Well the bloodbath continues… and call me surprised on this one. I thought the bloodbath was over.

Andy Ludwig has left Cal to go be the OC at San Diego State.

According to Okanes, the rumor is that former offensive line coordinator Jim Michalczik is going to be coming back into the program to take his own spot back, and when reading the tea leaves, Ludwig leaving may also mean he’ll come back to be OC (which was kinda why he left in the first place).

Or perhaps Tedford will be his own OC again… it’s hard to tell.

In any case, it’s surprising this is happening so close to signing day (although with coaching changes sooner is almost always better than later). But at the end of the day, Ludwig’s tenure went just about the way Oregon said it would. We’d see signs of genius and lots to be optimistic about, but somehow simultaneously see the offense regress and lose steam. It was an odd feeling. There’s some intangible factor he just didn’t seem to have. Perhaps a lack of attention to detail?

Oregon dumped him when they went 5-7 and missed their first bowl game in a long while. Here’s hoping we get the same good fortune.

GO BEARS!

One more coach down:
Al Simmons is “pursuing other opportunities”. This one kinda surprises me. I haven’t felt like Simmons was a weak coach. My gut is that this one came from Pendergast and not Tedford. Perhaps those two didn’t have the best working relationship. The fact that it came later also suggests it came from a different evaluation process.

Two replacements named:
Eric Kiesau is replacing Daft and will also be the “passing game coordinator”. I think this is a great move. The early Tedford passing game was marked by very consistent WR play and great hands. He obviously worked well with Tedford. Kiesau was at Cal from 2002-2005, being the early coach for everyone up through DeSean, Jordan and Hawkins. In my mind those were the last receivers we had at Cal that were truly exceptional and I have a feeling Kiesau was a part of the reason why.

Ashley Ambrose is replacing Al Simmons. This announcement came the same day as the Simmons announcement, so my gut feel is that this was less about Simmons and more about wanting Ambrose (btw, the homework assignment for all of the Catholic readers is to go look up St. Ambrose… with a last name like Ambrose, you have to be excited about this coach, right?). I know very little about him, but I have a feeling Pendergast wanted him and his NFL pedigree.

Shane Vereen has decided to go to the NFL.

Of course no one is shocked by the news, but I’m a bit surprised. Of course the fact that he’s finished his degree has a lot to do with it, but I just had a gut feeling that he felt like he had unfinished business and wanted to go out with a bowl win. Apparently not.

In any case, Vereen, you were a great Golden Bear and we’ll always remember your work ethic, your team-centered attitude and your fantastic athletic ability. Good luck in the NFL.

Update: Here is the official Cal release.