Jaydn Ott on the difference between OU and Cal
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Last: 2 days ago by bearsandgiants
This is an example of the kind of culture/perception that the new Cal football leadership needs to change. Not gonna be easy.
sycasey said:
This is an example of the kind of culture/perception that the new Cal football leadership needs to change. Not gonna be easy.
They don't need to change perception. They need to change reality. Ott isn't an outsider judging by outside reports.
For football players at Cal, football is the most important thing, but it's part of a whole. At Oklahoma, football is the ONLY thing. I can accept that because that's been Cal's sports culture as long as I can remember - juggling academics with athletics. So the challenge is to recruit and coach players who can excel in that environment. The lousy results over the last fifteen years speak for themselves.
I thought Ott's comment was careful, focused on the players and not the coaching staff. In particular, he did not dump on the school. What the comment does indicate is that Cal's football staff just doesn't hold some players accountable, whether for meeting attendance, physical training, or whatever.
BearlyCareAnymore said:sycasey said:
This is an example of the kind of culture/perception that the new Cal football leadership needs to change. Not gonna be easy.
They don't need to change perception. They need to change reality. Ott isn't an outsider judging by outside reports.
The outside perception is being generated by how people like him talk about the program.
HearstMining said:
For football players at Cal, football is the most important thing, but it's part of a whole. At Oklahoma, football is the ONLY thing. I can accept that because that's been Cal's sports culture as long as I can remember - juggling academics with athletics. So the challenge is to recruit and coach players who can excel in that environment. The lousy results over the last fifteen years speak for themselves.
I thought Ott's comment was careful, focused on the players and not the coaching staff. In particular, he did not dump on the school. What the comment does indicate is that Cal's football staff just doesn't hold some players accountable, whether for meeting attendance, physical training, or whatever.
Yes - I personally moved him to different housing as at the time, He had a much different focus for football prep than his room mates. He was unique in his laser focus approach to be the best He could be. He got along with His teammates, it's just that He was more disciplined on and off the field. Flip side what was incredibly disappointing to several of us, who truly looked out for him/coached him/mentored him/put excellent NIL package etc was his impulsive nature to break his word - when deals had been re structured etc. Complex situation around his leaving - both sides had legitimate beefs. But an extremely good offer (better than OU offered) was agreed to with Cal, only to be broken literally w/in a few days. Ott did get his degree - impressive. And several factors nagged him including the medical staff misdiagnosis of a high ankle grade 3 sprain (came back too early), AT essentially not being retained (not fired but offered unacceptable terms) and then his frustration with promises of an improved Oline over the past couple of seasons that did not materialize.
Bottom line - it's in the rear view mirror- it's all about the current Cal football team/players/coaches/staff and the focus, to kick butt and excel this season. Best of luck to Ott and may He do well and get drafted high.
I would venture to say that the college football player experience at Cal is widely different from a football school like Oklahoma or $C. At those schools, the entire campus including faculty and administration are totally supportive of the football program and it is a major identity of the schools. At Cal, not so much. Also add on the academic demands on the players at Cal.
sycasey said:BearlyCareAnymore said:sycasey said:
This is an example of the kind of culture/perception that the new Cal football leadership needs to change. Not gonna be easy.
They don't need to change perception. They need to change reality. Ott isn't an outsider judging by outside reports.
The outside perception is being generated by how people like him talk about the program.
I understand that, sycasey, but the call is coming from inside the house. A perception problem implies that the problem is that Cal is one thing but people are perceiving it as another, worse thing. I don't see that as the case. For the most part, the perceptions that dog the program, the way people like him talk about the program are ACCURATE. That is why I'm saying it is a reality problem, not a perception problem. Yeah, theoretically if you want people to believe the sky is purple, you have a perception problem in that you aren't fooling their eyes into denying reality. But if you can solve that, it wouldn't last long. Reality comes out. The only way for Cal to solve the perception problem is to solve the reality problem.
