Or is it BS? I can't imagine spending half a billion dollars on a stadium renovation and athletic center only to give priority to the band.

Sonny Dykes is a pretty regular dude, and his meandering career path was forged mostly by curiosity, including, yes, that Cal job. At TCU, he realizes it all worked out for a reason, just like Spike told him. https://t.co/psLn6Q17a8

— Dave Wilson (@dwil) October 14, 2022

The more I learn about the situation, the more I empathize with Dykes. The band having field time over the team is nuts

And the truth is he did clean up the academic situation!

Sonny Dykes, quiet quitting pioneer.

Who knows. I do remember arguing here with someone years ago who said they did essentially the same thing to Riley because they had the field reserved for ultimate frisbee or something. He was trying to get in some extra reps after practice and they claimed they booted him too. So it's possible I guess.

My main takeaway from that article though is the gravitas Cal had even with a guy like Dykes. I expect Kevin Warren and the B1G Presidents have an even deeper appreciation even without a sales pitch DVD. Also LOL at Leach getting Berkeley so wrong. Berkeley and Cal aren't unstructured, they're hyper-structured. What people like him will never get is that the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. Haven't they seen the commercial?

WalterSobchak said:

---

Who knows. I do remember arguing here with someone years ago who said they did essentially the same thing to Riley because they had the field reserved for ultimate frisbee or something. He was trying to get in some extra reps after practice and they claimed they booted him too. So it's possible I guess.

My main takeaway from that article though is the gravitas Cal had even with a guy like Dykes. I expect Kevin Warren and the B1G Presidents have an even deeper appreciation even without a sales pitch DVD. Also LOL at Leach getting Berkeley so wrong. Berkeley and Cal aren't unstructured, they're hyper-structured. What people like him will never get is that the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. Haven't they seen the commercial?

---

This is actually a great takeaway-- if a guy who spent a lot of his life in rural Texas immersed in football and baseball culture can be so implored to move across the country to be a part of Berkeley, we have something good going on here. In spite of what some people say about it being impossible to win here, a winner can be built.

I guess I'd forgotten that the men's basketball team also had a bad APR back then. Was that really the case? I recall that Montgomery had some health issues towards the end of his Cal tenure. Maybe he just didn't have the energy to keep on top of something like player academic progress. Doesn't excuse it, but maybe explains it.

This is such BS revisionist history. Goff committed to Cal in March of 2012. Dykes' first season was 2013. He no more "found" Goff than I "found" the change in the pocket of the pants I wore yesterday.

And if Dykes is such a "structure guy," can't he read a schedule?

Cal has lots of problems figuring out how to do football well. But Dykes is a clown.

eastcoastcal said:

---

WalterSobchak said:

---

Who knows. I do remember arguing here with someone years ago who said they did essentially the same thing to Riley because they had the field reserved for ultimate frisbee or something. He was trying to get in some extra reps after practice and they claimed they booted him too. So it's possible I guess.

My main takeaway from that article though is the gravitas Cal had even with a guy like Dykes. I expect Kevin Warren and the B1G Presidents have an even deeper appreciation even without a sales pitch DVD. Also LOL at Leach getting Berkeley so wrong. Berkeley and Cal aren't unstructured, they're hyper-structured. What people like him will never get is that the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. Haven't they seen the commercial?

---

This is actually a great takeaway-- if a guy who spent a lot of his life in rural Texas immersed in football and baseball culture can be so implored to move across the country to be a part of Berkeley, we have something good going on here. In spite of what some people say about it being impossible to win here, a winner can be built.

---

I believe you've mentioned being a current student, so you may have been too young back then to follow this stuff, but when our AD at the time, Sandy Barbour, hired Dykes, he was one of the hottest names in college football. Tons of media coverage about what he was doing at LA Tech, but he choose Cal. Also, when Barbour hired Cuonzo Martin, he was just coming off a Sweet 16 run and also in high demand. Once Barbour left though, it all went to shambles as the coaches weren't being supported, and we haven't had an administration that seemingly gives a **** about winning since.

