Further thoughts

After considering a bit more, here are some of the conclusions that I have drawn from the last 9 months or so of Cal football

1) Not a lot of offseason wailing and gnashing of teeth - meaning that the Bears are getting a bit of the old enmity out of the way. Nate left, and while I was a Nate supporter in some ways, I think that it was definitely time to go. Kinda like Van Jones - if all you are going to do is cause trouble just by being who you are, then maybe it is not a good place to be. The issues of 2007 are getting more distant and the good vibes of a 9-4 season in a rebuilding year seem to have taken off for the Bears.

2) The SAHPC is going to do what it is supposed to do - make it really a cool place to play football, so that 18 year old kids can tell their buddies how cool it is. I remember back to my high-schoold days, and some of the kids were being recruited to major programs. I always remember this guy - let's call him Dan - who always had an opinion of the school based on the quality of the facilities. He was advising guys to go to USF because of the cool new sports facility there. I mean - really. USF was pretty good in those days (in Hoops - actually that was the year they dropped the program because of the disrepute that their recruiting was doing to their school). The sad thing was that some of those guys did go to USF because this idiot kid of 17 was telling them how cool the new USF gym was. As, for example, opposed to going to Cal or UCLA, or even USC back then. When the USF thing blew up, this kid had to transfer to Washington. He was a great guy, but led astray be 17 year old idiots who have not idea about anything, but will attend a school because of the facilities for the sports. I guess they are going to be there quite a bit, so they better like it. But I digress. Cal's recruiting, I would say at this point, is the best ever. And I think that incremental recruiting surge has to do with the SAHPC more than anything else. I mean, we have had 8, 9 10 wins seasons for a long time. But have not had recruiting like this. Cal is set up for a while.

3) Jeff Tedford seems to be more comfortable with his offensive coordinator than ever before. It seems like he has a guy who he shares a good deal of confidence in and is almost like from the same family. He is a balance guy, but also likes to mix it up. Maybe it is because of confidence in his players, or maybe because it is that he trust this guy to get the plan in place, that he can spend more time doing the things that he needs to do. Like work with Riley one on one a bit more. Like overseeing the whole squad. When Cortez left (or was pushed out - I never really understood that one - Cortez is back with the CFL Calgary Stampeders) and Tedford brought Dunbar in, I thought that it was a mistake. And so did they after that first year. Although Cal won the Pac 10 title that year with SC, it seemed like it was not really a Tedford offense. And then, the revolving door of Tedford calling the plays, and being too involved with the QB issues to understand what was going on with the team, and then bringing in Cignetti, who really wanted to be the guy, but everyone knows this is Jeff's town. Ludwig is the perfect kind of guy for Tedford. My understanding is that he is a detail guy, a tape room workhorse, and a guy who schemes - just like JT. And it may be that he has aspirations on being a head coach. But at the heart of it, it seems like he is kind of a perpetual assistant - like Norm Chow. A great coordinator, but not someone who is going to run a program. Maybe I am wrong about that, but that is the feeling that I get. That being said, JT is comfortable with that. It's like having two kids. Do you give the keys to the one who wants to make a name for himself, or do you give the keys to the car for the one who is interested in getting there safely and in one piece. I think the deal is this - JT got rid of Cortez, because he did not need his father figure any more. Cortez was JT coach in Calgary, and while he was a good offensive coordinator, Tedford wanted to try something new. Spread his wings. Now that he tried out a bunch of guys - he is ready to be comfortable with Ludwig. Hopefully we can get to a point where we have assistant coaches who are comfortable working at Cal for a long time. We need a shot of something every once in a while (Lupoi, Daft, etc) but we also want some stability (Tedford, Gregory - who I have always thought excellent). If we can get Ludwig to stick around, develop a good relationship for 10 to 15 years and make a decent wage, then I am all for it. Kinda like Nebraska under Tom Osborne.

4) The team is confident. Everyone knows that Jahvid Best is huge, but he is such a team guy (it appears, and it appears genuine) that everyone else has to keep in line, or else know they are going to look line an ass. Last year, it was tense with Nate and Kevin. the underclassman starting over the Senior, who gave his all. Now, with Jahvid the undisputed hottest thing, no QB controversy, who is really going to be bitching? Is Nyan Boeteng going to have something to say about playing time, when Jahvid slits time with Shane Vareen for huge deductions in his yardage totals? The Bears are very lucky to have a class act like Best on the team. It seems like a much more professional team, and a much more mature team this year. Also, a damn good team. I was a huge 49er fan growing up in SF, and the teams of the 80's were just fantastic. The 49ers were confident. In 1984, when they went 17-1 - they were down in many games in the first half. But you knew that it would be all right in the end. I never freaked out like I did when watching Cal sports - when you knew a 30 point lead was vaporware. But this Bears team is like those 9er teams of the 80s. It is all going to be fine.

GO BEARS!!