Evaluating Coach Tedford
(Written by kencraw)
I was completely shocked to find last night that the top search criteria that had people coming to my blog was some variant of “Fire Coach Tedford”. That was taking them to my old post titled “Fire Tedford, are you NUTS!?!”. Rather than repeat the sentiment there, which I fully stand behind, allow me to give some thoughts on the state of the Cal program and specifically it’s leader Jeff Tedford.
I believe there are 5 things that make up good head coaches: Recruiting, talent development, game planning, good assistent coaching hires and finally empire building. Let’s take them one by one:
Recruiting:
I believe Tedford has a very good sense of which recruits are truly worth their “stars” and which are all hype. It’s a similarly difficult task as NFL coaches have to determining if great college players can make the transition to the NFL, but instead it is the transition from high school to college. Additionally, I think he’s done an exceptional job of convincing a lot of very good players to come play for Cal despite our lack-luster facilities. Additionally he’s recognized the schools issues that have prevented them from recruiting the top talent and has worked diligently to address those. I’ll come back to that in “Empire Building”, but suffice it to say that ever since Cal broke ground on the SAHPC, the recruits have been pouring in like never before.
Talent Development:
While I’ll admit the inability to get another QB to perform at the level of Boller or Rodgers in a number of years is a bit baffling to me, in the big picture I think Cal has done an exceptional job of making the most of its talent. In fact, for the most part when I’ve seen Cal lose in the back of my head I’ve always known that part of the problem was the talent differential between Cal and its opponent, although due to recruiting this differential is lessening every year. I think this is part of the reason Cal fans are so upset about yesterday’s loss. They know we finally have talent that is well developed.
Game planning:
OK, I’ll admit I’ll have a tough time selling this one to those who watched yesterday’s game, but I think the history of Cal football under Tedford shows him to be a great game planner, particularly in his ability to grow and learn. Particularly if you include game preparation as part of game planning, which I do, his willingness to do things like travel to Minnesota on Thursday after how poorly traveling to Maryland on Friday worked out or changing the emphasis from the opponent to internally on the team when facing a big opponent after he did the opposite versus Tennessee in 2006, show not only that he’s a good game planner but that he’s one who’s on a mission to constantly improve. I can guarantee you that Tedford will be spending a lot of time thinking about this Oregon loss and figuring out how to address it.
Good assistant coach hiring:
I think if you look at Tedford’s overall record here, he’s done pretty well, but I must admit that this is the weakest of the 5 categories for him. Sticking by Alamar may be his worst on-going mistake, but sticking by Gregory while he completely re-tooled the defense was one of his best. Bringing in Dunbar may not have been the best decision for the short term but it helped the Bears add new aspects to their offense that have remained to this day. Cignetti is hard to judge but was not a bad hire. Just as importantly the next tier of coaches have been awesome hires including Gould, Lupoi and Marshall (or Michalczik before him), If Ludwig proves to be a good OC, and no yesterday’s game does not prove that he won’t be, I’d say Tedford has done pretty well in this category.
Empire Building:
And here’s where it all comes together. Between Tedford and Sandy Barbour Cal football has come a REMARKABLY long way in the last 7 years. Has everyone noticed the big hole in front of the stadium or the 200 million dollars in the bank for future improvements? Or what about the fact that there’s a ton of interest in Cal football like there has never been before. 8 years ago when I told some random person I was a Cal fan, they’d say “you’re a, what did you say, cow fan?” Or if I said I was going to the Bears game in Berkeley people would ask why Chicago was playing an AFC team and didn’t I mean Oakland? Now although there is the occasion oblivious person but the vast majority of people in northern California are well aware of the empire being built in the Berkeley hills. It’s the first empire to topple the formerly unbreakable grip that the radical socialist activists had on Berkeley. And here’s the most incredible part, most people in Berkeley CHEERED when it happened! There’s no doubt that Tedford has built something special in Berkeley. Even if he were to get run over by a bus tomorrow his impact on the program would endure and his influence would never be forgotten. Andy Smith, Pappy Waldorf and Jeff Tedford, those are the great names of Cal football.
