar stories about how Smith feigned an illness that he said required him to collect and store his own sperm.

Read the entire article here.

Daily Cal: Q&A with Aaron Rodgers

(Sorry for the delay in posting this)

By Katie Dowd

As the quarterback for the Cal football team in 2003-2004, Aaron Rodgers guided the Bears to two bowl games while passing for 51 touchdowns and 5,469 yards.  Rodgers was drafted in the first round by Green Bay in 2005 and is now the starting quarterback for the Packers.  After an off-season practice in Green Bay, Rodgers gave the Daily Cal a call and reminisced about his days in Berkeley and shared some of his new experiences as the Packers' quarterback.  

Katie Dowd: You might have gotten a little bit of this at Cal, but obviously you're a bigger celebrity now, especially being in such a devoted fan base. Do you get any weird requests?

Aaron Rodgers: Oh, I got a ton. I don't know how many stories you want me to give you. I've had everything from people showing up on my doorstep last season. Multiple people. I averaged about two (door) knocks per week for a while there. Just random people.

I've had parents send photo albums of their daughters out to me. Also to my parents out in California. With letters attached telling either myself or them why I should be dating their daughter. A lot of parents just trying to pawn their daughters off on me.  Also, crazy requests like one woman asked me if I would be the best man in her and her fiance's wedding. I didn't know them either. Those are some of the highlights. Or lowlights.

KD: Do you come back to Berkeley at all?

AR: I was back this spring actually for a charity event in San Francisco ... I stopped by Cal the next day and saw some of the guys. I'm buddies with Kevin Riley so I saw Kevin.

Read the rest of the article here.

ESPN: Hope and Concern: California

By Ted Miller

(Link, where there are lots of comments)

Biggest reason for hope -- A good defense and Jahvid Best.

California welcomes back eight starters from a defense that ranked second in the Pac-10 in scoring (19.9 ppg), and that doesn't include Mike Mohamed, the Bears most versatile linebacker. Particularly of note: The secondary, led by All-American cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson, returns intact, and it led a pass defense that intercepted 24 passes a year ago. As for Best, he rushed for 1,580 yards last year -- averaging an eye-popping 8.1 yards per carry -- and is the West Coast's top Heisman Trophy candidate.

Biggest reason for concern -- Will the passing game improve?

California's quarterback play wasn't terrible in 2008: See 25 touchdown passes vs. 10 interceptions. But it was mediocre: See just 190 yards per game and a pass efficiency rating that ranked sixth in the Pac-10. Junior Kevin Riley won't have to share the quarterback job with Nate Longshore again this year because Longshore graduated, but coach Jeff Tedford hasn't yet anointed Riley as his starter over Brock Mansion. That's curious, and obviously a sore spot for Riley. The Bears really don't have any obvious holes, and if they are even just solid passing the ball, this could be a special season.

Seattle Times: So how have first-year head coaches fared?

By Bob Condotta

The last few times I've thrown the blog open for Q-and-A's, I've gotten varying versions of questions wondering how first-year coaches have fared through the years in the Pac-10. So in an attempt to answer all of your queries on that topic, I decided I'd first list every new coach in Pac-10 history (dating to 1978, when the conference expanded to 10 teams) followed by some analysis. So here we go, with each school's coaches listed by the year they took over, their record that first season, and in parantheses, the coach and record of the previous season:

(edit)

CAL

1979 Roger Theder 6-5 (Mike White 7-4)

1982 Joe Kapp 7-4 (Theder 2-9)

1987 Bruce Snyder 3-6-2 (Kapp 2-9)

1992 Keith Gilbertson 4-7 (Snyder 10-2)

1996 Steve Mariucci 6-6 (Gilbertson 3-8)

1997 Tom Holmoe 3-8 (Mariucci 6-6)

2002 Jeff Tedford 7-5 (Holmoe 1-10)

Tedford's 2002 season at Cal is obviously the greatest turnaround, and the one UW fans can cling to for hope of a massive rebound this season. Unfortunately, the reality is that there are probably as many similarities in UW's current state to Cal's in 2002 as there are to all kinds of other teams on this list that needed a few years to finally get turned around. I've pointed out before that two big differences are that the Cal team in 2002 played an easier schedule and had a more experienced team (including a senior QB in Kyle Boller) than UW will have this season. That's not trying to pour cold water on optimism, just trying to be realistic.

Link.

An Oddsmaker's Analysis of Cal Football 2009

The following is from Jimmy Boyd’s website (link):

2009 California Football Predictions

By Jimmy Boyd

The Cal Golden Bears rode star running back Jahvid Best and a strong defense to a nine-win season in 2008. If the offense can achieve a little more balance to keep defenses guessing, USC’s may have finally met its match. Get my take in this 2009 college football betting preview. Cal is listed at +5,000 to win the 2009 BCS championship.  

