The Jeff Tedford era at the University of California has officially come to an end. Last week, Cal Athletic Director Sandy Barbour, announced that head coach Jeff Tedford would not be returning to the football program after a 11 year run. While this move may not have been all that surprising given the way Cal finished this season - with two blowout losses coming at the hands of Oregon and Oregon State - it is saddening because the Jeff Tedford era started off with such promise and hope, and frankly this was news that no Cal fans never thought they would ever hear. From 2002-2009, Tedford had a winning percentage of .657, 5 bowl wins, and 0 losing seasons. In these last three seasons, Tedford had a winning percentage of .405, 0 bowl wins, and 2 losing seasons. As a season-ticket holder and someone who watched the majority of Cal’s games this season, Tedford looked burnt out with no energy, and as if he had no answers for what was occurring on the field. One has to ask, what went wrong?
The first thing, and the main reason why Tedford is gone, is his inability to develop a quality QB to run and lead the offense, the very thing he was known for and brought in to do at Cal. When Tedford first came to Cal, he developed and turned Kyle Boller and most famously, Aaron Rodger, into NFL first-round draft pick QB’s. But the string of QB’s that followed those two, Nat Longshore, Joe Ayoob, Kevin Reilly, and recently Zach Maynard, have all been flat disappointments. He also seemed to recruit high-level QB prospects that never panned out or were given the opportunity to play. Brock Mansion, Beau Sweeney, Allen Bridgeford; all these QB’s were highly touted 4-star recruits that many fans thought would come in and be the next Kyle Boller or Aaron Rodger. When you are dubbed the “QB guru” and you can’t seem to get consistently good play from the QB position, it’s going to cause a lot of chatter and second guessing.
Secondly, Tedford was too loyal to upperclassmen. It seemed to me that Tedford had a seniority policy among players rather than being a coach that would play the best players available. He never seemed to reopen position competitions despite how poorly a player was playing and never gave way to an underclassman that may be better. Granted there were the occasion exceptions were a star-studded freshman would come in and there would be no choice but to play him, but in most cases, Tedford always seemed to defer to the upperclassman in a position battle. You may know it to the upperclassmen that have been with the program to play them, but if they’re not cutting it and there’s are underclassmen that are better, you have to get them in the lineup because ultimately, it’s about winning games.
Finally, Tedford was one of the highest paid coached in NCAA football and was also the highest paid employee for the state of California at nearly $2.5 million per year (granted a lot of his salary was being paid through private donor and alumni dollars); and with that comes a lot of scrutiny. A lot of academia at Berkeley were becoming unrest with the fact that a lot of money was being put into Tedford and the football program in the midst of this poor economic time and rising tuitions on college students (Cal spend over $350 million in revenues to Memorial Stadium and an addition $150 million for a new athletic training center). The one saving grace Tedford and Cal football always had been that the program was winning and the stadium was full. But with losing comes lost support and empty seats.
Possible Candidates –
So where does Cal go from here? Well, they need to find a young, energetic, offensive-minded head coach to come in and bring in a new voice. I also believe that the new head coach must have some name ID and clout, as Cal still needs to sell those high-priced ESP seats and continue to fill the stadium in order to pay for all of the remodel and additions. Having a coach that the fan base, and more importantly the donors, is excited about would go a long way to doing that.
The Pac-12, while being a strong conference, is very winnable. USC and Oregon are both about to go on sanctions for recruiting violations, and in the coming years, that may bring them back down to earth. Stanford and David Shaw are building a machine in Palo Alto, but with Shaw’s star on the rise, one wonders how long he can truly put off going to the NFL if a team came calling. Cal, with its new stadium and facilities, has the resources to continue recruiting top 25 classes and if anything, having those new facilities should improve that ranking. It’s a very attractive job for an up-and-coming coordinator or head coach at a mid-major, or even at the NFL level, to want to have.
Here are a few names that I would want Cal Athletic Direction, Sandy Barbour, to consider for the Cal football head coaching position.
Chris Peterson, Boise St. – He ranks #1 on my list and as a season-ticket holder, if Cal has to raise my prices in order to pay him to leave Boise, so be it. I think Cal is tailor-made for Peterson. He is from the area, having played and coached at UC Davis, so he has local ties and it would be an easy move and smooth transition for his family. He can definitely recruit the area, as most of his star recruits from those high-powered Boise St. teams that won BCS bowl games came from California. And, it’s not like Boise St. is crushing team this season like they used too and maybe Peterson is starting to see that the well is drying up for him. Your star can only be on the rise for so long (ask Iowa’s Kurt Ferentz) and really, there is nothing left for him to accomplish in Boise; so maybe a new challenge, in a new conference, with new facilities, would service him well.