Does Tedford make mistakes? Of course. He’s not God, or even a god, despite reports to the contrary. In fact, perhaps that’s the problem. Sometimes we put him up on a pedestal that nobody could possibly live up to. Nevertheless what I like about Tedford is that he’s committed to continuing to improve and to learning from his mistakes. People forget this is his first head coaching job and he’s learning as he goes. He’s got great instincts and pretty good analysis skills. Between the two he’ll continue to improve and I’m absolutely that Cal will reach the promised land and I will be able to take my children to a Rose Bowl not just before I die but before any of them are off to college themselves. Heck, I still haven’t given up hope on this year.
I believe Tedford is our guy and he’s going to get us there. We just have to be a little bit patient and keep showing up. I’ll be there next Saturday, will you?
September 28th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Very nice post. Thank you. Yes, this loss was very disappointing, but it is what it is – one very bad game. Also, if we win this game, there is still a good possibility for us to win the Pac-10. While Oregon beat us and are in the driver’s seat at this point, they still have a lot of issues, in particular turnovers, which will come up to bite them at some point — despite the fact that we were not effective in capitalizing on our many chances this past weekend.
I am a little shocked by all the comments about a poor game plan. I saw a lot of execution errors (our inability to convert turnovers to points as well as keeping all the turnovers we should of had; also overthrown passes and missed blocking assignments). I suppose the game plan issue comes up due to the Oregon player saying the play calling was predictable, which granted it was mid-game when we fell behind and Riley was swinging for a home run on every pass, but is that on the game plan or the players?
We’ve all got a very important game coming up this week. I hope the players and coaches are more focused on it than us masses seem to be.
Go Bears!
September 28th, 2009 at 9:49 am
the whole team screwed up, but it’s on the coaches. the game plan wasn’t working, and the players were rattled. when that happens, a good coach makes adjustments to the game plan, to restore confidence. the coaches made no adjustments. just stuck with the same plan the whole game. it was a colossal f up by the coaching staff. the game plan, to begin with, was disgusting. we didn’t even TRY to run on them. and yes, they were stacking the box, so that opened all kinds of short field opportunities. why the long bombs? simply mind boggling. hopefully it won’t happen again.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Hi Ken. Wow, I don’t know what to say. After making those comment in 2006, I really started to believe that Tedford could get us over that hump. But I think the points I made back then are still valid.
This may have been the worst lost in Cal’s history (and certainly the worst in the Tedford era) when you consider our ranking and the way that Oregon completely owned us.
I was really disappointed in Tedford this week. Not only was his team completely unprepared, but his comments after the game about how hard we played made him sound completely disconnected from reality. I think that he needs to be told by Sandy to fire Alamar.
I guess my question is – how much longer can this last? Every single year we do well, we look good, we get a high ranking, but we lose winnable games, fail to beat USC, free fall from our high ranking, and miss a BCS bowl. We all appreciate what Tedford has done for our program, but how much longer can he collect $2 million a year without getting us to a BCS bowl and without accounting for ridiculous losses? Another season? 2 more seasons? 3 more seasons? 4 more? How much longer does he have to break through the glass ceiling?
September 28th, 2009 at 10:18 am
rollonyoubears – I don’t think anyone would disagree with you that it is mostly on the coaches, but what are you going to do? Blow up the program? Colossal f-up for sure, but I feel pretty positive they will take it to heart over the short-term and long-term. Tedford has always been pretty accountable.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Cal’s football program under Tedford reminds me a little bit of Stanford’s basketball program under Montgomery. People forget now, but Stanford sat on the verge of national relevance for well over a decade after Montgomery arrived till the finally punched through and made it to the Final Four. First-round disappointment year after year after year seemed.
Unlike college basketball If you look at the college football teams that are good year after year, very little has changed over the past half-century (SC, Okla, Ala, Texas, Penn St., LSU). How many non-traditional powerhouses catapult into the BSC each year? Not many. Let’s not forget how far we’ve come.
Tedford’s not perfect, but for someone who has had to live through Theder, Kapp, Gilbertson, Holmoe, and even the loyalty-less Snyder, I couldn’t be more grateful to have a coach of his stature that actually seems intent on sticking it out here till at least some of the major goals have been accomplished and even beyond.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I think you are wrong. He is God.
September 28th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Bub. I get that sort of a feeling too. We’re headed the right direction and we will break through some day. The list of coaches who didn’t put it together to reach the top-tier of performance for a decade but then were well revered as one of the greats after that is long and distinguished.