BearlyCareAnymore said:sycasey said:BearlyCareAnymore said:sycasey said:
This is an example of the kind of culture/perception that the new Cal football leadership needs to change. Not gonna be easy.
They don't need to change perception. They need to change reality. Ott isn't an outsider judging by outside reports.
The outside perception is being generated by how people like him talk about the program.
I understand that, sycasey, but the call is coming from inside the house. A perception problem implies that the problem is that Cal is one thing but people are perceiving it as another, worse thing. I don't see that as the case. For the most part, the perceptions that dog the program, the way people like him talk about the program are ACCURATE. That is why I'm saying it is a reality problem, not a perception problem. Yeah, theoretically if you want people to believe the sky is purple, you have a perception problem in that you aren't fooling their eyes into denying reality. But if you can solve that, it wouldn't last long. Reality comes out. The only way for Cal to solve the perception problem is to solve the reality problem.
I don't really disagree.
I think this reflects very poorly on Ott. Making this video does NOTHING for him. In fact, I feel it denigrates his "brand." Any other program or future NFL organization may hesitate to bring on someone like him if he's going to be a future problem with "sour grapes." Plus, if he is indeed injury-prone, he's gonna need every positive attribute he can find. Criticizing his previous team doesn't do this. It's a bad look and unprofessional. Yes, he's young, but this supports the assertion that he's impulsive. Not a good look for him.
"I don't know how to put it nicely. The biggest difference is these guys care," Ott said. "Not saying that my former teammates at Cal don't care, but there's levels and it shows in the way that guys treat their craft and how often they're taking care of things outside the facility in order to be good within it."
It's professional football. RINSE. REPEAT.
HearstMining said:
For football players at Cal, football is the most important thing, but it's part of a whole. At Oklahoma, football is the ONLY thing. I can accept that because that's been Cal's sports culture as long as I can remember - juggling academics with athletics. So the challenge is to recruit and coach players who can excel in that environment. The lousy results over the last fifteen years speak for themselves.
I thought Ott's comment was careful, focused on the players and not the coaching staff. In particular, he did not dump on the school. What the comment does indicate is that Cal's football staff just doesn't hold some players accountable, whether for meeting attendance, physical training, or whatever.
I talked to a guy who was on the 2013 team who later played in the NFL. He was not surprised by 1-11 or 3-9 the year before because the overarching team culture was dudes who liked being football players more than they liked playing football. Too many guys half-assed or skipped reps, made excuses to not practice, partied hard and showed up to workouts/practice hungover or coming down, etc.
It's disappointing to me that we haven't created a program culture of accountability and drive in both athletics and academics. There are 3 star recruits that give 5 star effort and outplay their initial rankings.
JeffCalFan said:
"I don't know how to put it nicely. The biggest difference is these guys care," Ott said. "Not saying that my former teammates at Cal don't care, but there's levels and it shows in the way that guys treat their craft and how often they're taking care of things outside the facility in order to be good within it."
He did put it nicely
JeffCalFan said:
"I don't know how to put it nicely. The biggest difference is these guys care," Ott said. "Not saying that my former teammates at Cal don't care, but there's levels and it shows in the way that guys treat their craft and how often they're taking care of things outside the facility in order to be good within it."
To try to find silver linings in this quote, with all the roster turnover in the Spring, maybe most/all of the guys that didn't care as much left the program. Because I gotta think that Ott would be referring to players that got regular playing time or that he'd interact with which would probably be most of the starting offense (which we lost).
What he says may not be indicative of the roster going forward.
concernedparent said:HearstMining said:
For football players at Cal, football is the most important thing, but it's part of a whole. At Oklahoma, football is the ONLY thing. I can accept that because that's been Cal's sports culture as long as I can remember - juggling academics with athletics. So the challenge is to recruit and coach players who can excel in that environment. The lousy results over the last fifteen years speak for themselves.