Side note: And to further my excitement, CBS Sports Bruce Feldman tweeted out that a source told him there are two jobs Chris Peterson would consider leaving Boise St. for and that’s Oregon and Cal. It’s been widely stated that Chip Kelly wants to go to the NFL but only if his OC, Mark Helfrich, is guaranteed to be the next head coach at Oregon. Supposedly, this was the main reason why Kelly backed out of becoming the Tampa Bay Bucs head coach because Oregon couldn’t guarantee that they would hire Helfrich to be Kelly’s replacement. If Kelly sticks to his word and makes Oregon hire Helfrich that leaves only one job open for Peterson to consider. But the flip side is that Peterson and Tedford are close friends and Peterson may not want to follow in Tedford’s footsteps and over-shadow his legacy. My hope is that Tedford talks to Peterson and convinces him that Cal is a great opportunity for him and that he’s left Peterson with a new stadium, new facilities, and loaded roster. He’ll win immediately.
Mark Helfrich, OC of Oregon – If Oregon’s not going to hire you, I’ll take you. And it’s not like Cal hasn’t tapped Oregon’s coaching staff before (Tedford was Oregon’s OC before coming to Cal). If Chip Kelly turns his back on the NFL and decides to come back to Oregon, you may have a situation much like Texas had with Mack Brown and Will Muschamp. You have these coaches-in-waiting, but the head guy never leaves or retires and eventually, coaches get impatient. If Kelly doesn’t land an NFL gig this offseason, especially with all of the open positions that are presumably going to be opening, this may be Helfrich’s only chance to get out of Oregon and land a prime coaching gig. Things seemed to have worked out nicely for Muschamp.
Jon Gruden, ESPN – I know, I’m dreaming, and I’ll admit that. But really, is Cal any less of an attractive job than Arkansas and Tennessee (two schools Gruden has been linked too)? Again, he is from the area, has coached in the area, and I believe still lives in the area. I know the minute he gets the NFL inch and decided to scratch he bolts, but I’ll take 2-3 years of Chucky and then figure things out afterward.
Greg Roman, OC for the SF 49ers – This is also a pipe dream but it’s still nice to have. Roman is most likely going to be a solid candidate for a NFL head coaching gig come this offseason, so why would he leave the 49ers and that opportunity for Cal. Well, maybe he doesn’t want to wait that long for a position to open and there are no guarantees he gets it. Remember, he interviewed last season for the Colts head coaching position and didn’t get it and they were going to draft his QB project at Stanford Andrew Luck. Maybe he is starting to realize that being a NFL head coach isn’t in his cards and the only way to get out from underneath Jim Harbaugh’s shadow is to leave and create an identity of his own. But speaking of Roman, that leads me to my other coaching candidate………
Geep Chryst, QB coach for the SF 49ers – I know he is Harbaugh’s OC-in-waiting for when Roman leaves for a head coaching position, but what if Roman doesn’t get a head coaching job and does in fact decide to stay with the 49ers, where does that leave Chryst? Chryst’s older brother, Paul Chryst, is the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh and Geep almost left the 49ers to go be his OC. If he can almost leave the 49ers to go coach at the University of Pittsburgh, he can certainly leave the 49ers to coach Cal. Plus, he has experience grooming QBs, with Alex Smith and now Colin Kaepernick looking like All-Pros.
Mike MacIntyre, HC of San Jose State – If Cal is looking to hire a good young coach on the cheap then this is Cal’s hire. He has completely turned SJSU into a bowl eligible team in two years and has recruited the area strongly. He is defensive-minded and wouldn’t be that sexy hire that I want, but I don’t doubt that he is a solid football coach.
Pep Hamilton, OC of Stanford – Again, he has that Andrew Luck connection and if you have so much as laid a hand on the greatest QB prospect of our generation, you hold a lot of clout in my book. He guided Stanford’s offense to a BCS bowl game and he has guided Stanford’s offense post-Luck to a 9-2 record and into the Pac-12 championship game.
Sonny Dykes, HC of Louisiana Tech – He is a Mike Leach clone who runs a very power spread offense. He has coached La. Tech into the Top 25 this season and is another young coach on the rise. Plus, he used to be the OC at Arizona before becoming Texas Tech’s OC under Leach so he knows the conference. And like MacIntyre, he too could be another coach Cal can hire on the cheap.
Willie Taggart, HC of Western Kentucky – He is another Jim Harbaugh coaching disciple from there Stanford days and Taggart also played fullback at Stanford, so he knows the Pac-12 and the area from recruiting purposes. Many have him already linked to the Kentucky HC opening but he may want to come back to the west coast and coach somewhere that has a legitimate shot at winning. When was the last time Kentucky football was relevant?
No matter how you feel about the firing of Jeff Tedford, you can’t help but feel bad for the guy. Yes he will get paid his remaining $6.9 million salary, but Tedford rebuilt the Cal football program and was the driving force behind the whole remodel of Memorial Stadium and the construction of the new Athletic Performance Center. He was patient through that whole purpose which had many bumps in the road; and when everything is finally finished and built, he doesn’t get to witness or experience what the remodel and new facilities will do for the Cal football program and university. There is no doubt that he left the Cal football program in much better shape than what it was when Tedford first came to Cal. He single-handedly made Cal football relevant in an era of super-conferences and big time money football. So for that, I personally thank him for his serve and dedication. In the end it got sour, but there were many good times during his era. Thank you, Jeff Tedford.
Mr. Armchair Speaking –
