And if we lose to Wagner, we will only have the Valkyries left...

Seriously though, UCLA and Chesney on week 1 was a huge challenge. They're going to be a perennial Playoff team, possibly even this year. The guy is, at worse, one of the top 5 head coaches in college football. Hope he gets an NFL gig soon enough. The opener was the toughest game in our entire season schedule, just ahead of SMU.

Tosh had a solid A in his first offseason as a HC, got a C-/D+ on his first quizz Saturday. Look for improvements tomorrow, but don't despair yet if we don't make it out with a W, look for continued improvement and growth through the season. Tosh is the best recruiter in the NCAA and if he and the staff can get it together then this program is going to blossom.

Key word is I *Don't* party anymore ! The retired lifestyle is great !

Anarchistbear said:

---

No matter what happens we'll always have Wagner

---

and Train

DaddyLegend said:

---

Preemptive nega-bearing .

---

Hahaha

Cal88 said:

---

And if we lose to Wagner, we will only have the Valkyries left...

Seriously though, UCLA and Chesney on week 1 was a huge challenge. They're going to be a perennial Playoff team, possibly even this year. The guy is, at worse, one of the top 5 head coaches in college football. Hope he gets an NFL gig soon enough. The opener was the toughest game in our entire season schedule, just ahead of SMU.

Tosh had a solid A in his first offseason as a HC, got a C-/D+ on his first quizz Saturday. Look for improvements tomorrow, but don't despair yet if we don't make it out with a W, look for continued improvement and growth through the season. Tosh is the best recruiter in the NCAA and if he and the staff can get it together then this program is going to blossom.

---

Tosh was a low floor high ceiling hire. We knew the recruiting chops. We knew the love of Cal. We knew the drive and the effort.

What he doesn't have is experience. He has all the tools to be a great coach...but others with his same tools have failed spectacularly as well. We took a gamble and are stuck praying it pays off.

Chesney was a high floor hire. Very experienced. Brought in his guys as coordinators that were all experienced, on the same page and ready to go from day 1. I'm not convinced his ceiling is as high as Tosh's...but that doesn't mean he won't end up the better coach. The fact he had 15 years of experience and this is his first Power4 job isn't an accident. That doesn't mean he won't be the next Cignetti....but Cignetti is the outlier, not the norm. This was definitely the safe hire.

And the expectation should absolutely be he hits the ground running. That's a big part of why he was hired... Unfortunately Cal has that same need.

BrightBear said:

---

If we lose to Fran Brown and Syracuse tomorrow, all I can do is just laugh. A laugh that is snarky with pain in it. It has pain because we are 0-2 and about to have the 2021 season repeat in 2026. Classic. But that laugh would need something else ! Ron should get his keys taken if we lose ! 0-2 unbelievable ! So much money and nothing to show for ! This is too predictable !

---

When we don't have tosh anymore and lose a game you will have egg on your face, but I'll be laughing because I was right all along, and you were short sighted worrying about a single game.

kal kommie said:

---

MrGPAC said:

---

Cal88 said:

---

And if we lose to Wagner, we will only have the Valkyries left...

Seriously though, UCLA and Chesney on week 1 was a huge challenge. They're going to be a perennial Playoff team, possibly even this year. The guy is, at worse, one of the top 5 head coaches in college football. Hope he gets an NFL gig soon enough. The opener was the toughest game in our entire season schedule, just ahead of SMU.

Tosh had a solid A in his first offseason as a HC, got a C-/D+ on his first quizz Saturday. Look for improvements tomorrow, but don't despair yet if we don't make it out with a W, look for continued improvement and growth through the season. Tosh is the best recruiter in the NCAA and if he and the staff can get it together then this program is going to blossom.

---

Tosh was a low floor high ceiling hire. We knew the recruiting chops. We knew the love of Cal. We knew the drive and the effort.

What he doesn't have is experience. He has all the tools to be a great coach...but others with his same tools have failed spectacularly as well. We took a gamble and are stuck praying it pays off.

Chesney was a high floor hire. Very experienced. Brought in his guys as coordinators that were all experienced, on the same page and ready to go from day 1. I'm not convinced his ceiling is as high as Tosh's...but that doesn't mean he won't end up the better coach. The fact he had 15 years of experience and this is his first Power4 job isn't an accident. That doesn't mean he won't be the next Cignetti....but Cignetti is the outlier, not the norm. This was definitely the safe hire.