I thought Ott's comment was careful, focused on the players and not the coaching staff. In particular, he did not dump on the school. What the comment does indicate is that Cal's football staff just doesn't hold some players accountable, whether for meeting attendance, physical training, or whatever.
I talked to a guy who was on the 2013 team who later played in the NFL. He was not surprised by 1-11 or 3-9 the year before because the overarching team culture was dudes who liked being football players more than they liked playing football. Too many guys half-assed or skipped reps, made excuses to not practice, partied hard and showed up to workouts/practice hungover or coming down, etc.
It's disappointing to me that we haven't created a program culture of accountability and drive in both athletics and academics. There are 3 star recruits that give 5 star effort and outplay their initial rankings.
That actually lines up with what seemed to be the case for the end of Tedford's tenure with the drastically slipping APR and everything. They clearly weren't just slacking on the field, but also academically. It also lines up with the end of the Tosh recruiting era where we got higher-rated recruits but had several disappointments academically & from a character perspective. Although it was exciting as fan following recruiting, in hindsight, that strategy may not have been the best for Tedford. His best years were carried by good scouting to find the underrated 2 & 3-stars that worked hard and over-performed rather than a roster of 5 stars.
TandemBear said:
I think this reflects very poorly on Ott. Making this video does NOTHING for him. In fact, I feel it denigrates his "brand." Any other program or future NFL organization may hesitate to bring on someone like him if he's going to be a future problem with "sour grapes." Plus, if he is indeed injury-prone, he's gonna need every positive attribute he can find. Criticizing his previous team doesn't do this. It's a bad look and unprofessional. Yes, he's young, but this supports the assertion that he's impulsive. Not a good look for him.
Disagree. We need more honest, blunt, specific testimonials like this if we ever hope to be a decent football program, period. Otherwise its just excuse making, recruiting, NIL, portal, Coach(es), stadium turf, the list I've read on here is long.
Seems like if you compare a team where the starting 11 might have 5-7 players who might be NFL quality players they very might take their college days more seriously than players who are not likely to play past college but also have the Ace in the hole of graduating from a top academic school, like Cal.
Ott's insight may simply be reflecting the differences in quality, recruiting, and team depth at every position between a blue blood and a perineal losing team. Ott came here for the money and potential to be the face of a team - it didn't work out. Now he is being paid but is just another face among many.
Ott's insight may simply be reflecting the differences in quality, recruiting, and team depth at every position between a blue blood and a perineal losing team. Ott came here for the money and potential to be the face of a team - it didn't work out. Now he is being paid but is just another face among many.
CALiforniALUM said:
Seems like if you compare a team where the starting 11 might have 5-7 players who might be NFL quality players they very might take their college days more seriously than players who are not likely to play past college but also have the Ace in the hole of graduating from a top academic school, like Cal.
Ott's insight may simply be reflecting the differences in quality, recruiting, and team depth at every position between a blue blood and a perineal losing team. Ott came here for the money and potential to be the face of a team - it didn't work out. Now he is being paid but is just another face among many.
I can be critical of Cal, but calling us a "perineal losing team" seems overly harsh.
Wonder what he usually writes about on his phone so that perennial autocorrects to perineal.
StillNoStanfurdium said:JeffCalFan said:
"I don't know how to put it nicely. The biggest difference is these guys care," Ott said. "Not saying that my former teammates at Cal don't care, but there's levels and it shows in the way that guys treat their craft and how often they're taking care of things outside the facility in order to be good within it."
To try to find silver linings in this quote, with all the roster turnover in the Spring, maybe most/all of the guys that didn't care as much left the program. Because I gotta think that Ott would be referring to players that got regular playing time or that he'd interact with which would probably be most of the starting offense (which we lost).
What he says may not be indicative of the roster going forward.
It is clearly the opposite.
We lost 4, 4 star transfers: Mendoza to Indiana, Ott to Oklahoma, Hunter to Nebraska and Endries to Texas. I'd say we lost the guys that were deemed to be good by the experts and wanted to go to bigger football programs where the players really focus on football, trying to get to the NFL.
