They were certainly not the issue but over the years, the WR group hasn't been a differentiator for us either. No blocking and no separation. While we had great receivers, they should make the entire team better through their ability to stretch the field and block. The sum must be greater than the parts and I don't feel Toler ever achieved this. Great recruiting for sure.westcoastdude said:
The new WR coach is very good, but the WR group was hardly the issue with this year's team. The WR group played quite well. I just do not like that he went to UCLA of all places.
they weren't 'the' issue (ol & kicking), but they also were very inconsistent in terms of separation, didn't block much, and were constantly injured. the constant injuries probably impacted the 'connection' with mendoza and their route running/ability to separate.westcoastdude said:
The new WR coach is very good, but the WR group was hardly the issue with this year's team. The WR group played quite well. I just do not like that he went to UCLA of all places.
We don't have the luxury of keeping an average coach around just because he's a good recruiter. This wouldn't even be an issue if Toler hadn't played for Cal.southseasbear said:
Couldn't we keep him for his recruiting prowess?
westcoastdude said:
You raise very good points, but do you realize that under Wilcox not a single offensive player has been drafted? So, this isn't just a WR issue, but an overall issue on the offensive side of the team.
Isn't his experience as a Golden Bear an asset that helps his recruiting? And doesn't the staff typically include recruiters?Eastern Oregon Bear said:We don't have the luxury of keeping an average coach around just because he's a good recruiter. This wouldn't even be an issue if Toler hadn't played for Cal.southseasbear said:
Couldn't we keep him for his recruiting prowess?
I love Burl and his family - I went to SI with his Uncles. But moving to UCLA may be the best thing for him - he was stagnating at Cal with the lack of forward progress on the offense. Having a say in the offense may help him move up where he possibly could be a better coordinator than a one on one coach.CALiforniALUM said:
Maybe this is a example of why simply looking at our memories of the past, the players who have served us well, is not always the answer.
Toler was a four-year letter winner as a wide receiver from 2001-04 before going on to play for seven years (2006-12) in the Arena Football League, Italian Football League, NFL and NFL Europoe [They can't even spell Europe correctly on his profile] He has clearly pursued a dream we all want to realize.
This is not a referendum post on a past alumni or a person who we really enjoyed watching during a recent high water mark of Cal football.
But the performance of the recent receiver corps on blocking and being able to separate from the defense was never a defining aspect of Toler's resume while at Cal. There may be more to the situation that this armchair fan can see, but never the less my opinion is based on what I have seen and my own experience on the field. His own Achilles heal may in fact be that he is playing for his Alma mater which changes the expectation a bit. If anything we should be aspiring to hire people who are winners in coaching not winners in football. Toler in my mind was a winner in football, but didn't have a winner presence as a coach. I do think we weren't cr@p @ss bad as a WR corps, but we just didn't see results. It is a team game. All units on the field have to play better than their individuals.
I loved Toler as a player while I was a season ticket holder. I am rather unmoved about him as a coach. Different time, different situation, different need. We shouldn't place our past glory on a high pedestal simply because they made us feel good decades ago. We should always demand more of our brothers as coaches than they were as players. Not all players make good coaches. Football if fickle.
I wish Toler the best because him doing well reflects best on Cal. But it is incredibly insincere to my memory of him as a player to give him a pass as a coach when things just aren't working. I'm happy he went to UCLA, I like UCLA because they defined us for so long. Sometimes you learn through adversity and experience. I think he will find growth.
Oski87 said:I love Burl and his family - I went to SI with his Uncles. But moving to UCLA may be the best thing for him - he was stagnating at Cal with the lack of forward progress on the offense. Having a say in the offense may help him move up where he possibly could be a better coordinator than a one on one coach.CALiforniALUM said:
Maybe this is a example of why simply looking at our memories of the past, the players who have served us well, is not always the answer.
Toler was a four-year letter winner as a wide receiver from 2001-04 before going on to play for seven years (2006-12) in the Arena Football League, Italian Football League, NFL and NFL Europoe [They can't even spell Europe correctly on his profile] He has clearly pursued a dream we all want to realize.