There are a lot of sad sacks on this Board that have resigned themselves to believing Cal is this awful place for sports and we're destined to be losers, but I have no doubt we could be successful again in football and basketball if we just had a winner leading the athletics department.

PtownBear1 said:

---

eastcoastcal said:

---

WalterSobchak said:

---

Who knows. I do remember arguing here with someone years ago who said they did essentially the same thing to Riley because they had the field reserved for ultimate frisbee or something. He was trying to get in some extra reps after practice and they claimed they booted him too. So it's possible I guess.

My main takeaway from that article though is the gravitas Cal had even with a guy like Dykes. I expect Kevin Warren and the B1G Presidents have an even deeper appreciation even without a sales pitch DVD. Also LOL at Leach getting Berkeley so wrong. Berkeley and Cal aren't unstructured, they're hyper-structured. What people like him will never get is that the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. Haven't they seen the commercial?

---

This is actually a great takeaway-- if a guy who spent a lot of his life in rural Texas immersed in football and baseball culture can be so implored to move across the country to be a part of Berkeley, we have something good going on here. In spite of what some people say about it being impossible to win here, a winner can be built.

---

I believe you've mentioned being a current student, so you may have been too young back then to follow this stuff, but when our AD at the time, Sandy Barbour, hired Dykes, he was one of the hottest names in college football. Tons of media coverage about what he was doing at LA Tech, but he choose Cal. Also, when Barbour hired Cuonzo Martin, he was just coming off a Sweet 16 run and also in high demand. Once Barbour left though, it all went to shambles as the coaches weren't being supported, and we haven't had an administration that seemingly gives a **** about winning since.

There are a lot of sad sacks on this Board that have resigned themselves to believing Cal is this awful place for sports and we're destined to be losers, but I have no doubt we could be successful again in football and basketball if we just had a winner leading the athletics department.

---

That makes sense, thanks for the context. What strikes me about it is that it happened so recently. I mean this century we peaked at #2 in the polls (Tedford), produced the #1 NFL draft pick (Goff), and just 6 years ago held the 4 seed in the NCAA tournament (Cuonzo).

Maybe Knowlton really is more of the problem than I realize. Thanks again for the perspective

Cal's problem is deeply real estate related. The school just doesn't have enough real estate on which to build adequate practice facilities for intercollegiate athletics or just about anything else.

PtownBear1 said:

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eastcoastcal said:

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WalterSobchak said:

---

Who knows. I do remember arguing here with someone years ago who said they did essentially the same thing to Riley because they had the field reserved for ultimate frisbee or something. He was trying to get in some extra reps after practice and they claimed they booted him too. So it's possible I guess.

My main takeaway from that article though is the gravitas Cal had even with a guy like Dykes. I expect Kevin Warren and the B1G Presidents have an even deeper appreciation even without a sales pitch DVD. Also LOL at Leach getting Berkeley so wrong. Berkeley and Cal aren't unstructured, they're hyper-structured. What people like him will never get is that the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. Haven't they seen the commercial?

---

This is actually a great takeaway-- if a guy who spent a lot of his life in rural Texas immersed in football and baseball culture can be so implored to move across the country to be a part of Berkeley, we have something good going on here. In spite of what some people say about it being impossible to win here, a winner can be built.

---

I believe you've mentioned being a current student, so you may have been too young back then to follow this stuff, but when our AD at the time, Sandy Barbour, hired Dykes, he was one of the hottest names in college football. Tons of media coverage about what he was doing at LA Tech, but he choose Cal. Also, when Barbour hired Cuonzo Martin, he was just coming off a Sweet 16 run and also in high demand. Once Barbour left though, it all went to shambles as the coaches weren't being supported, and we haven't had an administration that seemingly gives a **** about winning since.

There are a lot of sad sacks on this Board that have resigned themselves to believing Cal is this awful place for sports and we're destined to be losers, but I have no doubt we could be successful again in football and basketball if we just had a winner leading the athletics department.