Other than DBs, Wilcox does not have a track record of developing players for the NFL, so the Cal degree has to be a priority for smart players that used football to get them into and pay for one the two top academic schools that play D1 football. Those are the players that stay. When we again have a coach that recruits top players, competes for championships and gets those players to the NFL, then the culture will change.
Facts are facts - since 2009 Cal has never had a winning conference record. (UCLA has had 6 years of a winning conference record, as a comparison.) If the alumni accept mediocrity, the admin accepts it and hires mediocre coaches and does not hold them accountable. Such coaches don't attract the right players, coach, train and motivate them, and don't develop game plans that win consistently. So maybe the players that are here sense the absence of a culture of excellence from the top down and don't give it 100%. If Ott is saying "there's a problem in the Cal program culture" (to paraphrase) - maybe he's right. Maybe the issue is what the Cal community has been willing to accept….This is why program leadership matters. Ron and Rich Lyons can set the tone for a new future for Cal football. Fingers crossed.
JeffMcd said:
Facts are facts - since 2009 Cal has never had a winning conference record. (UCLA has had 6 years of a winning conference record, as a comparison.) If the alumni accept mediocrity, the admin accepts it and hires mediocre coaches and does not hold them accountable. Such coaches don't attract the right players, coach, train and motivate them, and don't develop game plans that win consistently. So maybe the players that are here sense the absence of a culture of excellence from the top down and don't give it 100%. If Ott is saying "there's a problem in the Cal program culture" (to paraphrase) - maybe he's right. Maybe the issue is what the Cal community has been willing to accept….This is why program leadership matters. Ron and Rich Lyons can set the tone for a new future for Cal football. Fingers crossed.
So far, the marketing aspect of things continues to be a disaster, with the Calgorithm doing almost 100% of the work this year, and some help from Bear Insider doing billboards last year. An undeniable embarrassment with almost no changes to note. Zero effort, again. This is a deeply unserious program until that changes. The wins will bring fans to the stadium, but there's nothing else, at all, drumming up excitement for this new brand of football, with doesn't even have an identity. I think it's blue collar. I want it to be. But nobody's saying that. Nobody's saying anything.
"Blue Collar Football" would be a great marketing slogan for Oklahoma, in 1970.
Bobodeluxe said:
"Blue Collar Football" would be a great marketing slogan for Oklahoma, in 1970.
The other angle is, winning programs don't need to "market" themselves per se, does Alabama, Ohio State, or even Boise State need to do anything to put butts in the seats? Nah they win games and until we do that, why would fans show up just to get kicked in the nuts like the Miami game last year?
BearlyCareAnymore said:CALiforniALUM said:
Seems like if you compare a team where the starting 11 might have 5-7 players who might be NFL quality players they very might take their college days more seriously than players who are not likely to play past college but also have the Ace in the hole of graduating from a top academic school, like Cal.
Ott's insight may simply be reflecting the differences in quality, recruiting, and team depth at every position between a blue blood and a perineal losing team. Ott came here for the money and potential to be the face of a team - it didn't work out. Now he is being paid but is just another face among many.
I can be critical of Cal, but calling us a "perineal losing team" seems overly harsh.
LOL
Strykur said:Bobodeluxe said:
"Blue Collar Football" would be a great marketing slogan for Oklahoma, in 1970.
The other angle is, winning programs don't need to "market" themselves per se, does Alabama, Ohio State, or even Boise State need to do anything to put butts in the seats? Nah they win games and until we do that, why would fans show up just to get kicked in the nuts like the Miami game last year?
It starts with winning and that always comes down to coaching. You either need a coach that is new and charismatic, and with his staff recruits well (Prime) who can use that talent to win or a coach that has innovative schemes that allow him to win above the talent level and then that winning and excitement attracts talent to win at an even higher level (think Tedford's initial trajectory). Momentum is critical.