This is not a referendum post on a past alumni or a person who we really enjoyed watching during a recent high water mark of Cal football.
But the performance of the recent receiver corps on blocking and being able to separate from the defense was never a defining aspect of Toler's resume while at Cal. There may be more to the situation that this armchair fan can see, but never the less my opinion is based on what I have seen and my own experience on the field. His own Achilles heal may in fact be that he is playing for his Alma mater which changes the expectation a bit. If anything we should be aspiring to hire people who are winners in coaching not winners in football. Toler in my mind was a winner in football, but didn't have a winner presence as a coach. I do think we weren't cr@p @ss bad as a WR corps, but we just didn't see results. It is a team game. All units on the field have to play better than their individuals.
I loved Toler as a player while I was a season ticket holder. I am rather unmoved about him as a coach. Different time, different situation, different need. We shouldn't place our past glory on a high pedestal simply because they made us feel good decades ago. We should always demand more of our brothers as coaches than they were as players. Not all players make good coaches. Football if fickle.
I wish Toler the best because him doing well reflects best on Cal. But it is incredibly insincere to my memory of him as a player to give him a pass as a coach when things just aren't working. I'm happy he went to UCLA, I like UCLA because they defined us for so long. Sometimes you learn through adversity and experience. I think he will find growth.
That being said, he is one of the better recruiters on the west coast, especially in LA, and he well regarded down there. He will be hard to contend with. When the Athletic did a survey of the high school coaches in Southern California Burl was one of the most consistently named top recruiters by the high school folks. He is a good guy who gets it and is authentic, which is easily seen. Maybe too nice of a guy to be an in your face hard nosed position coach who needs to teach blocking.
Pittstop said:westcoastdude said:
You raise very good points, but do you realize that under Wilcox not a single offensive player has been drafted? So, this isn't just a WR issue, but an overall issue on the offensive side of the team.
Hence, nearly the entire 'offensive' coaching staff - including Toler - has been replaced. It wasn't 'just' Toler.
maybe he can teach THEM how not to bloc k.01Bear said:Oski87 said:I love Burl and his family - I went to SI with his Uncles. But moving to UCLA may be the best thing for him - he was stagnating at Cal with the lack of forward progress on the offense. Having a say in the offense may help him move up where he possibly could be a better coordinator than a one on one coach.CALiforniALUM said:
Maybe this is a example of why simply looking at our memories of the past, the players who have served us well, is not always the answer.
Toler was a four-year letter winner as a wide receiver from 2001-04 before going on to play for seven years (2006-12) in the Arena Football League, Italian Football League, NFL and NFL Europoe [They can't even spell Europe correctly on his profile] He has clearly pursued a dream we all want to realize.
This is not a referendum post on a past alumni or a person who we really enjoyed watching during a recent high water mark of Cal football.
But the performance of the recent receiver corps on blocking and being able to separate from the defense was never a defining aspect of Toler's resume while at Cal. There may be more to the situation that this armchair fan can see, but never the less my opinion is based on what I have seen and my own experience on the field. His own Achilles heal may in fact be that he is playing for his Alma mater which changes the expectation a bit. If anything we should be aspiring to hire people who are winners in coaching not winners in football. Toler in my mind was a winner in football, but didn't have a winner presence as a coach. I do think we weren't cr@p @ss bad as a WR corps, but we just didn't see results. It is a team game. All units on the field have to play better than their individuals.
I loved Toler as a player while I was a season ticket holder. I am rather unmoved about him as a coach. Different time, different situation, different need. We shouldn't place our past glory on a high pedestal simply because they made us feel good decades ago. We should always demand more of our brothers as coaches than they were as players. Not all players make good coaches. Football if fickle.
I wish Toler the best because him doing well reflects best on Cal. But it is incredibly insincere to my memory of him as a player to give him a pass as a coach when things just aren't working. I'm happy he went to UCLA, I like UCLA because they defined us for so long. Sometimes you learn through adversity and experience. I think he will find growth.
