"Go Ducks!!"

Well, it’s official.  Democracy is broken in America.  Special interests have run amock, controlling our political system from the top to the bottom.  People said it was broken when President Hayes ended the Reconstruction.  People said it was broken when President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066.

But this time it’s for realz yo, people.  Yes, we lost a non-existant virtual award about a blatantly corrupt quasi-professional sport.  And the blogs that cover it.  We lost!  Ai!  Some people say it’s an honor just to be nominated.  Those people are losers.

So, who did win?  The Oregon schools swept the Best Pac10 Blogs awards.  Building The Dam was the runner up and Addicted To Quack was the winner.   

Or so they say.  They say that Addicted To Quack has won, but in the award ceremony video I saw, Addicted To Quack fumbled the award right as they got close to the goal-line.  If you guys didn’t see the video, here it is:

And according to the EveryDayShouldBeSabbath rules, if you fumble the trophy forward into the endzone, you lose it and the California Golden Blogs takes over.  Just part of the rule book.  I think it’s Rule 0001A.  Right before rule 0001B, which reads as follows:

"Urban Meyer is the Lord our God, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before him."

 

"LET MY PEOPLE GO!" 

Look, I don’t make the rules people, I just enforce them to my benefit. So, I call upon Addicted To Quack to do the right thing.  Turn the non-existant virtual award over to its lawful owner:  me.  Or at the very least Ben Braun.  I’m stalking him anyway, I can just pick it up easy next time I sneak into his Toyota Avalon. 

People, democracy is dead.  But don’t blame me.  I voted for Kodos.  

Following an introduction to Tedford’s recruiting philosophy from the man himself (PART I) and a highlight montage with footage of every new recruit (PART II), the evening concluded with a 45 minute Q & A session.  (All this plus chicken skewers and sparkling cider for only twenty-five bucks!)  By this point, even the most diehard recruitniks had had their fill, so the questions generally focused on everything but the incoming players.  I do enjoy following recruiting, probably for the very hollow "if we couldn’t beat UCLA and ASU on the field, at least we beat them for Covaughn Deboskie" type of sentiment, but the question and answer session with Tedford was the most illuminating and revealing portion of the night.  I think because he was addressing a small, devoted audience, Tedford was far more candid than he ever is during his press conferences.  Here’s what the man had to say: (answers are Tedford’s words, paraphrased when necessary).

2007 Season:

What did you learn as a coach from this season?

That 7 wins is not enough…maybe try to play more guys earlier in the year.  The downfall was a culmination of a lot of reasons, and maybe by not redshirting as many players and getting them some experience, they’ll be ready to contribute and would be able to step in when people get injured.  Chet Teofilo at left tackle is a good example; Mike Gibson was an all pac-10 player who held down his spot all year, but he was out for the Stanford game and it took Teofilo a couple of quarters to get his feet set.

This is very interesting point; I ragged on Nasty Nate for his big game performance as he struggled mightly with their pass rush, particularly from his blind side (the left tackle’s side).  In the Armed Forces bowl, with Teofilo still in for Gibson, Air Force couldn’t touch either Nate or Riley.

You took some heat for showing emotion at the end of the Oregon State loss; what was going through your mind?

I wasn’t proud of throwing my headset like that.  And I want to be clear, I wasn’t mad at Kevin.  Everyone assumed I was upset with Kevin, but I was frustrated about the field goal unit running on, I thought we had a chance to spike the ball.

What happened with benching the players in the bowl game?

We had to do what’s right and sit them down, but all of them had great attitudes about it; they understood, accepted it, didn’t pout, and all of them [Jordan, Jackson, & DeCoud] contributed a lot during the game.

Opposing players said that they were able to sometimes predict our plays.  Is there any truth to this?

Everyone looks at film to try to find tendencies and clues, so it goes both ways.  In the instance of the interception and touchdown at UCLA, he might have thought we were going to run a play like that, but that wasn’t an issue of him knowing what was coming.  On that play, our receiver took 6 steps instead of 4, and Nate put the ball right where he should have been.  If our receiver was in the right spot, it doesn’t matter if the cornerback knows what’s coming, we get that first down.  And again, it goes both ways.  We watched film on them and knew that their safety played the run close to the line, so we used play action and threw it right over his head.

When you look at the specific losses, what do you think were the causes?

If you want want to win, you can’t turn the ball over, you have to create turnovers, and you have to stop the run.  We did took care of these things in the first 5 games, and we didn’t down the stretch.  UW is a good example of a team loss - these losses were not just Nate’s fault.  Nate was something like 22-27 with a couple drops, but we let them run for 350 yards.  At the end of the Stanford game, Nate had 2 straight touchdowns dropped and on the last interception, the receiver [Jordan] slipped; the ball was right on the money.

What was your plan for the QBs in the bowl game?