And the expectation should absolutely be he hits the ground running. That's a big part of why he was hired... Unfortunately Cal has that same need.

---

I knew about the recruiting chops.

I don't recall hearing anything about his supposed love of Cal during the 14 years between when he ditched us and when our big wigs decided he must be our new HC.

I don't know anything about this supposed drive and effort. I take for granted that up and coming coaches are driven and exert effort but I don't recall hearing things like young Tedford living out of his car as a entry-level coach or making his Cal office into his de facto sleeping quarters.

Also not sure what would make Chesney have a lower ceiling. First he build a D3 program into a winner, then he built a D2 program into a winner, then he built an FCS program into a winner, then cook over for Cignetti and brought JMU to the playoffs. Nothing there says lower ceiling to me.

---

Fair enough on the love of Cal. Many are still bitter about how he parted ways the first time and understandably so, so I don't want to minimize those feelings. He certainly has history at Cal being a graduate, with success as a player and a coach for the team.

I'm not sure you've been paying attention to the Tosh story if you haven't seen/read stories about his drive level / effort. As an example, the day he was announced he bought a ticket to Hawaii to meet with JKS. He then met with the family from 1:30am to 4:30am. He then grabbed a quick nap on the beach before taking the first flight back to Berkeley to resume his other responsibilities. This is one example but there are many. His efforts have been documented to go well beyond the football field as well. They include setting up / coordingating PR efforts with Newsome and working to get live concerts back at Memorial Stadium to raise funds. In fact, I have been concerned he spreads himself too thin / isn't focused enough on the football aspect.

His relentless drive/pursuit has constantly been sited as the root of his success as a recruiter. Tedford obsessed over the X's and O's and the gameplan. Tosh's focus may look different, but the drive is apparent.

As to Chesney's ceiling...I debated back and forth a bit. I think it has more to do with how I perceive Tosh's potential ceiling than a knock on Chesney. I also think its far more likely that Chesney hits his ceiling than Tosh hits the one I perceive for him. My perception is also undeniably skewed by how much we *need* Tosh to succeed combined with a lot of hopium.

When we don't have Ron anymore, I'll be laughing in your face with GMO eggs !

MrGPAC said:

---

kal kommie said:

---

MrGPAC said:

---

Cal88 said:

---

And if we lose to Wagner, we will only have the Valkyries left...

Seriously though, UCLA and Chesney on week 1 was a huge challenge. They're going to be a perennial Playoff team, possibly even this year. The guy is, at worse, one of the top 5 head coaches in college football. Hope he gets an NFL gig soon enough. The opener was the toughest game in our entire season schedule, just ahead of SMU.

Tosh had a solid A in his first offseason as a HC, got a C-/D+ on his first quizz Saturday. Look for improvements tomorrow, but don't despair yet if we don't make it out with a W, look for continued improvement and growth through the season. Tosh is the best recruiter in the NCAA and if he and the staff can get it together then this program is going to blossom.

---

Tosh was a low floor high ceiling hire. We knew the recruiting chops. We knew the love of Cal. We knew the drive and the effort.

What he doesn't have is experience. He has all the tools to be a great coach...but others with his same tools have failed spectacularly as well. We took a gamble and are stuck praying it pays off.

Chesney was a high floor hire. Very experienced. Brought in his guys as coordinators that were all experienced, on the same page and ready to go from day 1. I'm not convinced his ceiling is as high as Tosh's...but that doesn't mean he won't end up the better coach. The fact he had 15 years of experience and this is his first Power4 job isn't an accident. That doesn't mean he won't be the next Cignetti....but Cignetti is the outlier, not the norm. This was definitely the safe hire.

And the expectation should absolutely be he hits the ground running. That's a big part of why he was hired... Unfortunately Cal has that same need.

---

I knew about the recruiting chops.

I don't recall hearing anything about his supposed love of Cal during the 14 years between when he ditched us and when our big wigs decided he must be our new HC.

I don't know anything about this supposed drive and effort. I take for granted that up and coming coaches are driven and exert effort but I don't recall hearing things like young Tedford living out of his car as a entry-level coach or making his Cal office into his de facto sleeping quarters.