That being said, he is one of the better recruiters on the west coast, especially in LA, and he well regarded down there. He will be hard to contend with. When the Athletic did a survey of the high school coaches in Southern California Burl was one of the most consistently named top recruiters by the high school folks. He is a good guy who gets it and is authentic, which is easily seen. Maybe too nice of a guy to be an in your face hard nosed position coach who needs to teach blocking.
He'll probably succeed at UCLA; their offense was baaaaad this year. But more importantly, he'll be able to pull in recruits for UCLA more easily, especially because he's a Cal alumnus. He can explain that he went to Cal because of the family legacy (and I'm sure there's at least a kernel of truth there) but he believes UCLA can be a better place to develop athletes, especially as it will have more money to spend on athletics than Cal (thanks to the Big-1(?) contract with Fox Sports.
I wish Burl the best, except when he's going up against Cal. I'd like to see him succeed (except, again, when he's going up against Cal). He was a great Bear and I hope he'll also be a great Bruin.*
Go Burl and Go Bears!
*That last felt weird to type out.
Rushinbear said:maybe he can teach THEM how not to bloc k.01Bear said:Oski87 said:I love Burl and his family - I went to SI with his Uncles. But moving to UCLA may be the best thing for him - he was stagnating at Cal with the lack of forward progress on the offense. Having a say in the offense may help him move up where he possibly could be a better coordinator than a one on one coach.CALiforniALUM said:
Maybe this is a example of why simply looking at our memories of the past, the players who have served us well, is not always the answer.
Toler was a four-year letter winner as a wide receiver from 2001-04 before going on to play for seven years (2006-12) in the Arena Football League, Italian Football League, NFL and NFL Europoe [They can't even spell Europe correctly on his profile] He has clearly pursued a dream we all want to realize.
This is not a referendum post on a past alumni or a person who we really enjoyed watching during a recent high water mark of Cal football.
But the performance of the recent receiver corps on blocking and being able to separate from the defense was never a defining aspect of Toler's resume while at Cal. There may be more to the situation that this armchair fan can see, but never the less my opinion is based on what I have seen and my own experience on the field. His own Achilles heal may in fact be that he is playing for his Alma mater which changes the expectation a bit. If anything we should be aspiring to hire people who are winners in coaching not winners in football. Toler in my mind was a winner in football, but didn't have a winner presence as a coach. I do think we weren't cr@p @ss bad as a WR corps, but we just didn't see results. It is a team game. All units on the field have to play better than their individuals.
I loved Toler as a player while I was a season ticket holder. I am rather unmoved about him as a coach. Different time, different situation, different need. We shouldn't place our past glory on a high pedestal simply because they made us feel good decades ago. We should always demand more of our brothers as coaches than they were as players. Not all players make good coaches. Football if fickle.
I wish Toler the best because him doing well reflects best on Cal. But it is incredibly insincere to my memory of him as a player to give him a pass as a coach when things just aren't working. I'm happy he went to UCLA, I like UCLA because they defined us for so long. Sometimes you learn through adversity and experience. I think he will find growth.
That being said, he is one of the better recruiters on the west coast, especially in LA, and he well regarded down there. He will be hard to contend with. When the Athletic did a survey of the high school coaches in Southern California Burl was one of the most consistently named top recruiters by the high school folks. He is a good guy who gets it and is authentic, which is easily seen. Maybe too nice of a guy to be an in your face hard nosed position coach who needs to teach blocking.
He'll probably succeed at UCLA; their offense was baaaaad this year. But more importantly, he'll be able to pull in recruits for UCLA more easily, especially because he's a Cal alumnus. He can explain that he went to Cal because of the family legacy (and I'm sure there's at least a kernel of truth there) but he believes UCLA can be a better place to develop athletes, especially as it will have more money to spend on athletics than Cal (thanks to the Big-1(?) contract with Fox Sports.
I wish Burl the best, except when he's going up against Cal. I'd like to see him succeed (except, again, when he's going up against Cal). He was a great Bear and I hope he'll also be a great Bruin.*
Go Burl and Go Bears!
*That last felt weird to type out.
