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Surprised to see this. Would love to see his rationale

Here ya go. Let me know if you have any questions:

On what to expect from the new offense:

"Yeah, it will be significantly different than what we've done in the past. Jake's a really good coach, as is Coach Bloesch and Tim Plough. There's some really good football minds in there. Systematically, you can see why those guys have been so successful. There's still a lot to be determined based on our roster and learning our strengths, but it's been real enjoyable sitting in there with those guys and going through the details of installation and what it will look like, but again, it will continue to evolve with our roster."

On his early impression of Sam Jackson:

"During the workouts, he's a very, very athletic guy, quick twitch. He's eager, as are we, to get out on the field and start playing."

On the most important thing he wants to accomplish this spring:

"Get better at football so we can win more games in the fall. That's what we've got to do. We've got to get better playing football."

Again, prodding for more details on the new offense:

"Formations will be different. Yeah, with that being said, there's only so many ways you can line up 11 people and be legal, but there are going to be some differences in the formations, pace of play, style of run, style of passes. So it's a pretty significant shift. Players have done a nice job in the meeting time that we've been allotted taking to it, but we need to get out there and practice. You've got to go out and play the game."

On Sam Jackson's best asset:

"His athletic ability. He's a real sharp kid, too. You can tell. Pretty quiet, he's brand new, he hasn't been here that long, so kind of learning his way around. But I think he's a very talented athlete -- there's no doubt about that -- and he's a sharp kid."

On what played out six years ago when he got the job and Jake Spavital left for WVU:

"That's the first I had met Jake. I knew about him, obviously, from what he had done offensively. I think it helped this time around to have some background with each other, but really good guy -- really, really good guy. I'd heard all those things along the way. People that had worked here, not only his football acumen but the type of guy he is to work with. When that many people say it, it's true. It's been that way -- he's really a easy guy to be part of the staff and get to know and chat with, really sharp football mind how he sees things. Real humble, hard-working guy, you can tell. It's exciting for us and the team."

On how much the roster will still change before the season:

"You know, with the way college football is now and the transfer portal, there's still probably some changes that we would see and some additions. That's just kind of how it works now. I would expect us to add some more players post spring ball as we get into summer. What that number is, I couldn't quite tell you, just because there's a lot of decisions that people make. We feel good about the players on our team right now. We do have a little bit of room, and that's a dynamic number. Things are moving constantly. But we feel good about the players on the team, and like I said, there's likely to be some additions in the summer."

On how getting some defensive linemen back by summer will impact what the defense can do:

"Well, our job as coaches is to assess the roster and do what's best for the position, the unit, the team so we can win and give us the best chance. So, as we evaluate the roster this spring, the new players, the guys returning off of injury, we'll determine that. I think there's some good players on defense. We have to get better in certain areas, there's no doubt about that. We'd like to be healthier in others. There's also some really talented teams we'll be playing against this fall, so we know playing in this conference against those offenses and it is very challenging, but yeah, much will be determined through spring football and as we get into summer and fall camp. You'd like to be 100 percent healthy all the time, but that's just not the way it works."

On whether Cal could play a more aggressive brand of defense this year:

"Yeah, I think we'll see. We've got high hopes for those guys. We brought the newcomers here for a reason and we think the guys that are coming off of injury have a chance to help us improve, but we've got to get better on defense. There's no doubt about it. There were moments when we played good football last year, some others where we didn't play quite as well as we thought we could have. I think every position can be part of the solution."

More on what's stood out about working with Spavital:

"I mean, he's a really knowledgeable guy. He's a good teacher. People gravitate toward him, players and coaches alike. But philosophically, he's got a strong background in where he comes from, he's learned under some great coaches and then evolved on his own to build offenses with the players available to him. I wouldn't say any two offenses that he's coached have looked alike because the players change. I think he's done a really good job. Now being around and the other coaches, you see why they've been so successful in their past."

On plans to add a quarterback:

"Yeah, we'll see. I would say it's likely that we would add a quarterback, but again we'll evaluate everything moving forward at that position. That's fair to say, just based on the numbers."

*Confirms all the transfers are participating this spring*

Again, how he'd summarize the new direction on offense:

"Yeah, I mean, it will be sped up and spread out. That doesn't mean ... we'll place a large emphasis on the run game. Some of the formations may look a little different, some of the run schemes would be a little bit different than they'd seen, but I do think the use and/or threat of tempo and some of the spacing will look a little new."

On the thinking behind the different tempo and spacing:

"Yeah, there's a lot of reasons that people do it. There's good reasons creating space for your players, creating angles and numbers in the run game, whether you are or aren't using the quarterback as a run threat that changes everything, as we know. So I think having options and having answers built into the play. Maybe you could call one certain play eight or 10 times in a game, and it's going to look different seven or eight out of those ten times just because of the options within the play."