Duke, assuming Cal continues to play in the upper half of the conference and consistently go to bowl games each year, Tedford gets 5 years after the stadium is complete (so that every player who is playing was recruited when they could walk in and see the awesome stadium the Bears play in and the awesome SAHPC for them to workout and meet in) was open to get to a Rose Bowl. That means assuming we keep to the current building plan, Tedford has until 2017 in my book.
I have complete confidence we won’t be waiting that long.
September 28th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Thanks Ken. I hope you are right. But I don’t know when we will be in the position we were in last week again… weak conference, weak USC, Heisman candidate, experienced QB, great talent everywhere, etc.
Cal’s talent and experience was good enough that we could have done it this year. In fact, it was probably our best chance (Barkley is only going to get better).
That being said, perhaps the best approach is not to get so wrapped up in the Bears. I haven’t missed a game (on TV or in person) in almost a decade. Maybe I just should try not to care so much, resign myself to mediocrity, and hopefully get pleasantly surprised someday.
I like Tedford. I really do. But he really frustrates me sometimes.
So just for the record Ken, if we go something like 8-4 or 9-3 in 2017, and we still haven’t made a BCS bowl, will you admit that my 2006 post wasn’t completely N-V-T-S?
By the way, if you think I am hard on Tedford at times, you should hear how your friends in South Bend talk about Charlie. I can’t order at a restaurant without hearing someone curse him.
September 28th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Yes, in 2017 if the Bears still haven’t gone to the Rose Bowl I will officially post that you were right and not N-V-T-S.
September 28th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Let’s not bury this team until at least Saturday. While I agree it may be wishful thinking to think this team will bounce back from such an embarrassing thorough loss by Sat., but we are as talented as any team in the conference. If we can win out it would be the best season this program has had in forever. I guess I’m being a Pollyanna, but I still think Saturday was something of an anomaly (not that we lost, but how thoroughly). We may have the best talent in the conference and the rest of the pack is ordinary. I didn’t expect this team to undefeated and win a national championship. Also, people buried Oregon (UofO fans included) after the Boise St. game and now they’re hopeful for a BCS. Momentum can shift back in our favor nearly as quickly as we lost it.
September 28th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
HOLD THE ROPE! I’ll be there!!
September 29th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
I’m sorry, but some of you guys are utterly delusional. If Tedford needs until 2017 to go to a Rose Bowl, then we should call Steve Sarkisian right now, or Norm Chow, or any number of coaches who know how to motivate a team and have some sort of killer instinct. There is no empire building going on with Cal football. There is entrenched mediocrity and disappointment will reign until Cal hires a coach who can go over .500 on the road in the Pac 10, among others. JT has been here for over 7 seasons. That leaves plenty of documentation: he coaches conservatively, doesn’t adapt (ie how about a play action pass versus Oregon?), leaves weak links around (Alamar, Ayoob, Longshore…), and perhaps most importantly, his teams don’t deliver knockout blows. They seldom play a full game. Why did Cal not get a first down for over a quarter against Minnesota? The team’s attitude is a reflection of Tedford, just like Stanford reflected Montgomery. Whereas Montgomery’s teams overachieved and were scrappy and had fiery leaders like Chris Hernandez, Cal has underachieved, choked multiple times on national tv, and been hopelessly passive. Only Aaron Rodgers’ brilliance enabled the Bears to give SC a serious run for their money (ok I know we got robbed in 2002). And why didn’t we run the ball at all against SC on our last set of downs there!??!?!?!?!?! See you at the Sun Bowl in 8 years
September 30th, 2009 at 8:24 am
Greg, while I would quibble about some of the details of Tedford’s past record and why they fell short, I don’t disagree with you. I think what you’re missing in my argument is he’s a guy who works on improving and generally does so. It’s not that we aren’t disappointed and don’t think Tedford has his weaknesses, it’s that we see improvement down the road.
2004 and before he had a VERY scrappy team. You’re putting too much emphasis on Rodgers, the whole team just about all of those years over-achieved. But guess what, to become a national power you can’t keep being scrappy, you’ve got to be a powerhouse. Tedford has had a lot of trouble transitioning this team from scrappy to powerhouse and the muck in the middle has at times been worse than scrappy was.
