m2bear said:

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I'm just disappointed in Tosh's response post game. He thinks the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator were great and no adjustments need to be made. Makes me doubt Tosh as a head coach.

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As I'm sure you know, what they say to the media may or may not represent their true thoughts and what they're going to be saying to the players this week. Seemed like he thought he should be projecting positivity to the public at large.

Also worth noting that Coach Lup seems like a better one-on-one communicator than he is a public speaker. I wouldn't even say his post-game statements were "coach speak". More like gobbledygook.

m2bear said:

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He can't be this clueless... can he?

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OMF-ing GOD!

Not good. At all. He's in fantasy land and/or totally delusional. Denial is a river he's floating on, sipping a Margarita!

Who's idea to hire these guys, Rivera or Tosh?

movielover said:

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Who's idea to hire these guys, Rivera or Tosh?

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Rhetorical jab at the "fanbase" or real question?

FTR, Offensive Pass Game Coordinator coach Pat McCann was the OC at Fresno State for two years, and was also the passing game coordinator at several stops. CalBears: "In 2023, the Fresno State offense ranked second in the Mountain West for passing offense and fifth in total offense...."

upsetof86 said:

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JimSox said:

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upsetof86 said:

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To the OP that's like saying your car runs great we just need a new transmission and set of breaks.

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We got the "breaks" (110 yards in UCLA penalties), just not the "brakes" on their offense.

But to be serious, it is a touch early to give up on Tosh and the coaching staff. But it did seem curious that first time head coach brought in two first time coordinators. And the result certainly showed last night.

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Yes of course I intended to type brakes. You think it is merely curious that a HC with no HC experience brought in a staff with little experience. And that combined, they clearly struggled. One game does not make a season but BC had his team ready to beat us on the road in the same amount of time. I think the headlines I'm reading today feature the word "blowout."

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Yes I know you intended to type "brakes." I just wanted to use some word play to point out the advantage we had in penalty yards. No disrespect meant.

Just watched the fourth quarter meltdown. All the confusion and disorganization that was apparent in the first half just metastasized after the three turnovers. Very troubling. This team may have the talent to get it together, despite the inexperienced coordinators, but I'll be pleasantly surprised if it does so right away. Maybe by the time of the Clemson game.

southseasbear said:

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movielover said:

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Tosh hired two greenhorn coordinators, and Rivera endorsed it. In fact, one coordinator was only the assistant position coach. Often a young first-time HC hires a graybeard to help guide the transition. Is Rolo the real OC?

When Tedford became HC he hired Bob Gregory as his DC, who had eight years as a DC at a lower level. To supplement that, JT brought veteran coach Bob Foster out of retirement. Foster was specifically brought in to add an "experienced sounding board to the new staff." Foster had previously been the HC at UC Davis and the DC at Oregon, where they served under Belotti. His task was more influential than being the linebacker coach. Foster also had experience dealing with the administration and faculty club, and was a master at breaking down film and motivation.

There is a critique in coaching, "He's never called a timeout".

Edit: Bob Gregory currently is coaching linebackers, and has served as a DC at five programs.

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When Wilcox came in, many of us felt assurance that his coordinators were two former head coaches: Beau Baldwin (who turned out to be a bust) and Tim Deruyter. I fully anticipated that Tosh would also bring in experienced coordinators, not assistants to assistant position coaches in the NFL>

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Musgrave was also a disaster.

Those linebackers from last year, we have been told, didn't fit the new scheme (scam?).

socaltownie said:

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To be fair we need to see 3-4-5 games before full conclusions can be drawn. First data point is NOT encouraging. But again, there is a theory here. Talent acquisition being the ying and yang. Unknown is

1) Is that true
2) Can these coordinators close on that talent
3) If they do can Cal RETAIN that talent? Because if I am a p4 coach I am looking over the wall at Madsen and seeing Cal as a GREAT place for Frosh to get weeded out and then I swoop in and outbid. Or put another way - do you think the defense is better if we had retained last years Linebacker's room? I sure do.