What we have been trying to do with Wilcox, win without recruiting well with a nice, good looking but uncharismatic coach employing vanilla schemes with a well established record of finishing at the bottom of the conference every year hoping this year will produce a different result…. It is almost always a school that employs a beloved alum, or a coach that has great initial success (Tedford) or a school that has convinced themselves that winning is not possible there and just doesn't care about winning that much.
4thGenCal said:HearstMining said:
For football players at Cal, football is the most important thing, but it's part of a whole. At Oklahoma, football is the ONLY thing. I can accept that because that's been Cal's sports culture as long as I can remember - juggling academics with athletics. So the challenge is to recruit and coach players who can excel in that environment. The lousy results over the last fifteen years speak for themselves.
I thought Ott's comment was careful, focused on the players and not the coaching staff. In particular, he did not dump on the school. What the comment does indicate is that Cal's football staff just doesn't hold some players accountable, whether for meeting attendance, physical training, or whatever.
Yes - I personally moved him to different housing as at the time, He had a much different focus for football prep than his room mates. He was unique in his laser focus approach to be the best He could be. He got along with His teammates, it's just that He was more disciplined on and off the field. Flip side what was incredibly disappointing to several of us, who truly looked out for him/coached him/mentored him/put excellent NIL package etc was his impulsive nature to break his word - when deals had been re structured etc. Complex situation around his leaving - both sides had legitimate beefs. But an extremely good offer (better than OU offered) was agreed to with Cal, only to be broken literally w/in a few days. Ott did get his degree - impressive. And several factors nagged him including the medical staff misdiagnosis of a high ankle grade 3 sprain (came back too early), AT essentially not being retained (not fired but offered unacceptable terms) and then his frustration with promises of an improved Oline over the past couple of seasons that did not materialize.
Bottom line - it's in the rear view mirror- it's all about the current Cal football team/players/coaches/staff and the focus, to kick butt and excel this season. Best of luck to Ott and may He do well and get drafted high.
i see from what has been said about Ott that there were at least two points of friction.
1. Ott's lazer focus on football. and his dissatisfaction with other players for whom this was not true. To me this has usually not been the situation with so many Cal players since at Cal the student athlete must be BOTH a student and an athlete. Of course at Oklahoma the reverse is true. So of course Ott would find the atmosphere would be more inviting to him at Oklahoma that it would at Cal.
2. i was very troubled by the comments that Ott was perceived as having an impulsive nature to break his word 'AFTER' an extremely good offer (better than OU offer) was 'agreed to' with Cal.
Many young kids are impulsive. I would guess that many young athletes might be impulsive. But a young kid (in his early 20's?) who will be involved in many contract negotiations in football and outside football must learn that being impulsive and after agreeing to an extremely good (better than OU offered) can come back to haunt him. [Nothing was said about whether other parties - parents, agents, etc.- were involved in the discussions.]
GivemTheAxe said:4thGenCal said:HearstMining said:
For football players at Cal, football is the most important thing, but it's part of a whole. At Oklahoma, football is the ONLY thing. I can accept that because that's been Cal's sports culture as long as I can remember - juggling academics with athletics. So the challenge is to recruit and coach players who can excel in that environment. The lousy results over the last fifteen years speak for themselves.
I thought Ott's comment was careful, focused on the players and not the coaching staff. In particular, he did not dump on the school. What the comment does indicate is that Cal's football staff just doesn't hold some players accountable, whether for meeting attendance, physical training, or whatever.
Yes - I personally moved him to different housing as at the time, He had a much different focus for football prep than his room mates. He was unique in his laser focus approach to be the best He could be. He got along with His teammates, it's just that He was more disciplined on and off the field. Flip side what was incredibly disappointing to several of us, who truly looked out for him/coached him/mentored him/put excellent NIL package etc was his impulsive nature to break his word - when deals had been re structured etc. Complex situation around his leaving - both sides had legitimate beefs. But an extremely good offer (better than OU offered) was agreed to with Cal, only to be broken literally w/in a few days. Ott did get his degree - impressive. And several factors nagged him including the medical staff misdiagnosis of a high ankle grade 3 sprain (came back too early), AT essentially not being retained (not fired but offered unacceptable terms) and then his frustration with promises of an improved Oline over the past couple of seasons that did not materialize.