Also not sure what would make Chesney have a lower ceiling. First he build a D3 program into a winner, then he built a D2 program into a winner, then he built an FCS program into a winner, then cook over for Cignetti and brought JMU to the playoffs. Nothing there says lower ceiling to me.

---

Fair enough on the love of Cal. Many are still bitter about how he parted ways the first time and understandably so, so I don't want to minimize those feelings. He certainly has history at Cal being a graduate, with success as a player and a coach for the team.

I'm not sure you've been paying attention to the Tosh story if you haven't seen/read stories about his drive level / effort. As an example, the day he was announced he bought a ticket to Hawaii to meet with JKS. He then met with the family from 1:30am to 4:30am. He then grabbed a quick nap on the beach before taking the first flight back to Berkeley to resume his other responsibilities. This is one example but there are many. His efforts have been documented to go well beyond the football field as well. They include setting up / coordingating PR efforts with Newsome and working to get live concerts back at Memorial Stadium to raise funds. In fact, I have been concerned he spreads himself too thin / isn't focused enough on the football aspect.

His relentless drive/pursuit has constantly been sited as the root of his success as a recruiter. Tedford obsessed over the X's and O's and the gameplan. Tosh's focus may look different, but the drive is apparent.

As to Chesney's ceiling...I debated back and forth a bit. I think it has more to do with how I perceive Tosh's potential ceiling than a knock on Chesney. I also think its far more likely that Chesney hits his ceiling than Tosh hits the one I perceive for him. My perception is also undeniably skewed by how much we *need* Tosh to succeed combined with a lot of hopium.

---

That came out more scornful than I intended. Sorry about that.

I did read about that JKS recruiting trip. Not sure I can remember the other examples but I'm sure there are ones to point out. There practically have to be because it's very hard to rise to P4 HC without being seen to work hard. Which is why I said I take for granted that Tosh must be driven and willing to exert effort on an absolute scale but on a particular level full of such people, is this a special characteristic of Tosh? I brought up Tedford because his work ethic was said to be special (possibly to his personal detriment). I might not be in a position to know if Tosh is that (pathologically) hard working but if he is an especially hard worker among CFB HCs then of course I'm glad to hear it.


I see Tosh is generally well liked by football people, is a great sales talent who personally connects with players and I presume that he's hard working and determined to succeed. But those won't be enough by themselves. The X's and the O's and the gameplan and the management of the team as an organization of about 200 people including players, coaches and support staff are huge. It remains to be seen if Tosh as a football coach is capable of succeeding on that level.

kal kommie said:

---

MrGPAC said:

---

kal kommie said:

---

MrGPAC said:

---

Cal88 said:

---

And if we lose to Wagner, we will only have the Valkyries left...

Seriously though, UCLA and Chesney on week 1 was a huge challenge. They're going to be a perennial Playoff team, possibly even this year. The guy is, at worse, one of the top 5 head coaches in college football. Hope he gets an NFL gig soon enough. The opener was the toughest game in our entire season schedule, just ahead of SMU.

Tosh had a solid A in his first offseason as a HC, got a C-/D+ on his first quizz Saturday. Look for improvements tomorrow, but don't despair yet if we don't make it out with a W, look for continued improvement and growth through the season. Tosh is the best recruiter in the NCAA and if he and the staff can get it together then this program is going to blossom.

---

Tosh was a low floor high ceiling hire. We knew the recruiting chops. We knew the love of Cal. We knew the drive and the effort.

What he doesn't have is experience. He has all the tools to be a great coach...but others with his same tools have failed spectacularly as well. We took a gamble and are stuck praying it pays off.

Chesney was a high floor hire. Very experienced. Brought in his guys as coordinators that were all experienced, on the same page and ready to go from day 1. I'm not convinced his ceiling is as high as Tosh's...but that doesn't mean he won't end up the better coach. The fact he had 15 years of experience and this is his first Power4 job isn't an accident. That doesn't mean he won't be the next Cignetti....but Cignetti is the outlier, not the norm. This was definitely the safe hire.

And the expectation should absolutely be he hits the ground running. That's a big part of why he was hired... Unfortunately Cal has that same need.

---

I knew about the recruiting chops.