---

While I agree with the gist of your post, I really don't think Dykes was "one of the hottest names in college football". Maybe if you confine that to the subset of "head coaches at mid-major programs", yes. If an opening had come up at a bigger program than Cal's, I don't think he would've been a serious candidate (but going to Cal was one step up for him at that point, kind of like going to an OC position at a "major major" program).

okaydo said:

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Or is it BS? I can't imagine spending half a billion dollars on a stadium renovation and athletic center only to give priority to the band.

Sonny Dykes is a pretty regular dude, and his meandering career path was forged mostly by curiosity, including, yes, that Cal job. At TCU, he realizes it all worked out for a reason, just like Spike told him. https://t.co/psLn6Q17a8

— Dave Wilson (@dwil) October 14, 2022

---

That was probably the one day he and Buh were going to coach defense.

PaulCali said:

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Cal's problem is deeply real estate related. The school just doesn't have enough real estate on which to build adequate practice facilities for intercollegiate athletics or just about anything else.

---

Yes, they do. They just need to spend $$$.

Sonny stepped into a sheet show at Berkeley. I attended 90+ percent of spring and fall practices his first year. (No life, early retiree that I was at the time). I predicted one win, explaining why almost daily, and was banished from the board by the upstanding founder for "excessive negativism". The clowns are the folks who blame Dykes for meh football.

eastcoastcal said:

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That makes sense, thanks for the context. What strikes me about it is that it happened so recently. I mean this century we peaked at #2 in the polls (Tedford), produced the #1 NFL draft pick (Goff), and just 6 years ago held the 4 seed in the NCAA tournament (Cuonzo).

Maybe Knowlton really is more of the problem than I realize. Thanks again for the perspective

---

The Tedford Era was an outlier.
You'd have to go back to 1990 to find another winner.
Bruce Snyder.
R.I.P.

eastcoastcal said:

---

The more I learn about the situation, the more I empathize with Dykes. The band having field time over the team is nuts

And the truth is he did clean up the academic situation!

---

Sonny lost me when he publicly looked for another job. I have never seen another sitting head coach every do that, and it looked like he was taking a big fat turd on the Cal football program's head.

That said, Cal had done a TypiCal and deposed a football smart AD with a nice guy, who knew very little about managing college sports program, no less a football program, by "thinking outside the box" a phrase that has become all to relevant when I hear the names of Larry Scott and George Kliavkoff (who despite a F minus first year could turn out all right). It was a disaster in the making.

PtownBear1 said:

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eastcoastcal said:

---

WalterSobchak said:

---

Who knows. I do remember arguing here with someone years ago who said they did essentially the same thing to Riley because they had the field reserved for ultimate frisbee or something. He was trying to get in some extra reps after practice and they claimed they booted him too. So it's possible I guess.

My main takeaway from that article though is the gravitas Cal had even with a guy like Dykes. I expect Kevin Warren and the B1G Presidents have an even deeper appreciation even without a sales pitch DVD. Also LOL at Leach getting Berkeley so wrong. Berkeley and Cal aren't unstructured, they're hyper-structured. What people like him will never get is that the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. Haven't they seen the commercial?

---

This is actually a great takeaway-- if a guy who spent a lot of his life in rural Texas immersed in football and baseball culture can be so implored to move across the country to be a part of Berkeley, we have something good going on here. In spite of what some people say about it being impossible to win here, a winner can be built.

---

I believe you've mentioned being a current student, so you may have been too young back then to follow this stuff, but when our AD at the time, Sandy Barbour, hired Dykes, he was one of the hottest names in college football. Tons of media coverage about what he was doing at LA Tech, but he choose Cal. Also, when Barbour hired Cuonzo Martin, he was just coming off a Sweet 16 run and also in high demand. Once Barbour left though, it all went to shambles as the coaches weren't being supported, and we haven't had an administration that seemingly gives a **** about winning since.

There are a lot of sad sacks on this Board that have resigned themselves to believing Cal is this awful place for sports and we're destined to be losers, but I have no doubt we could be successful again in football and basketball if we just had a winner leading the athletics department.