Offense - Junior running back Jahvid Best led the Pac-10 in rushing despite battling nagging foot and elbow injuries. He rushed for 1,580 yards and 15 touchdowns on the season. His 131.7 yards per game were good for third nationally. He underwent surgery on both his foot and elbow in the offseason and is expected to be 100 percent this fall. Who knows what Best can do completely healthy? A 2,000-yard campaign may not be out of the question. And who knows what he’ll be able to do if the Bears can present a passing attack for the opposition to respect. Cal’s passing attack averaged just 189.8 yards per game through the air last season (83rd nationally). Improvement is expected from Kevin Riley after gaining valuable experience last season. He threw for 1,360 yards and had a decent 14 touchdown to six interception ratio. The wide receiver corps was unproven and inexperienced last season. While they are still largely unproven, experience was gained and that usually breeds improvement. Look for breakout seasons from Nyan Boateng and Verran Tucker. The offensive line was banged up much of last season and it loses All-American center Alex Mack, but plenty of talent remains for the Bears to boast of the best offenses in the league.

Defense – The Bears return eight starters from a unit that ranked 23rd nationally in scoring defense (19.9 points per game) and 26th in total defense (315.2 points per game). It all starts up front with bookend defensive ends Tyson Alualu and Cameron Jordan. This duo is considered among the best in the country and they get great help from returning nose tackle Derrick Hill on the inside. The secondary returns all four starters and is led by one of the league’s best cornerback duos in Syd’Quan Thompson and Darian Hagan. Thompson made the Pac-10 first-team following a four interception campaign. The Bears do lose three of their four starting linebackers from 2008, but I’m not expecting much of a drop off, if any. Junior Michael Mohamed is the team’s top returning tackler, making 87 stops while starting five games and backing up all four linebacker spots last season. The program is also big on sophomore Mychal Kendricks.

Prediction: 2nd Pac-10 Conference – Cal won nine games with teams stacked to stop their running attack.  With an improved passing attack to keep the opposition honest, I expect Cal to be even better. We’ll find out what the Bears are made of early as they open Pac-10 play at Oregon and then return home to play USC. If they can get one of those two and then win out, Cal could find itself in the Rose Bowl for the first time in fifty years. Cal is listed at +400 to win the Pac-10.

Fan Appreciation Day

Fan Appreciation Day will be held on August 29^th this year.

Updates

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog over the last two weeks.  We relocated and I’m just now back online.

SF Examiner: 4th of July Bear Tracks

By Rob Calonge

Call it a case of the summer flu, or maybe it's the summer session, but as the fourth of July nears, I find it more and more difficult to come up with anything mildly entertaining.

Normally, this feeling comes upon me much earlier in the spring, but not this year.  Now that it's finally hit me, I'm that eight-year-old boy, daydreaming in class after lunch recess, staring out the window, and hoping that the day would end soon so I could meet up with my buddies to play a heated street football game, bike tag, baseball, a pickup hoops contest, or some other game that kids used to play.

Link to rest of article.

Gainsville Sun: Cal Ranked 19th

Link.

19. CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS

2008 record: 9-4

Returning starters offense/defense: 7/9

Strength: As is often the case in Berkeley, the Bears should have no problem running the ball. Cal has had seven straight seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher. Expect the tradition to continue for coach Jeff Tedford with dynamic running back Jahvid Best, who averaged 8.1 yards per carry last year as a sophomore. Senior cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson leads an experienced secondary that should give opposing offenses headaches.

Weakness: Most of the defense remains intact, but Cal may not have enough quality linebackers to run a 3-4 defense after losing three to graduation (Zack Follett, Worrell Williams and Anthony Felder). With Nate Longshore gone, quarterback Kevin Riley will need to improve to keep the Bears from becoming too predictable on offense. Riley completed just over half of his passes last season and will need consistency from his wide receivers to turn around Cal’s passing game. Nyan Boateng, a Florida transfer, is the top returning receiver with 439 receiving yards and five touchdowns last year. The Bears’ offensive line lost some leadership with the graduation of center Alex Mack. Junior Chris Guarnero will have big shoes to fill.

Biggest star: Junior Jahvid Best is already receiving some Heisman hype after his lofty numbers last season (1,580 yards, 15 TDs).

Rising star: Sophomore right tackle Mitchell Schwartz has the size (6-foot-6, 335 pounds) and skills to be the Golden Bears’ star on the offensive line.

Toughest game: Cal’s toughest game comes on Homecoming (Oct. 3) as perennial Pac-10 favorite Southern Cal visits Berkeley.

Tedford's Twitter Page

Tedford has 892 followers, but hasn’t updated it since June 10^th.  Here’s the link.

SF Examiner: Golden Bears Steal Another Recruit From Washington

By Rob Calonge

Maybe 'theft' is a harsh term for what is obviously just a better job of selling.  When kids get into trouble for the tussle they've gotten into, it's common to hear the phrase, "Well, they/he/she started it."  In the case of the recruiting war going on between Cal and the University of Washington, Jeff Tedford could also make that same statement.  So could Steve Sarkisian of Washington. It was bound to happen.  Two schools within the same conference, both having a similar amount of prestige, and in close enough proximity to each other, is going to cause these sorts of rivalries off the field as well as on it.

While the Bears and the Huskies have been Pac-10 rivals for quite some time, it seems that the rivalry has heated up since former line coach Jim Michalczik accepted an offer to be the offensive coordinator of Sarkisian's "best coaching staff in the country."  Soon after, the Bears took the top defensive lineman recruit from the state of Washington, after he had verbally committed to the Huskies.  Rumors of recruits having both teams on their top lists have surfaced since, with each school getting wins over the other.

Link to rest of story.