I don't recall hearing anything about his supposed love of Cal during the 14 years between when he ditched us and when our big wigs decided he must be our new HC.

I don't know anything about this supposed drive and effort. I take for granted that up and coming coaches are driven and exert effort but I don't recall hearing things like young Tedford living out of his car as a entry-level coach or making his Cal office into his de facto sleeping quarters.

Also not sure what would make Chesney have a lower ceiling. First he build a D3 program into a winner, then he built a D2 program into a winner, then he built an FCS program into a winner, then cook over for Cignetti and brought JMU to the playoffs. Nothing there says lower ceiling to me.

---

Fair enough on the love of Cal. Many are still bitter about how he parted ways the first time and understandably so, so I don't want to minimize those feelings. He certainly has history at Cal being a graduate, with success as a player and a coach for the team.

I'm not sure you've been paying attention to the Tosh story if you haven't seen/read stories about his drive level / effort. As an example, the day he was announced he bought a ticket to Hawaii to meet with JKS. He then met with the family from 1:30am to 4:30am. He then grabbed a quick nap on the beach before taking the first flight back to Berkeley to resume his other responsibilities. This is one example but there are many. His efforts have been documented to go well beyond the football field as well. They include setting up / coordingating PR efforts with Newsome and working to get live concerts back at Memorial Stadium to raise funds. In fact, I have been concerned he spreads himself too thin / isn't focused enough on the football aspect.

His relentless drive/pursuit has constantly been sited as the root of his success as a recruiter. Tedford obsessed over the X's and O's and the gameplan. Tosh's focus may look different, but the drive is apparent.

As to Chesney's ceiling...I debated back and forth a bit. I think it has more to do with how I perceive Tosh's potential ceiling than a knock on Chesney. I also think its far more likely that Chesney hits his ceiling than Tosh hits the one I perceive for him. My perception is also undeniably skewed by how much we *need* Tosh to succeed combined with a lot of hopium.

---

That came out more scornful than I intended. Sorry about that.

I did read about that JKS recruiting trip. Not sure I can remember the other examples but I'm sure there are ones to point out. There practically have to be because it's very hard to rise to P4 HC without being seen to work hard. Which is why I said I take for granted that Tosh must be driven and willing to exert effort on an absolute scale but on a particular level full of such people, is this a special characteristic of Tosh? I brought up Tedford because his work ethic was said to be special (possibly to his personal detriment). I might not be in a position to know if Tosh is that (pathologically) hard working but if he is an especially hard worker among CFB HCs then of course I'm glad to hear it.


I see Tosh is generally well liked by football people, is a great sales talent who personally connects with players and I presume that he's hard working and determined to succeed. But those won't be enough by themselves. The X's and the O's and the gameplan and the management of the team as an organization of about 200 people including players, coaches and support staff are huge. It remains to be seen if Tosh as a football coach is capable of succeeding on that level.

---

Well some of that last part, "overseeing an organization of about 200 people," is Ron's job as GM, no?

The Bruins "lucked into" Bob Chesney? They copied the Indiana recipe and hired a guy with Curt Cignetti ties, ie a guy who took over Cignettis role as coaching at JMU. Chesney was never part if Cignettis staff but he retained assistant coach Eddie Whitley Jr from Cignettis staff and retained similar methods and achieved similar stellar results. And guess what Eddie Whitley Jr followed Chesney onto the Bruins staff. So, my point is methods, experience, achievements clearly matter, especially more so in the era of near total mobility of players.

What is that method I hear? It focuses on the mental part of the game, emphasizes production over performance, modeled after the NFL as short intense high reps. They never re do a play because you can't in real games, etc.

So yeah the Bruins have had abysmal coach selection history recently but choosing Chesney was not luck in itself. Production over potential, mental focus, saw how that made a difference in our matchup last week.

calumnus said:

---

kal kommie said:

---

MrGPAC said:

---

kal kommie said:

---

MrGPAC said:

---

Cal88 said:

---

And if we lose to Wagner, we will only have the Valkyries left...

Seriously though, UCLA and Chesney on week 1 was a huge challenge. They're going to be a perennial Playoff team, possibly even this year. The guy is, at worse, one of the top 5 head coaches in college football. Hope he gets an NFL gig soon enough. The opener was the toughest game in our entire season schedule, just ahead of SMU.

