BearlyCareAnymore said:
calumnus said:
BearlyCareAnymore said:
calumnus said:
alarsuel said:
Not only did Sebastabear head up the collective for no salary, he donated a lot of his his own money to it. Same with the billboards. Many people just really love Cal, are financially well off, and are willing to donate their time and/or money to Cal. It is really puzzling to me that some people who profess to be Cal fans don't understand that.
The main GM skill that Rivera has that Sebasta doesn't is hiring football coaches. That is moot if Rivera is the HC. Rivera would hire his staff.
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Ayyyye, man, what? Let's put aside whether RR wants to coach or not and how much it would cost, but your idea is to replace him as GM (if RR were to become HC) with sebasta? As in a BI poster!?!?
The main GM skill RR has that he doesn't is *only* hiring a coach which wouldn't matter if RR is already the coach. How about ALL OF THE FOOTBALL PARTS OF THE JOB!?!?!?
I have no doubt that sebasta is a wonderful human that has experience with NIL and loves Cal and Cal Football with every fiber of his being, but this can't be serious.
If Rivera were HC he would handle ALL the football parts of the job. Last year it was Wilcox working with Cal Legends (Sebasta). Next year it would just be Rivera working with Sebasta (or a Cal alum from the pro sports management world) in the GM role.
I honestly think Rivera is much better suited as a head coach handling the football aspects than as a GM handling administration, marketing and budgets.
you are seriously underestimating the difference in level of effort between running NIL and running a whole football operation.
I'm sorry, but if you want Cal to follow this dream of getting into the Big10, you have to stop placating the cheap ass Cal view point and stop acting like we can run this like a high school booster club. If Cal wants to stay in the game they need to pay a real coach a real salary and hire a professional GM at a professional GM salary. It is completely ridiculous to think Rivera is going to do a $10M job for $800K and Sebasta is going to do a $800K job for free. And even if they would, which they won't, it is putting a temporary bandaid on an amputation.
Real coach (one who has had more than 3 winning seasons out of 13). Real GM. We brought in the real GM. He has to hire a real coach for a real salary. Otherwise, Call up Oregon State and Washington State and tell em we're in.
Ron Rivera is a head coach, not a GM, not until this year and it is dubious that is doing any of the things you outlined at Cal. He was Coach of The Year in the NFL. He coached a team to the Super Bowl. His love is coaching football players. His talents are largely wasted as GM. I don't know what he would want as compensation to be Head Coach instead of GM, but that does not negate the fact that he is best suited for the Head Coach role. If he requires more money to do it, then I am sure he and Lyons can convince some other boosters to give it to him.
Now one aspect of being a Head Coach is hiring football coaches, so yes, that is the one aspect of being GM that Rivera is well suited, hiring a head coach if he doesn't want the role or if he as GM cannot afford to hire himself because he demands too much. Then we can hire assistants for Rivera to handle all the administrative and marketing stiff that GMs and their professional staffs generally do.
There are lots of Cal alums in the pro sports management world, including professional GMs, who would be a good GM if Rivera took the Head Coach job.
I have ZERO objection to Cal boosters spending big bucks on a $10 million salary for Rivera and a huge salary for a professional GM. I have only presented other options to counter the argument that "we cannot afford to move on from Wilcox." We cannot afford NOT to move on from Wilcox.
I do not know what Rivera would demand as HC, what a professional GM would demand or what Cal boosters are willing to donate. I do think it would have been easier to get boosters to donate big funds to pay Rivera a huge HC salary, if that is what he needs, BEFORE, he came back to Cal to work as GM. I also think it is critical that we fund NIL to the fullest extent possible.
Calumnus. His superbowl year was 10 years ago. He will always be a superbowl coach and that can't be taken away from him. But He went 7 years without a winning record. He had 3 winning seasons in 13 years. His tenure at Washington was not viewed positively. I very much wanted him considered when Tedford was hired and he was a young guy on the upswing. Those days are long since passed.
You don't know what his current passion is. He may like the idea of a desk job where he can put his stamp on a program in different ways. But if Cal is going to throw money at a coach it can't be on an old guy at the end of his career that is 8 years from his last winning record. I love the guy, but if he was any other guy he wouldn't be considered with that profile. We do not have the time for nostalgia hires.
I understand that you think it is possible to go cheap and get a superbowl coach. We can't prove that it is impossible, but it is very improbable. If we are going to express a fantasy over and over and over again. Why don't we fantasize that Cal comes up with the money for a buyout and finds the next great coach?
Even if all that you are betting on came to pass, if Cal can't do that and has to resort to charity to get a coach, Cal is truly and completely effed.
I'd also point out that you just saw how well an old Superbowl coach, one with many Superbowls, might work. We need a new guy with a fresh identity that will be a disruptive force in college football. Not old standards that come from 10 years ago . Rivera has a big role to play in finding and supporting that guy. Let's let him do THAT job.
The last two years people were arguing he would never come to Cal for less than an NFL coaches' salary. Now that he is here the argument has shifted.
It's fine that you don't want him as our coach because you think he is too old, too past his prime and argue that he has no prospects in the NFL. I don't disagree, but then you have to admit that contradicts the idea that he wouldn't take the job if offered at a salary we could afford.
I was mostly suggesting Rivera as an option back when people thought Wilcox's "buyout" was insurmountable forcing us to keep him and Jim Knowlton would be the guy doing the hiring (precluding the young up and coming coach option because Knowlton can't find that guy).
We cant wish away the money issue. While we actually save money on Wilcox's salary if he is fired, the cost of a new coach is additional cost. Meanwhile our media revenues are currently the lowest in P4 and the university is facing dramatic Federal funding cuts and potential lawsuits. We can wish major donors will step to spend big bucks but I can't write that check. Again, I only present the "cheap" options to show we have options and counter the narrative that we have to keep Wilcox.
We both agree that the other "cheap" option: a young up and coming offensive minded coach that can make Cal a "disruptive force" in college football is the preferred goal and now that Knowlton is gone, with Rivera doing the hiring, that path is opened up. As we are free of Wilcox's contract and our ACC share increases we could increase the contract, assuming the new coach is winning and it is warranted.
However, the talk on the board has been firing Wilcox midseason (now) and making Harsin or Rolovich the interim or permanent HC. I am very opposed to that and said if Wilcox were fired now I would prefer Rivera as interim over Harsin or Rolovich. Part of that is the risk that Rolovich or Harsin would be made permanent which I think would be disastrous. At least with Rivera as interim he would still be going after the young offensive minded coach that can recruit to Cal either as his OC and/or replacement at HC. If you think there is no way Cal fires Wilcox midseason and hires an interim, then that whole discussion is moot. Who he brings in and their readiness to assume the head coach duties will likely determine his and their role.
I still think it would have been better for Lyons to fire Knowlton and Wilcox last year with Rivera as HC (yes, assuming he wants and would take the job) instead of wasting a year and all the money we have spent "supporting" Wilcox, but we didn't, so it is moot too. No use arguing over it.
Hope we get the dynamic young coach we want and Cal starts to reach its potential. I do think time is running out.