---

I don't remember that at all. I do remember some other lesser Power 5 schools being interested. But hottest?

I remember he had a 9-win season and he told Stewart Mandel on his SI podcast 2 months earlier that he'd love to live in the Bay Area.

But it seemed like a guy who wanted to move to the Power 5 and Cal was the best option.

I did a Twitter advanced search of how many times Bruce Feldman tweeted out the word "Dykes" between January and. December 2012. This is what I got. (Note: I didn't screenshot the tweets after he was hired at Cal.)





I did the same search with with Feldman's Twitter account and @sonnydykes.




I did the same with Stewart Mandel's Twitter account.




I did the same search with with Mandel's Twitter account and @sonnydykes.





I did the same search with Kirk Herbstreit's Twitter account.




I did the same search with Herbstreit's Twitter account and @sonnydykes.





I did the same with Rece Davis' Twitter account.




I did the same search with Davis' Twitter account and @sonnydykes.

Bobodeluxe said:

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Sonny stepped into a sheet show at Berkeley. I attended 90+ percent of spring and fall practices his first year. (No life, early retiree that I was at the time). I predicted one win, explaining why almost daily, and was banished from the board by the upstanding founder for "excessive negativism". The clowns are the folks who blame Dykes for meh football.

---

I was living in downtown Berkeley and attended all the practices too. Things that I was saying at the time that were not popular on this board in 2012: 1) Maynard is our best QB, much better than Bridgford or Hinder and even better than Kline and in 2013: 1) We have almost no DBs and that could be a disaster. 2) Goff is better than Kline or Hinder and should start, not redshirt.

I lost it at sandy getting fired. Wasn't the story that she was hired away? Then we got the worst ad in history.

socaltownie said:

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I lost it at sandy getting fired. Wasn't the story that she was hired away? Then we got the worst ad in history.

---

She was ousted June 26, 2014, but given a UC Berkeley Extension class to teach.

Her last day was July 15, 2014.

https://www.sfgate.com/collegesports/article/Cal-s-Sandy-Barbour-out-as-athletic-director-5583544.php


On July 26, 2014, she was hired as Penn State AD.


https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/11267305/penn-state-nittany-lions-hiring-sandy-barbour-athletic-director

socaltownie said:

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I lost it at sandy getting fired. Wasn't the story that she was hired away? Then we got the worst ad in history.

---

Because he fired Dykes and hired Wilcox?

No, the worst AD in history is Bockrath, though Knowlton has 8 years to take the title and is well on his way.

PtownBear1 said:

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eastcoastcal said:

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WalterSobchak said:

---

Who knows. I do remember arguing here with someone years ago who said they did essentially the same thing to Riley because they had the field reserved for ultimate frisbee or something. He was trying to get in some extra reps after practice and they claimed they booted him too. So it's possible I guess.

My main takeaway from that article though is the gravitas Cal had even with a guy like Dykes. I expect Kevin Warren and the B1G Presidents have an even deeper appreciation even without a sales pitch DVD. Also LOL at Leach getting Berkeley so wrong. Berkeley and Cal aren't unstructured, they're hyper-structured. What people like him will never get is that the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. Haven't they seen the commercial?

---

This is actually a great takeaway-- if a guy who spent a lot of his life in rural Texas immersed in football and baseball culture can be so implored to move across the country to be a part of Berkeley, we have something good going on here. In spite of what some people say about it being impossible to win here, a winner can be built.

---

I believe you've mentioned being a current student, so you may have been too young back then to follow this stuff, but when our AD at the time, Sandy Barbour, hired Dykes, he was one of the hottest names in college football. Tons of media coverage about what he was doing at LA Tech, but he choose Cal. Also, when Barbour hired Cuonzo Martin, he was just coming off a Sweet 16 run and also in high demand. Once Barbour left though, it all went to shambles as the coaches weren't being supported, and we haven't had an administration that seemingly gives a **** about winning since.

There are a lot of sad sacks on this Board that have resigned themselves to believing Cal is this awful place for sports and we're destined to be losers, but I have no doubt we could be successful again in football and basketball if we just had a winner leading the athletics department.