Tosh had a solid A in his first offseason as a HC, got a C-/D+ on his first quizz Saturday. Look for improvements tomorrow, but don't despair yet if we don't make it out with a W, look for continued improvement and growth through the season. Tosh is the best recruiter in the NCAA and if he and the staff can get it together then this program is going to blossom.

---

Tosh was a low floor high ceiling hire. We knew the recruiting chops. We knew the love of Cal. We knew the drive and the effort.

What he doesn't have is experience. He has all the tools to be a great coach...but others with his same tools have failed spectacularly as well. We took a gamble and are stuck praying it pays off.

Chesney was a high floor hire. Very experienced. Brought in his guys as coordinators that were all experienced, on the same page and ready to go from day 1. I'm not convinced his ceiling is as high as Tosh's...but that doesn't mean he won't end up the better coach. The fact he had 15 years of experience and this is his first Power4 job isn't an accident. That doesn't mean he won't be the next Cignetti....but Cignetti is the outlier, not the norm. This was definitely the safe hire.

And the expectation should absolutely be he hits the ground running. That's a big part of why he was hired... Unfortunately Cal has that same need.

---

I knew about the recruiting chops.

I don't recall hearing anything about his supposed love of Cal during the 14 years between when he ditched us and when our big wigs decided he must be our new HC.

I don't know anything about this supposed drive and effort. I take for granted that up and coming coaches are driven and exert effort but I don't recall hearing things like young Tedford living out of his car as a entry-level coach or making his Cal office into his de facto sleeping quarters.

Also not sure what would make Chesney have a lower ceiling. First he build a D3 program into a winner, then he built a D2 program into a winner, then he built an FCS program into a winner, then cook over for Cignetti and brought JMU to the playoffs. Nothing there says lower ceiling to me.

---

Fair enough on the love of Cal. Many are still bitter about how he parted ways the first time and understandably so, so I don't want to minimize those feelings. He certainly has history at Cal being a graduate, with success as a player and a coach for the team.

I'm not sure you've been paying attention to the Tosh story if you haven't seen/read stories about his drive level / effort. As an example, the day he was announced he bought a ticket to Hawaii to meet with JKS. He then met with the family from 1:30am to 4:30am. He then grabbed a quick nap on the beach before taking the first flight back to Berkeley to resume his other responsibilities. This is one example but there are many. His efforts have been documented to go well beyond the football field as well. They include setting up / coordingating PR efforts with Newsome and working to get live concerts back at Memorial Stadium to raise funds. In fact, I have been concerned he spreads himself too thin / isn't focused enough on the football aspect.

His relentless drive/pursuit has constantly been sited as the root of his success as a recruiter. Tedford obsessed over the X's and O's and the gameplan. Tosh's focus may look different, but the drive is apparent.

As to Chesney's ceiling...I debated back and forth a bit. I think it has more to do with how I perceive Tosh's potential ceiling than a knock on Chesney. I also think its far more likely that Chesney hits his ceiling than Tosh hits the one I perceive for him. My perception is also undeniably skewed by how much we *need* Tosh to succeed combined with a lot of hopium.

---

That came out more scornful than I intended. Sorry about that.

I did read about that JKS recruiting trip. Not sure I can remember the other examples but I'm sure there are ones to point out. There practically have to be because it's very hard to rise to P4 HC without being seen to work hard. Which is why I said I take for granted that Tosh must be driven and willing to exert effort on an absolute scale but on a particular level full of such people, is this a special characteristic of Tosh? I brought up Tedford because his work ethic was said to be special (possibly to his personal detriment). I might not be in a position to know if Tosh is that (pathologically) hard working but if he is an especially hard worker among CFB HCs then of course I'm glad to hear it.


I see Tosh is generally well liked by football people, is a great sales talent who personally connects with players and I presume that he's hard working and determined to succeed. But those won't be enough by themselves. The X's and the O's and the gameplan and the management of the team as an organization of about 200 people including players, coaches and support staff are huge. It remains to be seen if Tosh as a football coach is capable of succeeding on that level.

---

Well some of that last part, "overseeing an organization of about 200 people," is Ron's job as GM, no?

---

Yeah, I'm sure there's some overlap. But I'm guessing Tosh's share is a big leap over what he's handled before.