01Bear said:Rushinbear said:maybe he can teach THEM how not to bloc k.01Bear said:Oski87 said:I love Burl and his family - I went to SI with his Uncles. But moving to UCLA may be the best thing for him - he was stagnating at Cal with the lack of forward progress on the offense. Having a say in the offense may help him move up where he possibly could be a better coordinator than a one on one coach.CALiforniALUM said:
Maybe this is a example of why simply looking at our memories of the past, the players who have served us well, is not always the answer.
Toler was a four-year letter winner as a wide receiver from 2001-04 before going on to play for seven years (2006-12) in the Arena Football League, Italian Football League, NFL and NFL Europoe [They can't even spell Europe correctly on his profile] He has clearly pursued a dream we all want to realize.
This is not a referendum post on a past alumni or a person who we really enjoyed watching during a recent high water mark of Cal football.
But the performance of the recent receiver corps on blocking and being able to separate from the defense was never a defining aspect of Toler's resume while at Cal. There may be more to the situation that this armchair fan can see, but never the less my opinion is based on what I have seen and my own experience on the field. His own Achilles heal may in fact be that he is playing for his Alma mater which changes the expectation a bit. If anything we should be aspiring to hire people who are winners in coaching not winners in football. Toler in my mind was a winner in football, but didn't have a winner presence as a coach. I do think we weren't cr@p @ss bad as a WR corps, but we just didn't see results. It is a team game. All units on the field have to play better than their individuals.
I loved Toler as a player while I was a season ticket holder. I am rather unmoved about him as a coach. Different time, different situation, different need. We shouldn't place our past glory on a high pedestal simply because they made us feel good decades ago. We should always demand more of our brothers as coaches than they were as players. Not all players make good coaches. Football if fickle.
I wish Toler the best because him doing well reflects best on Cal. But it is incredibly insincere to my memory of him as a player to give him a pass as a coach when things just aren't working. I'm happy he went to UCLA, I like UCLA because they defined us for so long. Sometimes you learn through adversity and experience. I think he will find growth.
That being said, he is one of the better recruiters on the west coast, especially in LA, and he well regarded down there. He will be hard to contend with. When the Athletic did a survey of the high school coaches in Southern California Burl was one of the most consistently named top recruiters by the high school folks. He is a good guy who gets it and is authentic, which is easily seen. Maybe too nice of a guy to be an in your face hard nosed position coach who needs to teach blocking.
He'll probably succeed at UCLA; their offense was baaaaad this year. But more importantly, he'll be able to pull in recruits for UCLA more easily, especially because he's a Cal alumnus. He can explain that he went to Cal because of the family legacy (and I'm sure there's at least a kernel of truth there) but he believes UCLA can be a better place to develop athletes, especially as it will have more money to spend on athletics than Cal (thanks to the Big-1(?) contract with Fox Sports.
I wish Burl the best, except when he's going up against Cal. I'd like to see him succeed (except, again, when he's going up against Cal). He was a great Bear and I hope he'll also be a great Bruin.*
Go Burl and Go Bears!
*That last felt weird to type out.
To be fair, I'm not sure if the receivers really ran routes where they were supposed to block. I honestly cannot remember any, which isn't to say they didn't exist but rather that I personally do not recall any. Given that Cal ran a RPO-based offense, if a receiver was blocking downfield, he might get called for PI. To that end, I'm not sure if the receivers were told to block, let alone taught to do so.
bearsandgiants said:01Bear said:Rushinbear said:maybe he can teach THEM how not to bloc k.01Bear said:Oski87 said:I love Burl and his family - I went to SI with his Uncles. But moving to UCLA may be the best thing for him - he was stagnating at Cal with the lack of forward progress on the offense. Having a say in the offense may help him move up where he possibly could be a better coordinator than a one on one coach.CALiforniALUM said:
Maybe this is a example of why simply looking at our memories of the past, the players who have served us well, is not always the answer.
Toler was a four-year letter winner as a wide receiver from 2001-04 before going on to play for seven years (2006-12) in the Arena Football League, Italian Football League, NFL and NFL Europoe [They can't even spell Europe correctly on his profile] He has clearly pursued a dream we all want to realize.