---

Even if true, adn I don't believe it is, none of that matters. Sonny is a Techsus guy through and through, and was only using Cal as a steppingstone to a P5 job. He would never have stayed. He was a bad hire. Period. (And I said that back when he was first hired.)

calumnus said:

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socaltownie said:

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I lost it at sandy getting fired. Wasn't the story that she was hired away? Then we got the worst ad in history.

---

Because he fired Dykes and hired Wilcox?

No, the worst AD in history is Bockrath, though Knowlton has 8 years to take the title and is well on his way.

---

you sure he doesn't have it yet?

okaydo said:

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PtownBear1 said:

---

eastcoastcal said:

---

WalterSobchak said:

---

Who knows. I do remember arguing here with someone years ago who said they did essentially the same thing to Riley because they had the field reserved for ultimate frisbee or something. He was trying to get in some extra reps after practice and they claimed they booted him too. So it's possible I guess.

My main takeaway from that article though is the gravitas Cal had even with a guy like Dykes. I expect Kevin Warren and the B1G Presidents have an even deeper appreciation even without a sales pitch DVD. Also LOL at Leach getting Berkeley so wrong. Berkeley and Cal aren't unstructured, they're hyper-structured. What people like him will never get is that the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. Haven't they seen the commercial?

---

This is actually a great takeaway-- if a guy who spent a lot of his life in rural Texas immersed in football and baseball culture can be so implored to move across the country to be a part of Berkeley, we have something good going on here. In spite of what some people say about it being impossible to win here, a winner can be built.

---

I believe you've mentioned being a current student, so you may have been too young back then to follow this stuff, but when our AD at the time, Sandy Barbour, hired Dykes, he was one of the hottest names in college football. Tons of media coverage about what he was doing at LA Tech, but he choose Cal. Also, when Barbour hired Cuonzo Martin, he was just coming off a Sweet 16 run and also in high demand. Once Barbour left though, it all went to shambles as the coaches weren't being supported, and we haven't had an administration that seemingly gives a **** about winning since.

There are a lot of sad sacks on this Board that have resigned themselves to believing Cal is this awful place for sports and we're destined to be losers, but I have no doubt we could be successful again in football and basketball if we just had a winner leading the athletics department.

---

I don't remember that at all. I do remember some other lesser Power 5 schools being interested. But hottest?

I remember he had a 9-win season and he told Stewart Mandel on his SI podcast 2 months earlier that he'd love to live in the Bay Area.

But it seemed like a guy who wanted to move to the Power 5 and Cal was the best option.

I did a Twitter advanced search of how many times Bruce Feldman tweeted out the word "Dykes" between January and. December 2012. This is what I got. (Note: I didn't screenshot the tweets after he was hired at Cal.)





I did the same search with with Feldman's Twitter account and @sonnydykes.




I did the same with Stewart Mandel's Twitter account.




I did the same search with with Mandel's Twitter account and @sonnydykes.





I did the same search with Kirk Herbstreit's Twitter account.




I did the same search with Herbstreit's Twitter account and @sonnydykes.





I did the same with Rece Davis' Twitter account.




I did the same search with Davis' Twitter account and @sonnydykes.

---

Well just based on what you dug up, he was at least tied to Purdue, UK, and TT. I recall there being others though (wasn't CU deciding between him and Mac before Cal hired Dykes?).

Even if my use of "hottest" was hyperbole, he was actually someone in demand, rather than a lifetime assistant who was hired because he could be brought in at a low salary or some washed up retread no one was interested in.

All this article does is make both Dykes and Leach look like morons. "this plus this equals this?" "Structure guy" And he can't figure out the field schedule for his team? And Berkeley isn't a "this plus this equals this" kind of place? Leach should stick to his halloween candy schtick. It's funny. These comments of his are just stupid.

Anyone who fails here always has a freaking excuse. How about some introspection. You just sucked.

