Matt is out there this morning with full coverage coming. I'll let him take it from here on this thread, but I wanted to get something started.

As usual, working on a full list, but saw this and wanted to file it away. Really highly regarded prospect:

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Is it after the pac 12 tourney?

Is there a date where the buyout drops?

Any idea or insight when the news may happen?

Here's the press release:

BERKELEY - Mark Fox, who has served as California's men's basketball head coach for the past four seasons, will not return next year, Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton announced Thursday.

Fox compiled a record of 38-87 with the Golden Bears, including a pair of wins over rival Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament and engineering a six-win improvement from the previous year in his first season as head coach.

Fox also guided the program through the COVID-19 pandemic, navigating some of the most disruptive restrictions in the country.

"I want to thank Mark for his unwavering commitment to our men's basketball program," Knowlton said. "He led the team through some challenging times, and always did so with the class and professionalism we have come to expect from him. Mark understood and embraced our University's mission and ideals, and was always an exemplary representative of our department. I wish him the best of luck in the future.

"This was a difficult decision and one that I do not take lightly. After deliberately and holistically evaluating all aspects of our program, I felt a change was needed at this time. We will always be guided by the best interests of our student-athletes, as well as the values of our University."

The Bears excelled academically during Fox's tenure, twice earning the National Association of Basketball Coaches Team Academic Excellence Award while also producing four NABC Honors Court selections.

Fox also helped fund an internship through the McLendon Minority Leadership initiative, which provides opportunities for approximately 30 young minorities per year within college athletic departments across the country.

The University will begin a national search immediately to find its new head coach.

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I'll have a full list for you later in the week, but in the meantime I'll feed in whatever we see here.

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I'll be on all of these and writing off them. We're getting Justin Wilcox, J.T. Byrne, Byron Cardwell, Jaydn Ott, Craig Woodson and Myles Jernigan, starting at 2 p.m.

This is going to be very intriguing to watch how the coaches utilize Jaydn Ott and Byron Cardwell this season.

Both spoke this week about the dynamic between them as "two alphas" in the backfield.

My thoughts on each position group as things get underway this morning:

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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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