We wanted to play Kevin at the end of the 1st quarter, but then they recovered the pooch kick and scored again, and it was 21-0 in the second quarter.  Kevin had maybe his worst practice week of the year before the bowl game, and Nate had one of his best, but we decided to stick with our plan.  Because of how well Kevin played, people forget that Nate played really well in the bowl game too; he hit almost every pass, had a 4th and 15 dropped, so we didn’t take him out because he was playing poorly.

The back-up quarterback is the most popular guy on the team, and Kevin knows that - I asked him, who’s the fans’ favorite player and he said ‘I am,’ and I said, you’re right.  Fans don’t see everything though; they don’t know that on the first play of the OSU game, Kevin was under center and he should have been in the shotgun.  Of course, Forsett busts a huge run right up the middle, but Kevin was in the wrong spot.

Kevin also watches the film, he sees that Nate’s playing alright and he tells me that.  I think, with the way Nate was criticized and people calling for Kevin to play, Kevin handled everything very well.

Recruiting: 

Can you compare this year’s class to last year’s?

You can’t compare classes until they get here, but last year’s class was one of the finest, if not the best, since I’ve been here.  But as for this class, you never know until they get here.

What do you emphasize about Cal to potential recruits?

There is no doubt that academics is our leading selling point.  Stanford and Cal are separate from the rest of the Pac-10 in terms of academics, though there are some other decent schools.  We are so far beyond the rest of the conference in facilities, however, and the tree sitters are a novelty.

You got Brock Mansion out of Texas last year and two defensive players this year in addition to Forsett.  How are you bringing them to Cal?

Our linebacker coach, Kenwick Thompson, is from Houston is doing a great job recruiting Texas.  He has a lot of contacts there so he’s able to find guys and recruit them successfully.

What happened with the Kevin Hart saga?

How about that story?  Talk about a nightmare.

Are you intending to get more mobile Quarterbacks?

Yes.

[Long pause and laughter]

Well, if you look at the Quarterback’s we’ve had, Nate is really the exception in terms of mobility.  It’s always something we look for.

Are there any more scholarships available, and do you have any notable walk-ons coming in?

No more scholarships available.  I can’t talk about any of the walkons until they enroll, but we have a kicker coming in who kicks the ball out of the endzone every time.  It’s risky to give scholarships to kickers, because it’s hard to predict how they’ll turn out.  He’ll definitely compete to be the kick-off specialist and if he wins the fieldgoal job, he’ll get a scholly.  Schneider is trying to get another year [via medical redshirt], but it doesn’t look like he will.

[Former Cal QB] Gale Gilbert’s son is a top QB from Texas - are we recruiting him?

I can’t discuss any players, but we ‘may’ recruit a QB from that area.

Gilbert verbally committed to Texas on February 7th of this year, which was before this event on February 13th.  Tedford obviously knew he committed, so if hopefully he can change Gilbert’s mind if he continues to recruit him.

Were there any recruits that surprised you in committing to Cal?

Spencer Ladner, the tight end out of Kansas City.  He spent the last night of his official visit wandering Telegraph with some of our players.  The next morning, I saw the look in his eyes and I thought there was no way he’s coming.  He gave me a call a few days later to tell me he’s coming; he just fit in.  He loved the diversity, if that’s what you want to call it.

We have really good kids coming in.  None of the early recruits wavered when the team struggled down the stretch.

State of Program and 2008 seasons:

What’s the mental state of the team right now?

After signing day, the entire staff goes on vacation and I interview every player in the program.  The team chemistry is the best ever (emphasis mine), because of both the old guys and the guys from last year’s class.

Who of last year’s class can we expect to make an impact next year?

All of the redshirt freshman will compete for playing time.  Vereen, I don’t know if you’ve seen this guy, but he’s a phenom.  Brook [Mansion] will compete.  [Mike] Calvin will be a go to guy [at receiver].  DJ Holt and DJ Campbell will be in the mix.  Mitchell Schwartz probably could have played this year.  [Nyan] Boateng is back in the fold and he is very talented.  He and Calvin and Jeremy Ross need to step up in the spring.  Matt Summers Gavin, he’s actually enrolling now and will be available this spring.  On the night before fall camp, he hit his head on a nightstand and got a concussion; he couldn’t practice and had real difficulty concentrating so he withdrew for the semester and is enrolling now.

Can you comment on the new coaches?

We’ve been trying to get Al Simmons on the staff for a long time.  When we’ve played his teams, the defensive backs have always been very good and well prepared.  Our players are excited from just watching tape with Al, they’ve been telling me how much they’re learning already.

I needed to spend more time being a head coach, so we brought in an offensive coordinator, Frank Cignetti.  Frank’s a great offensive mind, we share similar offensive philosophies, and he’s going to handle play-calling.  Tennessee pushed hard to hire him as their offensive coordinator, and we’re glad he’s coming here from San Francisco [49ers].