Identify someone who hasn't failed here at Cal? You Dykes haters always find something to disparage Him about. You guys seem to be jealous as to anyone's success after leaving Cal. How many Rose Bowls have the Bears been to since 1960? Your 'He's our Man' Coaches have been doing well haven't they? You folks are the ones wearing the Clown outfits. As for the Andy Buh joke makers, He seems to be doing fine at Illinois and He was good at Stanford. We need mote and better fans and not ones like You cynics

HearstMining said:

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I guess I'd forgotten that the men's basketball team also had a bad APR back then. Was that really the case? I recall that Montgomery had some health issues towards the end of his Cal tenure. Maybe he just didn't have the energy to keep on top of something like player academic progress. Doesn't excuse it, but maybe explains it.

---

The attention to detail is key when it comes to being a LEADER.
It starts at the TOP.

Story about the seems very plausible given the state of the athletic department around 2013. Anyone recall the Ryan Gorcey story re: Field hockey and Maxwell Field costing us million of dollars and getting Cal in in title is jail with the feds? Well it all happens because Rugby was granted exclusive use of Witter in exchange for ~$150k per year donations to help with funding previously cut sports. Football moved to Maxwell which required different (ie normal football) turf that wasn't Ok for field hockey. No one in the AD bothered to even find an appropriate home for field hockey (despite the fact Sandy played field hockey in college and should have known the field requirements). Field hockey ends up bussing to Furd (and I think practiced on top of he Hearst parking garage), so they sue for being treated like second class athletes. AD agreed to spend 6-8 million for the Underhill field. So Cal lost huge $$$ shuffling teams to new fields.

Anyway, the band had practices on Maxwell too, so when Dykes arrived, this could have been the when he space issues were fully coming to head. Seems attention to detail was something lacking in the athletic department - they could have at least sat down and figured out a schedule for Maxwell. Or maybe Dykes didn't pay attention? Who knows… definitely a major space issue on campus.

This was all a part of issues between Wilton and Barbour - not sure either were in the right, but Wilton sure had some zingers in there re Barbour and was likely part of pushing her out. Of course, Wilton signed off on the stadium financing (and the Witter field agreement).

PtownBear1 said:

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eastcoastcal said:

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WalterSobchak said:

---

Who knows. I do remember arguing here with someone years ago who said they did essentially the same thing to Riley because they had the field reserved for ultimate frisbee or something. He was trying to get in some extra reps after practice and they claimed they booted him too. So it's possible I guess.

My main takeaway from that article though is the gravitas Cal had even with a guy like Dykes. I expect Kevin Warren and the B1G Presidents have an even deeper appreciation even without a sales pitch DVD. Also LOL at Leach getting Berkeley so wrong. Berkeley and Cal aren't unstructured, they're hyper-structured. What people like him will never get is that the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. Haven't they seen the commercial?

---

This is actually a great takeaway-- if a guy who spent a lot of his life in rural Texas immersed in football and baseball culture can be so implored to move across the country to be a part of Berkeley, we have something good going on here. In spite of what some people say about it being impossible to win here, a winner can be built.

---

I believe you've mentioned being a current student, so you may have been too young back then to follow this stuff, but when our AD at the time, Sandy Barbour, hired Dykes, he was one of the hottest names in college football. Tons of media coverage about what he was doing at LA Tech, but he choose Cal. Also, when Barbour hired Cuonzo Martin, he was just coming off a Sweet 16 run and also in high demand. Once Barbour left though, it all went to shambles as the coaches weren't being supported, and we haven't had an administration that seemingly gives a **** about winning since.

There are a lot of sad sacks on this Board that have resigned themselves to believing Cal is this awful place for sports and we're destined to be losers, but I have no doubt we could be successful again in football and basketball if we just had a winner leading the athletics department.

---

LOL! Sonny was the 7th coach interviewed. Sandy didn't know what she was doing. It took her OVER a month to make the hire! By the time we got to Sonny, all other candidates had moved on or taken themselves out of the process.
By then, yes, Sonny was the biggest name. But she couldn't get it done with Peterson or any of the other much more qualified candidates. Because of Sonny's style of offense, he was never able to recruit enough depth on defense to make it work. TCU doesn't have the restrictions we do!

eastcoastcal said:

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The more I learn about the situation, the more I empathize with Dykes. The band having field time over the team is nuts

And the truth is he did clean up the academic situation!