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Every coach with money to spend in the portal is looking at the standout players on non-elite teams and making pitches like, "If you want to reach your potential and best position yourself for the "next level" then you need to be playing with other talented players on a higher-profile team."

BearSD said:

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socaltownie said:

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To be fair we need to see 3-4-5 games before full conclusions can be drawn. First data point is NOT encouraging. But again, there is a theory here. Talent acquisition being the ying and yang. Unknown is

1) Is that true
2) Can these coordinators close on that talent
3) If they do can Cal RETAIN that talent? Because if I am a p4 coach I am looking over the wall at Madsen and seeing Cal as a GREAT place for Frosh to get weeded out and then I swoop in and outbid. Or put another way - do you think the defense is better if we had retained last years Linebacker's room? I sure do.

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Every coach with money to spend in the portal is looking at the standout players on non-elite teams and making pitches like, "If you want to reach your potential and best position yourself for the "next level" then you need to be playing with other talented players on a higher-profile team."

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So, you seem to be acknowledging that the Berkeley Bears are doomed?

Are they being paid coordinator money? Is it possible Tosh got more money, and less for assistants?

"I agree. Let Rolo and Gregory run the show till these guys learn how to be OC's and DC's."

So, a new Head Coach gets hired in December and puts together the staff he wants. Then, one game into his first season he has to change both coordinators (or at least their responsibilities)?!?

That would be a sign of an organization in chaos. I don't think we are at that point; at least I hope we're not.

Big C said:

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"I agree. Let Rolo and Gregory run the show till these guys learn how to be OC's and DC's."

So, a new Head Coach gets hired in December and puts together the staff he wants. Then, one game into his first season he has to change both coordinators (or at least their responsibilities)?!?

That would be a sign of an organization in chaos. I don't think we are at that point; at least I hope we're not.

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The organization was in chaos as soon as Tosh hired his two numbskull drinking middle school buddies as his coordinators. There's a reason those guys never got hired as coordinators before: they weren't ready. Promoting them into such important positions when they lacked the experience and wisdom just goes to show how poor a decision maker Tosh really is.

Anyone with an iota of common sense would've hired an experienced OC to complement Tosh's defensive expertise. Instead, he hired an assistant to an assistant to be his offensive lieutenant. Meanwhile, he hired another rookie to be his defensive lieutenant. While this latter move was a little more defensible, since Tosh is supposed to be a defensive expert, after all, hiring two rookie coordinators means Tosh will be that much less able to focus on the overall direction of the football team.

Tosh just doesn't seem to understand the urgency of the situation. Either that, or he severely overestimated his own abilities and that of his coordinators. Hopefully, the UCLA game provided enough of a shock to wake him up to the reality of the situation. He doesn't have time to fart around and let his coordinators learn on the job. He needs to replace them with experienced professionals who can then show the nominal coordinators how to do the jobs for which they were hired.

01Bear said:

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Big C said:

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"I agree. Let Rolo and Gregory run the show till these guys learn how to be OC's and DC's."

So, a new Head Coach gets hired in December and puts together the staff he wants. Then, one game into his first season he has to change both coordinators (or at least their responsibilities)?!?

That would be a sign of an organization in chaos. I don't think we are at that point; at least I hope we're not.

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The organization was in chaos as soon as Tosh hired his two numbskull drinking middle school buddies as his coordinators. There's a reason those guys never got hired as coordinators before: they weren't ready. Promoting them into such important positions when they lacked the experience and wisdom just goes to show how poor a decision maker Tosh really is.

Anyone with an iota of common sense would've hired an experienced OC to complement Tosh's defensive expertise. Instead, he hired an assistant to an assistant to be his offensive lieutenant. Meanwhile, he hired another rookie to be his defensive lieutenant. While this latter move was a little more defensible, since Tosh is supposed to be a defensive expert, after all, hiring two rookie coordinators means Tosh will be that much less able to focus on the overall direction of the football team.