We’re moving Kevin Daft [last year’s QB coach] to coach the wide receivers; we’re hoping this will help the receivers see more of what the quarterback does, and get them on the same page as the QB.

Tedford was effusive in his praise of departed D-Line coach Ken Delgado, which was noticeable in contrast to his lack of comments on Littlejohn (the former DB coach) or Ferrigno (former WR coach).  Delgado has caught some grief for the lack of a pass rush, but I think this is partly due to Gregory’s philosophy, and not necessarily to Delgado’s shortcomings.  Regardless, it was clear from Tedford’s remarks that Delgado’s departure to Louisville was his decision; perhaps Delgado is banking on a shot at becoming a coordinator, once (cal alum) Ron English leaves for a job in the NFL or gets a college head coaching opportunity.

Tedford didn’t seem to think the D-Line performance would suffer.  Former player and graduate assistant Tosh Lupoi now takes over for Delgado, and Tedford is "really, really excited about Tosh.  Tosh has a ton of passion, is excited, energetic, and enthusiastic.  He’s a breath of fresh air.  He has a one track mind: football; he’s usually in Memorial until past midnight."  Tedford also mentioned that other programs were looking at Tosh, and if he had not promoted him, Tosh would have been hired elsewhere.

The defense struggled to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks this year - are we going to get more next year?

We’ll have a more aggressive D this year.  We need more pressure on the qb, no question about it, so we’re looking at a lot of things, blitzing more, running a 3-4; our most effective pressure is Follett off the edge.

Any update on the stadium?

I know nothing about it; I’m a little frustrated, to tell you the truth.  It hurts recruiting; our competitors are beating us up over it.  It’s in the works, and we have great drawings and can show them the carpet and the tile, but they look out and see the people in the trees.  After telling our players about the new facilities for a long, to have them delayed like this causes a loss of credibility at some point.  This has to get solved and it has to happen soon.

Obviously, Tedford has been frustrated with the stadium for a while, but in the past he’s said things like "everyone’s working hard on it, it’s slow but we’re confident it will be done soon."  This is the first time I’ve heard Tedford express frustration like this; I think we have to be concerned that, if the training facility and stadium renovation projects receive an unfavorable ruling this spring, Tedford will seriously start to reconsider his future at Cal.

Who’s going to return kicks and punts next year?

Tracy Slocum and Shane Vereen will get a look.  Jahvid probably will still be used as a gunner; he was the best in the conference as a true freshman.

McHugh mentioned at the hoops pregame party this weekend that his friend, a special teams coach with the Chicago Bears, saw some of our tapes and said that Best "could start for me" as a gunner.

How are Chris Guarnero and Kevin Bemoll doing?

Chris will back up Mack at center, may play some at guard; the top 8 or 9 o-linemen play, and if he’s one of them he’ll travel to away games.  Bemoll is back with the team; he’s lost weight, he’s in better shape and has the ability to make an impact.

Is anyone hurt heading into spring ball?

LaReylle Cunningham, James Montgomery, and Derrick Hill all had surgery and will miss spring ball.  Jahvid’s rehab is coming along well - it doesn’t look like he’ll need surgery but he’ll miss the spring too.  He’s had to take it slow which has been hard for him - he’s got so much pent up energy in his legs.

Are you doing anything differently this spring in light of the loses down the stretch?

We’re trying to get the confidence and trust level up.  We have to build the team and regain that energy; it was clear in the Stanford game that the energy wasn’t there.

I think there was a lack of trust, belief, lack of confidence.  The media got into the locker room too much - it was the first time we had expectations that high and adversity like that, and the players started reading the papers.  I’ve got to start reading them so I know what the players are reading.

It’s amazing to me how the attitudes change in the 24 hours when one group of seniors walks out the door and another group takes the leadership.  Vocal leaders are going to be Follett, Williams, Ta’ ufo’ ou and Mack will become leaders, Bernard Hicks is another guy.  We’re also looking at a book I got in the off season, Talent’s Not Enough.  We’ll all be reading it, I think it’s clear from this year that talent isn’t enough.

How is Nate doing?

Nate’s doing ok; he’s working really really hard right now.  I think he tried too hard sometimes, tried to force things sometimes.  He did well in the first half of games, so it was hard to make a change.  Nate’s thrown for a ton of yards and won a lot of games, and the worst thing we can do as fans is to criticize players.  He’s rebounding mentally right now.

Any chance we see two QBs next year

I don’t really like the 2 qb system because I don’t want people playing scared, looking over their shoulders every time they make a mistake.

Anybody changing positions?

I’ve asked Brandon Jones to move on, so he will not be back next year.  Tad Smith, we’re going to try him at tight end instead of defensive end.  Worrell Williams is always trying to get me to put him at fullback, but I think we’ll keep him where he is.

That’s it.  You now know everything I do, and you didn’t pay $25 bucks to find it out.  Fair enough, but I’ll always have those chicken skewers.