This is not a referendum post on a past alumni or a person who we really enjoyed watching during a recent high water mark of Cal football.
But the performance of the recent receiver corps on blocking and being able to separate from the defense was never a defining aspect of Toler's resume while at Cal. There may be more to the situation that this armchair fan can see, but never the less my opinion is based on what I have seen and my own experience on the field. His own Achilles heal may in fact be that he is playing for his Alma mater which changes the expectation a bit. If anything we should be aspiring to hire people who are winners in coaching not winners in football. Toler in my mind was a winner in football, but didn't have a winner presence as a coach. I do think we weren't cr@p @ss bad as a WR corps, but we just didn't see results. It is a team game. All units on the field have to play better than their individuals.
I loved Toler as a player while I was a season ticket holder. I am rather unmoved about him as a coach. Different time, different situation, different need. We shouldn't place our past glory on a high pedestal simply because they made us feel good decades ago. We should always demand more of our brothers as coaches than they were as players. Not all players make good coaches. Football if fickle.
I wish Toler the best because him doing well reflects best on Cal. But it is incredibly insincere to my memory of him as a player to give him a pass as a coach when things just aren't working. I'm happy he went to UCLA, I like UCLA because they defined us for so long. Sometimes you learn through adversity and experience. I think he will find growth.
That being said, he is one of the better recruiters on the west coast, especially in LA, and he well regarded down there. He will be hard to contend with. When the Athletic did a survey of the high school coaches in Southern California Burl was one of the most consistently named top recruiters by the high school folks. He is a good guy who gets it and is authentic, which is easily seen. Maybe too nice of a guy to be an in your face hard nosed position coach who needs to teach blocking.
He'll probably succeed at UCLA; their offense was baaaaad this year. But more importantly, he'll be able to pull in recruits for UCLA more easily, especially because he's a Cal alumnus. He can explain that he went to Cal because of the family legacy (and I'm sure there's at least a kernel of truth there) but he believes UCLA can be a better place to develop athletes, especially as it will have more money to spend on athletics than Cal (thanks to the Big-1(?) contract with Fox Sports.
I wish Burl the best, except when he's going up against Cal. I'd like to see him succeed (except, again, when he's going up against Cal). He was a great Bear and I hope he'll also be a great Bruin.*
Go Burl and Go Bears!
*That last felt weird to type out.
To be fair, I'm not sure if the receivers really ran routes where they were supposed to block. I honestly cannot remember any, which isn't to say they didn't exist but rather that I personally do not recall any. Given that Cal ran a RPO-based offense, if a receiver was blocking downfield, he might get called for PI. To that end, I'm not sure if the receivers were told to block, let alone taught to do so.
Neely every screen pass the non receiving wideouts were supposed to block, and did a terrible job of it.
Pittstop said:westcoastdude said:
You raise very good points, but do you realize that under Wilcox not a single offensive player has been drafted? So, this isn't just a WR issue, but an overall issue on the offensive side of the team.
Hence, nearly the entire 'offensive' coaching staff - including Toler - has been replaced. It wasn't 'just' Toler.
Econ141 said:
How UCLA Joining the Big Ten Has Transformed Its Fan Base https://www.si.com/college/ucla/football/how-ucla-joining-the-big-ten-has-transformed-its-fan-base-01jftp92m8zs
There is no hard data to back up what is in the article. I doubt being in a national conference leads to more fans (it's a college after all). Greater exposure though for sure. Not sure the fanbase is transformed.
How UCLA Joining the Big Ten Has Transformed Its Fan BaseEcon141 said:
How UCLA Joining the Big Ten Has Transformed Its Fan Base https://www.si.com/college/ucla/football/how-ucla-joining-the-big-ten-has-transformed-its-fan-base-01jftp92m8zs
There is no hard data to back up what is in the article. I doubt being in a national conference leads to more fans (it's a college after all). Greater exposure though for sure. Not sure the fanbase is transformed.
