While it seems a lifetime ago, it is important to remember that we are less than two months away from Ron Rivera getting the keys to Cal football. Good stuff has followed.
First, we've all seen the recent positive momentum for our recruiting. Top 10 high school class at the moment; something Cal hasn't achieved in decades. A big factor there of course is our terrific new coaches (shout out to Rolo and Famika in particular) and the tireless work of our amazing recruiting staff, but Ron has definitely been a part of the upswing.
The other major consequence of Ron getting the keys is what has happened with Cal football fundraising. I understand that Cal didn't close a single major gift for the 30 days after he was hired and during which time many of us voiced significant questions and concerns about the stated reporting structure. An amazing example of collective action. But since Ron got the keys the momentum has swung wildly in the other direction, with Cal raising over $6m for football in less than 60 days. And that momentum has only accelerated since Monday with the announcement of Jim Knowlton's retirement and the clarification that literally no one other than Ron, the Chancellor and Justin Wilcox will be guiding our football program going forward. Yesterday in fact was the best day to date with $2m committed IN A SINGLE DAY.
Huge shout out to the Chancellor for getting this done. It may seem to all of us that fully empowering Ron was obviously the correct decision, and certainly these numbers bolster that argument, but there were major issues and bureaucratic hurdles that needed to be cleared. And the Chancellor cleared them while juggling little things like his day job running the University during these tumultuous times.
Cal is still a few million short of its goal just for rev share and I think, based on Ron's guidance, a few million short of the additional resources we'd like to see devoted to football. So still some wood to chop here, but the shift is palpable and all of us should be proud and encouraged by what Cal is accomplishing and the clear unambiguous message our donors are delivering: Commit to winning and we are all in.
Go Bears!
First, we've all seen the recent positive momentum for our recruiting. Top 10 high school class at the moment; something Cal hasn't achieved in decades. A big factor there of course is our terrific new coaches (shout out to Rolo and Famika in particular) and the tireless work of our amazing recruiting staff, but Ron has definitely been a part of the upswing.
The other major consequence of Ron getting the keys is what has happened with Cal football fundraising. I understand that Cal didn't close a single major gift for the 30 days after he was hired and during which time many of us voiced significant questions and concerns about the stated reporting structure. An amazing example of collective action. But since Ron got the keys the momentum has swung wildly in the other direction, with Cal raising over $6m for football in less than 60 days. And that momentum has only accelerated since Monday with the announcement of Jim Knowlton's retirement and the clarification that literally no one other than Ron, the Chancellor and Justin Wilcox will be guiding our football program going forward. Yesterday in fact was the best day to date with $2m committed IN A SINGLE DAY.
Huge shout out to the Chancellor for getting this done. It may seem to all of us that fully empowering Ron was obviously the correct decision, and certainly these numbers bolster that argument, but there were major issues and bureaucratic hurdles that needed to be cleared. And the Chancellor cleared them while juggling little things like his day job running the University during these tumultuous times.
Cal is still a few million short of its goal just for rev share and I think, based on Ron's guidance, a few million short of the additional resources we'd like to see devoted to football. So still some wood to chop here, but the shift is palpable and all of us should be proud and encouraged by what Cal is accomplishing and the clear unambiguous message our donors are delivering: Commit to winning and we are all in.
Go Bears!