Bottom line - it's in the rear view mirror- it's all about the current Cal football team/players/coaches/staff and the focus, to kick butt and excel this season. Best of luck to Ott and may He do well and get drafted high.
2. i was very troubled by the comments that Ott was perceived as having an impulsive nature to break his word AFTER an extremely good offer (better than OU offer) was agreed to with Cal.
Many young kids are impulsive. I would guess that many young athletes might be impulsive. But a young kid (in his early 20's?) must learn that being impulsive and after agreeing to an extremely good (better than OU offered) can come back to haunt him. [Nothing was said about whether other parties - parents, agents, etc.- were involved in the discussions.]
Gonna have to keep saying this around here since folks still do not get it, if only Ott had left, we could attribute to NIL shenanigans, the entire backfield taking off, goes way beyond that and was a repudiation of this entire operation.
The offense ball toucher guys knew that they would receive little credit for their success because of the monsterous offensive line's monstering of all opposing defenses.
All the talk last year was how Ott would play one more year at Cal, turn pro, be a Heisman candidate, break the Cal rushing records. Most have been a huge disappointing season for him.
He's young and bitter - not a good combination.
He's young and bitter - not a good combination.
GivemTheAxe said:4thGenCal said:HearstMining said:
For football players at Cal, football is the most important thing, but it's part of a whole. At Oklahoma, football is the ONLY thing. I can accept that because that's been Cal's sports culture as long as I can remember - juggling academics with athletics. So the challenge is to recruit and coach players who can excel in that environment. The lousy results over the last fifteen years speak for themselves.
I thought Ott's comment was careful, focused on the players and not the coaching staff. In particular, he did not dump on the school. What the comment does indicate is that Cal's football staff just doesn't hold some players accountable, whether for meeting attendance, physical training, or whatever.
Yes - I personally moved him to different housing as at the time, He had a much different focus for football prep than his room mates. He was unique in his laser focus approach to be the best He could be. He got along with His teammates, it's just that He was more disciplined on and off the field. Flip side what was incredibly disappointing to several of us, who truly looked out for him/coached him/mentored him/put excellent NIL package etc was his impulsive nature to break his word - when deals had been re structured etc. Complex situation around his leaving - both sides had legitimate beefs. But an extremely good offer (better than OU offered) was agreed to with Cal, only to be broken literally w/in a few days. Ott did get his degree - impressive. And several factors nagged him including the medical staff misdiagnosis of a high ankle grade 3 sprain (came back too early), AT essentially not being retained (not fired but offered unacceptable terms) and then his frustration with promises of an improved Oline over the past couple of seasons that did not materialize.
Bottom line - it's in the rear view mirror- it's all about the current Cal football team/players/coaches/staff and the focus, to kick butt and excel this season. Best of luck to Ott and may He do well and get drafted high.
i see from what has been said about Ott that there were at least two points of friction.
1. Ott's lazer focus on football. and his dissatisfaction with other players for whom this was not true. To me this has usually not been the situation with so many Cal players since at Cal the student athlete must be BOTH a student and an athlete. Of course at Oklahoma the reverse is true. So of course Ott would find the atmosphere would be more inviting to him at Oklahoma that it would at Cal.
2. i was very troubled by the comments that Ott was perceived as having an impulsive nature to break his word 'AFTER' an extremely good offer (better than OU offer) was 'agreed to' with Cal.
Many young kids are impulsive. I would guess that many young athletes might be impulsive. But a young kid (in his early 20's?) who will be involved in many contract negotiations in football and outside football must learn that being impulsive and after agreeing to an extremely good (better than OU offered) can come back to haunt him. [Nothing was said about whether other parties - parents, agents, etc.- were involved in the discussions.]