Tosh just doesn't seem to understand the urgency of the situation. Either that, or he severely overestimated his own abilities and that of his coordinators. Hopefully, the UCLA game provided enough of a shock to wake him up to the reality of the situation. He doesn't have time to fart around and let his coordinators learn on the job. He needs to replace them with experienced professionals who can then show the nominal coordinators how to do the jobs for which they were hired.

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That first sentence... wow. Can you explain what you meant by that and/or why you wrote it?

The puzzle there is that... a) Tosh doesn't drink... b) Hutchings attended De la Salle high school about a dozen or so years after Tosh... c) Tosh knows Somerville from having worked with him at Oregon

And... they're "numbskulls"? Really?!?

Big C said:

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01Bear said:

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Big C said:

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"I agree. Let Rolo and Gregory run the show till these guys learn how to be OC's and DC's."

So, a new Head Coach gets hired in December and puts together the staff he wants. Then, one game into his first season he has to change both coordinators (or at least their responsibilities)?!?

That would be a sign of an organization in chaos. I don't think we are at that point; at least I hope we're not.

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The organization was in chaos as soon as Tosh hired his two numbskull drinking middle school buddies as his coordinators. There's a reason those guys never got hired as coordinators before: they weren't ready. Promoting them into such important positions when they lacked the experience and wisdom just goes to show how poor a decision maker Tosh really is.

Anyone with an iota of common sense would've hired an experienced OC to complement Tosh's defensive expertise. Instead, he hired an assistant to an assistant to be his offensive lieutenant. Meanwhile, he hired another rookie to be his defensive lieutenant. While this latter move was a little more defensible, since Tosh is supposed to be a defensive expert, after all, hiring two rookie coordinators means Tosh will be that much less able to focus on the overall direction of the football team.

Tosh just doesn't seem to understand the urgency of the situation. Either that, or he severely overestimated his own abilities and that of his coordinators. Hopefully, the UCLA game provided enough of a shock to wake him up to the reality of the situation. He doesn't have time to fart around and let his coordinators learn on the job. He needs to replace them with experienced professionals who can then show the nominal coordinators how to do the jobs for which they were hired.

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That first sentence... wow. Can you explain what you meant by that and/or why you wrote it?

The puzzle there is that... a) Tosh doesn't drink... b) Hutchings attended De la Salle high school about a dozen or so years after Tosh... c) Tosh knows Somerville from having worked with him at Oregon

And... they're "numbskulls"? Really?!?

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It was a bit of hyperbole for little dramatic effect. But really, what difference is there in Tosh attending De La Salle by a dozen years before Hutchings and making him OC as a result versus having known him from his days at De La Salle? At the end of the day, Tosh hired someone who was not ready for the job of Cal's DC at a time when Cal needed someone who was ready to hit the ground running. The same applies to Somerville.

As for the numbskull comment, yes, they are. You cannot tell me that an OC who cannot figure out that 6 > 5 is not a numbskull. Yet, Somerville consistently had only five guys on the line when UCLA's defense showed six. Each time, that led to an unblocked defender running directly into the backfield and at JKS. Rather than getting caught out once and then using that to his advantage by scheming a draw play or screen pass, he had JKS run out of the pocket and try not to get killed. This is pure numbskullery.

On defense, Hutchings couldn't figure out how to stop UCLA's running game. Now this doesn't necessarily make him a numbskull. I'll admit that much. Cal had a hard time stopping the run last year, too. Back then, it had guys like Cade Uluave and Luke Ferrelli. This year's group of defenders (especially at LB) don't appear to be as good as last year's guys. Still, Cal's defense looked like it had not prepared to stop the run game, at all. It gave up 277 yards on the ground to UCLA! I know I only watched the game when it was live, but I don't remember Cal trying to stack the box with 7 or 8 defenders and making Nico and UCLA's receiving corps win the game. How was that not one of the main things that the defense worked on, given that UCLA was expected to be a running team this year?

So yes, the Cal OC and DC have both showed an utter lack of understanding the basics. Worse, they've been involved in organized football (and have even been paid to do so!) and still managed not to grasp the basics. In my book, that makes them numbskulls.