But I’m confident he’ll continue to work at it and am 85% confident he’ll get there. Part of the reason he can’t yet be a powerhouse is because he can’t yet get the recruits he wants. It really has been night and day which recruits have considered Cal after we broke ground on the SAHPC. 2009 would have been a DISASTER recruiting year if it had stayed as slow as it did through September, but once we broke ground, Cal got a lot of late recruits to salvage the recruiting season. Now for 2010, Cal started out strong and has remained strong and there’s hope for a top-10 recruiting class.
Just to make it clear: (5 star/4 star/3 star/2 star/lower)
2002: 0/3/2/15/0
2003: 0/4/19/3/0
2004: 0/6/6/7/0
2005: 1/9/12/2/0
2006: 0/9/8/3/0
2007: 0/3/16/2/0
2008: 0/5/12/4/0
2009: 0/6/8/5/0
2010: 0/7/4/0/0
This is the only year where 4-star and above out numbered 3-star and below and all indications are that the same will be true come February on signing-day. With the exception of 2005 and to a lesser degree 2006, where Cal was riding high from the run-up under Tedford, something that we all knew (or should have known) was a bit of over-optimism that infected recruiting just like it did us, our recruiting has not been of the caliber that regularly wins Pac-10 championships.
Starting this year, if not by next year for sure, it will be.
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Sure, Tedford has done alot at Cal, but I don’t think he’s going to be the man to take Cal to the next level. Just looking at his demeanor, it looks like he’s having no fun out there. Just take a look at Pete Carroll, Mack Brown, Bo Pelini, or Jim Harbaugh, those guys wear their emotions on their sleeves and their teams feed off of that. Even though I go to Cal, I expected Stanford to beat us in 07 and given the way Stanford’s playing lately, if we played them tomorrow, I’d put my bets on them. I don’t think I’ve even seen Tedford crack a smile all these years. He’s a good coach, but not a great coach. I’ve seen enough. 5-0 start in 2005, finish 8-4. One foot inbounds against Arizona in 06 away from the Rose Bowl, the monumental collapse of 07, the good not great season of 08, and now this, 6 points in two games. We need some nuttier defensive coaches like Will Muschamp or Bo Pelini as well as a solid field goal kicker and have playmaker quarterbacks. Riley’s running is ok, but he just doesn’t seem like a threat. Look at guys like Eric Crouch, Vince Young, Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, those are guys that know how to take over a game.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Dear Ms. Sandy Barbour,
Please give me a chance to step out of the WAC and into a BCS conference. I went to school near by at UCD and I really feel like I can be the next Urban Meyer. I have the utmost respect for Coach Tedford, but he seems to be losing his team as they are giving up on him early in the games (ref Oregon Players). He really turned your program around but never got you out from the ceiling of mediocrity. His hiring of Oregon castaways for assistant coaches have hamstrung both his offense and defense in the past few years. Tedford seems like a better coach than he really is because you are comparing him to the Holmoe era, but the his teams have suffered year in and year out from the same maladies: inability to win on the road, inability to play from behind, inability to execute on offense, soft cushions in our coverages, excessively conservative/agressive play calling on the wrong occasions, etc etc etc.
I also would like to point out the fact that other than 1 junior college transfer, the quarterback guru really hasn’t mentored too many QBs to success. Sure he took Boller (Holmoe’s recruit) and allowed him to fully realize his potential in his senior year, but he was pretty atrocious in handling a plethora of Elite 11 QBs. Nate Longshore seemed like he could have been one of the top QBs in the country but the QB Guru waffled in his playing time with Riley and thereby ruined the confidence and development of two highly recruited prospects.
In closing, I ask that you just review my track record. In my first full season as head coach, I took a bunch of 0-2 star recruits and went undefeated. We capped that season by defeating one of the best programs in the country in the Fiesta Bowl. How’d I do this you ask? By doing exactly opposite of what Coach Tedford does every saturday. I MOTIVATED my players, mixed up the play book and took shots down the field. If I can do this at a WAC school, imagine what I can do with the type of recruits that I will be attracting at CAL…. Oh and in case you fort got, we did thump that Oregon team that turned around and thumped you soon thereafter.
Sincerely,
Chris Petersen
P.S. In case you decide not to hire me, don’t think I’ll be losing any sleep over it. I’m sure a more elite program will be knocking pretty soon to make me the next Urban Meyer.