1. It is not going to come back to haunt him.
2. Adults of all ages come to agreements all the time only to get an offer they perceive as better before things are finalized and switch. Hell, companies do that all the time.
3. I suspect better offer in this case means more money. That is only one part of the offer. Most people would take an unpaid internship at Google over a paid position as fry cook at McDonalds. Even if we offered more money than OU, OU has more to offer outside of money.
BearlyCareAnymore said:GivemTheAxe said:4thGenCal said:HearstMining said:
For football players at Cal, football is the most important thing, but it's part of a whole. At Oklahoma, football is the ONLY thing. I can accept that because that's been Cal's sports culture as long as I can remember - juggling academics with athletics. So the challenge is to recruit and coach players who can excel in that environment. The lousy results over the last fifteen years speak for themselves.
I thought Ott's comment was careful, focused on the players and not the coaching staff. In particular, he did not dump on the school. What the comment does indicate is that Cal's football staff just doesn't hold some players accountable, whether for meeting attendance, physical training, or whatever.
Yes - I personally moved him to different housing as at the time, He had a much different focus for football prep than his room mates. He was unique in his laser focus approach to be the best He could be. He got along with His teammates, it's just that He was more disciplined on and off the field. Flip side what was incredibly disappointing to several of us, who truly looked out for him/coached him/mentored him/put excellent NIL package etc was his impulsive nature to break his word - when deals had been re structured etc. Complex situation around his leaving - both sides had legitimate beefs. But an extremely good offer (better than OU offered) was agreed to with Cal, only to be broken literally w/in a few days. Ott did get his degree - impressive. And several factors nagged him including the medical staff misdiagnosis of a high ankle grade 3 sprain (came back too early), AT essentially not being retained (not fired but offered unacceptable terms) and then his frustration with promises of an improved Oline over the past couple of seasons that did not materialize.
Bottom line - it's in the rear view mirror- it's all about the current Cal football team/players/coaches/staff and the focus, to kick butt and excel this season. Best of luck to Ott and may He do well and get drafted high.
i see from what has been said about Ott that there were at least two points of friction.
1. Ott's lazer focus on football. and his dissatisfaction with other players for whom this was not true. To me this has usually not been the situation with so many Cal players since at Cal the student athlete must be BOTH a student and an athlete. Of course at Oklahoma the reverse is true. So of course Ott would find the atmosphere would be more inviting to him at Oklahoma that it would at Cal.
2. i was very troubled by the comments that Ott was perceived as having an impulsive nature to break his word 'AFTER' an extremely good offer (better than OU offer) was 'agreed to' with Cal.
Many young kids are impulsive. I would guess that many young athletes might be impulsive. But a young kid (in his early 20's?) who will be involved in many contract negotiations in football and outside football must learn that being impulsive and after agreeing to an extremely good (better than OU offered) can come back to haunt him. [Nothing was said about whether other parties - parents, agents, etc.- were involved in the discussions.]
1. It is not going to come back to haunt him.
2. Adults of all ages come to agreements all the time only to get an offer they perceive as better before things are finalized and switch. Hell, companies do that all the time.
3. I suspect better offer in this case means more money. That is only one part of the offer. Most people would take an unpaid internship at Google over a paid position as fry cook at McDonalds. Even if we offered more money than OU, OU has more to offer outside of money.
