Something interesting has been happening since the end of the football season. People who aren’t directly a part of the program and whom I respect have started to tell me they believe the program is in good hands and on a positive path.
They like the following:
- A coach who gets it when it comes to going for it on 4th down and eschewing FGs to instead pursue a TD
- A staff that consistently makes good 2nd half adjustments in games
- A S&C program that has cut down on injuries and has clearly improved the strength, stamina, speed and size of our players
- A culture that is about team first, individual second and one where you get not even a whiff of the stink of NFL mercenary that seemed to pervade in the back half of Tedford’s tenure
- Improving academics on about every front that can be measured by overall team GPA, to 100% player eligibility to rising APR scores and improving grad rates
- A meritocracy where the best player will play regardless of years of experience or recruiting accolades. Guys like Erik Brown have washed out while under the radar players like Noa have played as true frosh
- Open practices and transparency with the program to the public
- Recruiting that “seems” better than the ratings when you watch games and practices. And Tom Lemming agrees. More and more kids who are long, athletic, versatile and can run. A big emphasis on the OL and secondary which are keys to the modern age of college football
- Improving mental and physical toughness as evidenced by close game victories
- A willingness by the staff to recognize and rectify mistakes - Buh, OL vertical sets, need for another DB coach, etc
Questions still remain for them:
- Do we have a top 25 staff? Special teams have not been special, defensive performance schematically and in terms of fundamentals have not been on the same level as our offensive execution. Some say this is more an issue of overall staff budget than a shortcoming of Dykes, we will see.
- Some in game decisions still questionable -e.g. kicking off to McCaffrey. Although many have said that if you look at any college coach, there is almost always tons of room for criticism in this regard, e.g. Stanford fans and followers pull their hair out from some of Shaw’s in game calls
- Recruiting: Can Dykes land enough of the small group of top national talent that has the character and academic profile necessary to fit Cal and Dykes culture? Not there yet
- Has Dykes solved for the “good kids yet tough kids” challenge in recruiting? This is the notion that just because a kid lit it up in HS and is bright and articulate, he may not have the edge and hunger necessary to win at the highest levels of college football (also known as the Jaylen Brown dilemma). David Shaw has figured this out, has Sonny?
- Getting over the hump in the big games. Cal laid eggs vs Utah and UCLA last year and were unable to make plays when needed against Stanford and USC. Is this a Dykes insecurity issue or the team not yet having the confidence it needs in itself?
- Leadership development: Under Dykes, Cal has not had the obviously strong player leadership you see with top tier programs. Guys like McClure have the mentality but not the on the field cced. Guys like Goff and Lawler have the field cced but not the personality. Leaders such as Scarlet and Nickerson have left in their senior seasons. Is this a recruiting or player development issue?
I just listened to Dykes on San Diego radio discussing Jared Goff and the Cal program. He talked about how truly terrible Cal was in his first season and then said something interesting - “We as coaches were awful, we did not get our kids ready, we did not get the most out of them, we were beyond bad.” Love that recognition and sense of responsibility. It’s a sign of confidence which frankly is a trait I had worried that Sonny might not have enough of to get us to where we need to go. What I like the most about Cal football right now is that it feels like we’re doing things the right way. Great kids, true student athletes, the program is embracing former alums and players on and off the field, we constantly seem to be improving every facet of the program and there’s an openness to our marketing, our communication, how we recruit and how the team interacts with alums and donors that adds up to something that makes me proud. I’ve been going to donor football events for nearly 20 years and the quantity and quality of interactions with our staff and players is at an all time high. That’s not nearly as important as winning on the field yet it says something about who we are and what we want to be.
There’s a lot of wood to chop going forward and on balance there have been more down moments than up ones during Dykes tenure. Thus, it’s encouraging to hear from folks that their perception matches my gut, that things are looking up for Cal football.
Go Bears!
They like the following:
- A coach who gets it when it comes to going for it on 4th down and eschewing FGs to instead pursue a TD
- A staff that consistently makes good 2nd half adjustments in games
- A S&C program that has cut down on injuries and has clearly improved the strength, stamina, speed and size of our players
- A culture that is about team first, individual second and one where you get not even a whiff of the stink of NFL mercenary that seemed to pervade in the back half of Tedford’s tenure
- Improving academics on about every front that can be measured by overall team GPA, to 100% player eligibility to rising APR scores and improving grad rates
- A meritocracy where the best player will play regardless of years of experience or recruiting accolades. Guys like Erik Brown have washed out while under the radar players like Noa have played as true frosh
- Open practices and transparency with the program to the public
- Recruiting that “seems” better than the ratings when you watch games and practices. And Tom Lemming agrees. More and more kids who are long, athletic, versatile and can run. A big emphasis on the OL and secondary which are keys to the modern age of college football
- Improving mental and physical toughness as evidenced by close game victories
- A willingness by the staff to recognize and rectify mistakes - Buh, OL vertical sets, need for another DB coach, etc
Questions still remain for them:
- Do we have a top 25 staff? Special teams have not been special, defensive performance schematically and in terms of fundamentals have not been on the same level as our offensive execution. Some say this is more an issue of overall staff budget than a shortcoming of Dykes, we will see.
- Some in game decisions still questionable -e.g. kicking off to McCaffrey. Although many have said that if you look at any college coach, there is almost always tons of room for criticism in this regard, e.g. Stanford fans and followers pull their hair out from some of Shaw’s in game calls
- Recruiting: Can Dykes land enough of the small group of top national talent that has the character and academic profile necessary to fit Cal and Dykes culture? Not there yet
- Has Dykes solved for the “good kids yet tough kids” challenge in recruiting? This is the notion that just because a kid lit it up in HS and is bright and articulate, he may not have the edge and hunger necessary to win at the highest levels of college football (also known as the Jaylen Brown dilemma). David Shaw has figured this out, has Sonny?
- Getting over the hump in the big games. Cal laid eggs vs Utah and UCLA last year and were unable to make plays when needed against Stanford and USC. Is this a Dykes insecurity issue or the team not yet having the confidence it needs in itself?
- Leadership development: Under Dykes, Cal has not had the obviously strong player leadership you see with top tier programs. Guys like McClure have the mentality but not the on the field cced. Guys like Goff and Lawler have the field cced but not the personality. Leaders such as Scarlet and Nickerson have left in their senior seasons. Is this a recruiting or player development issue?
I just listened to Dykes on San Diego radio discussing Jared Goff and the Cal program. He talked about how truly terrible Cal was in his first season and then said something interesting - “We as coaches were awful, we did not get our kids ready, we did not get the most out of them, we were beyond bad.” Love that recognition and sense of responsibility. It’s a sign of confidence which frankly is a trait I had worried that Sonny might not have enough of to get us to where we need to go. What I like the most about Cal football right now is that it feels like we’re doing things the right way. Great kids, true student athletes, the program is embracing former alums and players on and off the field, we constantly seem to be improving every facet of the program and there’s an openness to our marketing, our communication, how we recruit and how the team interacts with alums and donors that adds up to something that makes me proud. I’ve been going to donor football events for nearly 20 years and the quantity and quality of interactions with our staff and players is at an all time high. That’s not nearly as important as winning on the field yet it says something about who we are and what we want to be.
There’s a lot of wood to chop going forward and on balance there have been more down moments than up ones during Dykes tenure. Thus, it’s encouraging to hear from folks that their perception matches my gut, that things are looking up for Cal football.
Go Bears!