---

Dykes was a disaster, full stop. We set school, conference and NCAA records of ineptitude under his tenure. An assistant coach was arrested soliciting a prostitute while another incited locker room violence during his regime. Most heinous of all a young man lost his life in his program. He gets zero sympathy.

As for improving the academics, what a joke. We had academic issues because Tedford lost control of the program (should have been fired sooner, see a trend?). Dykes merely did what the vast majority of coaches do, started paying attention. Any new coach we hired would have "clean(ed) up the academic situation."

socaltownie said:

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Then we got the worst ad in history.

---

Bob Bockrath has entered the chat...

bledblue said:

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PtownBear1 said:

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eastcoastcal said:

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WalterSobchak said:

---

Who knows. I do remember arguing here with someone years ago who said they did essentially the same thing to Riley because they had the field reserved for ultimate frisbee or something. He was trying to get in some extra reps after practice and they claimed they booted him too. So it's possible I guess.

My main takeaway from that article though is the gravitas Cal had even with a guy like Dykes. I expect Kevin Warren and the B1G Presidents have an even deeper appreciation even without a sales pitch DVD. Also LOL at Leach getting Berkeley so wrong. Berkeley and Cal aren't unstructured, they're hyper-structured. What people like him will never get is that the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. Haven't they seen the commercial?

---

This is actually a great takeaway-- if a guy who spent a lot of his life in rural Texas immersed in football and baseball culture can be so implored to move across the country to be a part of Berkeley, we have something good going on here. In spite of what some people say about it being impossible to win here, a winner can be built.

---

I believe you've mentioned being a current student, so you may have been too young back then to follow this stuff, but when our AD at the time, Sandy Barbour, hired Dykes, he was one of the hottest names in college football. Tons of media coverage about what he was doing at LA Tech, but he choose Cal. Also, when Barbour hired Cuonzo Martin, he was just coming off a Sweet 16 run and also in high demand. Once Barbour left though, it all went to shambles as the coaches weren't being supported, and we haven't had an administration that seemingly gives a **** about winning since.

There are a lot of sad sacks on this Board that have resigned themselves to believing Cal is this awful place for sports and we're destined to be losers, but I have no doubt we could be successful again in football and basketball if we just had a winner leading the athletics department.

---

LOL! Sonny was the 7th coach interviewed. Sandy didn't know what she was doing. It took her OVER a month to make the hire! By the time we got to Sonny, all other candidates had moved on or taken themselves out of the process.
By then, yes, Sonny was the biggest name. But she couldn't get it done with Peterson or any of the other much more qualified candidates. Because of Sonny's style of offense, he was never able to recruit enough depth on defense to make it work. TCU doesn't have the restrictions we do!

---

The comment about 7th coach interviewed is not accurate. And the candidates moved on are the same NFLL coach alum discussed today, who is too highly sought after to leave the NFL, and a guy who got an offer and had his family so no, after he tentatively said yes. And as history shows, that guy would have been great (and changed the program), but not stayed, and we likely end-up with the same coaching now. Lot of irony to such an incorrect, made-up post.

You mean did Sonny's gut get bigger? Yes.

There was a pregame at Sproul where the band couldnt play on the steps because some dance group had taken it over.


Does anyone else remember that? It took me ~5 years and two kids to go back and watch the band again. Its like finding out a football game against USC has been moved because some guys were playing catch on the field.

LunchTime said:

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There was a pregame at Sproul where the band couldnt play on the steps because some dance group had taken it over.


Does anyone else remember that? It took me ~5 years and two kids to go back and watch the band again. Its like finding out a football game against USC has been moved because some guys were playing catch on the field.

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Given that the band certainly outnumber the dance group, they should have just exerted themselves and taken over the steps, forcing the dance group off. Clearly we have too many betas on the band...need more alphas.