100%
If Cal offered Ott more money than OU and he was planning to come back, then it really must have been the new offensive staff that caused ALL our RBs, WRs and our starting TE to leave, at least in Ott's case, in spite of Cal offering more money. But sure, Cal fans rally around the coaches and instead blame and criticize the fellow Cal alum that is only making the best decision he can for his own life. That is what many did with Mark Fox too, at least until we finally fired him. Then no one claimed to ever have supported him, and now that Matt Bradley is coming back to Cal as a grad assistant no one will own up to having criticized him for finally having had enough of Fox and leaving like most of his teammates had already done.
calumnus said:BearlyCareAnymore said:GivemTheAxe said:4thGenCal said:HearstMining said:
For football players at Cal, football is the most important thing, but it's part of a whole. At Oklahoma, football is the ONLY thing. I can accept that because that's been Cal's sports culture as long as I can remember - juggling academics with athletics. So the challenge is to recruit and coach players who can excel in that environment. The lousy results over the last fifteen years speak for themselves.
I thought Ott's comment was careful, focused on the players and not the coaching staff. In particular, he did not dump on the school. What the comment does indicate is that Cal's football staff just doesn't hold some players accountable, whether for meeting attendance, physical training, or whatever.
Yes - I personally moved him to different housing as at the time, He had a much different focus for football prep than his room mates. He was unique in his laser focus approach to be the best He could be. He got along with His teammates, it's just that He was more disciplined on and off the field. Flip side what was incredibly disappointing to several of us, who truly looked out for him/coached him/mentored him/put excellent NIL package etc was his impulsive nature to break his word - when deals had been re structured etc. Complex situation around his leaving - both sides had legitimate beefs. But an extremely good offer (better than OU offered) was agreed to with Cal, only to be broken literally w/in a few days. Ott did get his degree - impressive. And several factors nagged him including the medical staff misdiagnosis of a high ankle grade 3 sprain (came back too early), AT essentially not being retained (not fired but offered unacceptable terms) and then his frustration with promises of an improved Oline over the past couple of seasons that did not materialize.
Bottom line - it's in the rear view mirror- it's all about the current Cal football team/players/coaches/staff and the focus, to kick butt and excel this season. Best of luck to Ott and may He do well and get drafted high.
i see from what has been said about Ott that there were at least two points of friction.
1. Ott's lazer focus on football. and his dissatisfaction with other players for whom this was not true. To me this has usually not been the situation with so many Cal players since at Cal the student athlete must be BOTH a student and an athlete. Of course at Oklahoma the reverse is true. So of course Ott would find the atmosphere would be more inviting to him at Oklahoma that it would at Cal.
2. i was very troubled by the comments that Ott was perceived as having an impulsive nature to break his word 'AFTER' an extremely good offer (better than OU offer) was 'agreed to' with Cal.
Many young kids are impulsive. I would guess that many young athletes might be impulsive. But a young kid (in his early 20's?) who will be involved in many contract negotiations in football and outside football must learn that being impulsive and after agreeing to an extremely good (better than OU offered) can come back to haunt him. [Nothing was said about whether other parties - parents, agents, etc.- were involved in the discussions.]
1. It is not going to come back to haunt him.
2. Adults of all ages come to agreements all the time only to get an offer they perceive as better before things are finalized and switch. Hell, companies do that all the time.
3. I suspect better offer in this case means more money. That is only one part of the offer. Most people would take an unpaid internship at Google over a paid position as fry cook at McDonalds. Even if we offered more money than OU, OU has more to offer outside of money.
100%
If Cal offered Ott more money than OU and he was planning to come back, then it really must have been the new offensive staff that caused ALL our RBs, WRs and our starting TE to leave, at least in Ott's case, in spite of Cal offering more money. But sure, Cal fans rally around the coaches and instead blame and criticize the fellow Cal alum that is only making the best decision he can for his own life. That is what many did with Mark Fox too, at least until we finally fired him. Then no one claimed to ever have supported him, and now that Matt Bradley is coming back to Cal as a grad assistant no one will own up to having criticized him for finally having had enough of Fox and leaving like most of his teammates had already done.
I'd like to see a few games this season before going down this route. For a guy who suggests a bunch of players didn't have the chops to put in the work here, Ott seems to have run away from a staff that demands just that. So either this new staff is complete horse poo, or Ott is the ass. Let's see how it plays out.
"Horse poo in strawberry canyon"
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