71Bear said:
4thGenCal said:
71Bear said:
3146gabby said:
As to all 3 communities - optimists, pessimists, realists - it always seems a zero sum game in the analysis.
Reality is not what we need, but what is realistic in getting those needs filled.
There are serious extant limitations for football.e.g., narrowness in recruiting because of academic requirements, lack of historic success, too frequent turnover in coaches, etc. etc.
All of which has limited who would come here to coach. We are not going to get a nick saban.
I see significantly more plusses in Wilcox than negatives especially when factoring in what is reality right now. That the players buy in, don't give up, understand the many values of playing FB @ an academic institution like Cal, respond to adversity, and extol what is a one for all mentality, is big for me. But that is just me.
First of all, the academic issue is absolute bull****. Stanford has commitments from 22 players, including 8 four stars and currently ranks 11th in the country. Cal has commitments from 10 players, including zero four stars and ranks 65th in the country. Source: 247 Sports. Note: I understand the size of a class varies due to availability of scholarships. However, the quality is something that shouldn't vary. It should always be stellar.
There is absolutely no reason that Cal cannot sign a Top 20 class every year, occasionally breaking into the Top Ten depending on the strength of the California-based class. If Stanford can sign a strong class, so can Cal. Period.
Historic success, particularly in the recent past, is a very big hurdle. That can be addressed by finding a "pied piper" type of recruit. Russell White is an excellent example of a recruit who caused others to think, "why not?" He led a resurgence of Cal football.
Turnover of coaches - absolutely an issue. Cal has long been known as the "graveyard of coaches". The key is hiring a guy who wants to be at Cal, understands the relationship of athletics to other departments within the campus community, and is an able coach.
While I have some significant concerns about Wilcox, I fully support bringing him back next year. My biggest concerns are whether he can bring in the talent necessary to compete for a conference championship and whether he can hire assistants who are capable of executing a complex game plan and motivating players to reach their maximum potential, this means hiring from a pool that includes only young, innovative coaches (retreads need not apply). At this time, I would not consider extending his contract. If he can produce an eight win season in 2022, that will be a very good sign given the talent that will be available.
Academic restrictions are real and impact the recruiting pool Cal can go after - its a simple fact. There are VERY few exceptions made for a sub 3.0 Gpa and those include a gaunlet for the prospective student/athlete to go thru (including facing a panel of administrators/professor/compliance/AD etc to address potential academic course load concerns etc). Yes that Stanford pulls in high level Student athletes and that is the sole exception (relative to competitive D1 programs) Stanford is simply a different playing field in many ways. Cal very rarely wins out head to head regardless of the situation. The other issues not mentioned where Cal is woefully behind the Top 25 schools and the majority of conference members, is housing ( difficult to find close to campus - 10 players housed 15 minutes away off campus and in tough areas due to lower cost. Overall quality of housing is below average and very expensive for a schlorship player receiving $1700/month - the basketball model for Cal is unique (in that a few passionate alums stepped up to provide quality close to campus housing at a affordable cost). Second issue is the salaries for All of the assistants and Especially the lower level assistant recruiting/strength/support coaches, is extremely low relative to our conference members. IE SC pays $175k to a support coach that Cal for the same position, is able to pay just $75K to. Yes there recently was 8 generous Bear Backers who have put together an annual bump of $250K (each of next 3 seasons) toward the Assistant coaches pool and that helps certainly - but again the delta between Cal and the majority of schools is much greater than is commonly known.
Thank you for posting the usual laundry list of excuses.
In fact, from an academic perspective, there are a number of very strong public and private universities that have successfully paired their academic prowess with equally strong athletic programs. Anyone who cites academics as a problem for Cal's athletic program is just making excuses.
Aren't you the one claiming to be the realist in a different thread? I'm open to the possibility 4thGen is wrong, but you're post doesn't shed any light on why that might be the case.
Saying there are a number of private and public universities with strong academics and athletics is your first departure from reality. Which ones are currently fielding teams in the top 25 for men's hoops or football? Football is Michigan and arguably Notre Dame. Basketball, where it's easier to field a strong team, it is UCLA, Duke, and maybe Purdue. So out of all the academically oriented public schools, there are 2-3 doing it well.
As a public institution, Cal cannot offer many of the things a private academically oriented school like Furd or Duke offers. And let's face it, how many other academic schools are there that are serious about sports (maybe Vanderbilt and Notre Dame?).
Cal athletes are not coddled and don't attend school at a place where grade inflation ensures the worst grade is a B. Cal athletes simply aren't offered the same benefits as those private schools - exactly the issues 4thgen pointed out. And Cal doesn't offer the same name cache and alumni network either.
What are Cal's peer institutions doing? I think Michigan and UCLA are the model. They are the only academic public school consistently doing well in the major sports (maybe Virginia too in hoops?). They throw big dollars at Football and, more relevantly, make MAJOR accommodations in recruiting to football and men's basketball admissions. Why isn't Cal doing that?
At Cal, it isn't just the academics. It the tough academics, combined with admissions policies that are more difficult than its peer institutions (UCLA and Michigan) and then when the athletes get to Cal, they lack many of the benefits they would have elsewhere.
Those are the things 4thgen is pointing to. They can be overcome - but denying they exist is not being a realist and, more importantly, ensures the issues will not be overcome.