On how Sam Jackson's mobility opens the pass game:

"Well, it's math. If the defense is going to account for the quarterback in the run game, you start running out of people and the coverages you can play. When the quarterback's not a running threat, you have more bodies available to support the coverage. So all it is is math."

I could not agree more with Monty when he focuses the demise of the men's basketball program at Cal on UC and the Athletic Department instead of Fox. And, Monty certainly has the experience and expertise to make that statement ring true.

Tim Miles has accomplished something remarkable this year at San Jose State. Their team finished the season 10-8 in conference play, their first winning conference record since 1993-94. They went 1-17 last year, his first as coach. This is the fourth program Miles has turned around.

I'm working on a piece with my own thoughts on this topic, but let's put it to a poll. Which newcomers are you most intrigued to watch, read about, etc., this spring? So that the poll isn't a unanimous runaway for Sam Jackson V, vote for three players.

If Jim and Jenny bite the dust, then who is going to fire Fox?

After getting demolished by Oregon yesterday, Cal finishes this dreadful season against Oregon State on Saturday.

Oregon State is 11th in the P12 with only 4 conference wins. Can Cal get the win and finish the season with 4 wins?

Didn’t see this posted yet. Always nice to punk these guys.

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The Bears are feeling frisky today!

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Hines updates his overall recruitment sharing four teams making the extra push in his recruitment.

From NFL.com, 10 to watch for the Senior Bowl:

Daniel Scott, S, California (6-2, 215)
Not a lot of people outside of the Pac-12 Network's viewership saw Scott play for the 4-8 Bears this past season, but he's an all-around defender capable of plugging holes in the run game and covering ground in coverage. Scott has very good recognition skills and is a reliable tackler, as well, which means he can do the thing all teams require from their safeties: preventing explosive plays.

First practice got switched to be earlier in case anyone was interested in this stuff.

Sorry if this is old news - from 3 days ago

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Behind a paywall and no positive mentions of Cal. What made it is this response to the question, "Which program in the league is the hardest to recruit to?" (Answers given by anonymous assistant coaches and recruiting staffers of Pac-12 programs.)

Coach 1: I think Washington State is tough because of where it’s located. Cal, the inconsistency, it’s been up and down like a yo-yo. I don’t know if they have a lot of things to supply their student-athletes.
Staffer 2: Probably Cal or Stanford. Stanford because of what they have to do academically. And Cal because you have to pass so many schools to get there and it’s hard for them to get kids in because of the (academic) system they’re in.
Staffer 3: Washington State. By far. I think Washington State and Cal. I don’t see anything positive come out of Cal.

Hey @Sebastabear I know there is a lot of crossover with BI, but in case there is some who hadn't heard, can you share the good news?

I'm on BI but hadn't seen it until I saw someone on Twitter say something.

Thank you @Sebastabear and others for leading the NIL charge!!!!

Listening to the zoom right now, which they are doing for season ticket holders. Started off with Ashley Adamson (Pac-12 Networks) and our wonderful (not really) AD Knowlton

First interesting thing that was stated: Our AD said regarding the Pac-12 that "we will have a media rights deal soon".

I'll add other comments here, if not duplicative to what has been said before.

Will the last paying seat holder please turn out the lights?

New QB, who dis?

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New turf is down in the stadium.

Interesting read.


"Last May, in an exit interview, four Cal seniors on the 2021-2022 swim team met with athletic director Jim Knowlton and senior associate athletic director Jennifer Simon-O’Neill to complain about McKeever’s bullying and verbal and emotional abuse. Knowlton told them McKeever was just a hard, tough coach whom they would appreciate in coming decades. It’s precisely the type of attitude that permeated athletic locker rooms in past decades when coaches justified routine verbal abuse in the name of winning. But the report reveals that McKeever told investigators that in a draft performance evaluation for the year she had not received the negative feedback."

Is complete. And I am exhausted.

Matt and I will update this daily moving forward, or as we get fresh intel/interviews. Putting this together I saw some obvious recruits we need to connect with for fresh updates, so I'll prioritize those this week.

At the top of the database, under the intro, we will note any updates with a timestamp so if you're looking at it regularly you'll know what's changed from one day to the next. I'll also put the weekly official visitor list up top.

Let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints:

Senior Lineman Anterrious Gray from South Alabama, 6-3, 330 lbs, enters portal on December 12th. Originally committed to North Texas from 2020-2021, then transferred. Started at North Texas. Rivals says one of the top linemen remaining. Time seems to overlap with Coach Mke Bloesch while coaching O Line at North Texas.

Following up on the poll from the other day, here's my full ranking of the 10 most intriguing offseason additions who will be part of spring practice.

Eager to see what y'all think of the ranking, what disagreements you have, etc.