These guys nailed it.

And this was before the UNLV game.






Are they wrong?

They are dead-on. I hadn't thought of the comparison to Orgeron, but that is soooo true. The hiring should have been an open process looking at ALL possible candidates. And next, an offensive-minded coach, please.

m2bear said:

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These guys nailed it.

And this was before the UNLV game.






Are they wrong?

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Ouch!

jy1988 said:

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They are dead-on. I hadn't thought of the comparison to Orgeron, but that is soooo true. The hiring should have been an open process looking at ALL possible candidates. And next, an offensive-minded coach, please.

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Sonny Dyke was an offensive-minded coach. I just want a good coach.

Temu Ed Orgeron. Ouch...but kinda funny and very accurate.

Yep it is indeed a complete disaster

The bit addresses inexperience with the OC, the DC, Special Teams, and no HC experience to boot.

But I thought Tosh had "all the contacts"?
And like Trump, he was only going to hire all the best people? I believe he said so in his announcement presser! People were already banging on his door.

So the OC Somerville had never called plays before other that 12 year old football?

Well, that wasn't good. Spot on piece. Interesting that they had JKS leaving, as did I. The fact that he returned meant that you had to bring in an o-line that was capable of protecting this kid. The fact that Tosh didn't, or that none of the guys he wanted actually decided to come to Cal suggests that something is amiss. And as we just saw this past Saturday, Clemson is not good.

Fire the OC, DC, and have Rivera, the magician, bring in guys that can get the job done - regardless of what Tosh wants.

concordtom said:

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The bit addresses inexperience with the OC, the DC, Special Teams, and no HC experience to boot.

But I thought Tosh had "all the contacts"?
And like Trump, he was only going to hire all the best people? I believe he said so in his announcement presser! People were already banging on his door.

So the OC Somerville had never called plays before other that 12 year old football?

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Giving Somerville the job was the moment I seriously questioned the Tosh hire. Hutchings you could kind of squint and make it make sense. He at least was a full-time position coach, played linebacker at the college level, and would serve under a defense minded HC. Somverille has been even worse than I could've even imagined. I thought with the sheer amount of talent we'd at least eek out a below average offense.

82gradDLSdad said:

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Temu Ed Orgeron. Ouch...but kinda funny and very accurate.

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The guy who won a Nattie?

Was thinking the same thing. Thought about the Orgeron comparison a long time ago, but realized it loses a lot of oomph considering the Natty.

They only thing they got wrong was that Tosh's incompetence was revealed after a month of football games. It was revealed during the UCLA game. At that point, it was already clear Cal botched the hire and needed to take immediate action to rectify it, including by demoting or replacing Temu Ed Orgeron.

Coach Brennan’s first season at Arizona was a catastrophe: 4–8, and the program needed a reset. He made the hard calls, fired the coordinators, brought in a new staff and changed the direction of the team. With those changes, Arizona is 13–5.

That’s an unbelievable job. Brennan… https://t.co/iMnPAJ4QVu pic.twitter.com/8zhqVCnyTH

— The cfb lliason (@realfbllliason) October 4, 2026

This is what Tosh needs to do. Not wait around but be proactive. Somerville needed to be GONE yesterday

wifeisafurd said:

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82gradDLSdad said:

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Temu Ed Orgeron. Ouch...but kinda funny and very accurate.

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The guy who won a Nattie?

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Hence the TEMU prefix. I'm sure Cal fans would love a NC but his short HC career was filled with craziness and erratic behavior and hirings. I guess if anyone can duplicate an Orgeron type of career it would be Tosh. But it was at a football school which Cal is not.

Oregon's offensive and defensive coordinators from a year ago both got head coaching jobs in December 2025. The offensive coordinator, Will Stein, was hired at Kentucky. He brought in 29 transfers for a top-ten class nationally; their record is currently 4-1, and they are in 5th place in the SEC. As his offensive coordinator, Stein hired Joe Sloan, Jayden Daniels' QB coach when he won the Heisman. Sloan was elevated to LSU offensive coordinator in 2024, and his offense ranked 7th nationally in passing. As defensive coordinator, Stein hired Jay Bateman, who was Texas A&M's defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, including the 2025 playoff team.

Bobodeluxe said:

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GoCal80 said:

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Oregon's offensive and defensive coordinators from a year ago both got head coaching jobs in December 2025. The offensive coordinator, Will Stein, was hired at Kentucky. He brought in 29 transfers for a top-ten class nationally; their record is currently 4-1, and they are in 5th place in the SEC. As his offensive coordinator, Stein hired Joe Sloan, Jayden Daniels' QB coach when he won the Heisman. Sloan was elevated to LSU offensive coordinator in 2024, and his offense ranked 7th nationally in passing. As defensive coordinator, Stein hired Jay Bateman, who was Texas A&M's defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, including the 2025 playoff team.

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So what are you trying to say?

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Ummmm. Maybe having rookies at every position on Cal's coaching staff from top to bottom wasn't the best idea. I don't know; maybe we hired the wrong assistant from Oregon and should have gone for their offensive coordinator.

GoCal80 said:

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Bobodeluxe said:

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GoCal80 said:

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Oregon's offensive and defensive coordinators from a year ago both got head coaching jobs in December 2025. The offensive coordinator, Will Stein, was hired at Kentucky. He brought in 29 transfers for a top-ten class nationally; their record is currently 4-1, and they are in 5th place in the SEC. As his offensive coordinator, Stein hired Joe Sloan, Jayden Daniels' QB coach when he won the Heisman. Sloan was elevated to LSU offensive coordinator in 2024, and his offense ranked 7th nationally in passing. As defensive coordinator, Stein hired Jay Bateman, who was Texas A&M's defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, including the 2025 playoff team.

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So what are you trying to say?

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Ummmm. Maybe having rookies at every position on Cal's coaching staff from top to bottom wasn't the best idea. I don't know; maybe we hired the wrong assistant from Oregon and should have gone for their offensive coordinator.

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I see. Well, are you implying that 300 former Berkeley Bears, along with various movers and shakers are, possibly, nuts?

Bobodeluxe said:

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GoCal80 said:

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Bobodeluxe said:

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GoCal80 said:

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Oregon's offensive and defensive coordinators from a year ago both got head coaching jobs in December 2025. The offensive coordinator, Will Stein, was hired at Kentucky. He brought in 29 transfers for a top-ten class nationally; their record is currently 4-1, and they are in 5th place in the SEC. As his offensive coordinator, Stein hired Joe Sloan, Jayden Daniels' QB coach when he won the Heisman. Sloan was elevated to LSU offensive coordinator in 2024, and his offense ranked 7th nationally in passing. As defensive coordinator, Stein hired Jay Bateman, who was Texas A&M's defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, including the 2025 playoff team.

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So what are you trying to say?

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Ummmm. Maybe having rookies at every position on Cal's coaching staff from top to bottom wasn't the best idea. I don't know; maybe we hired the wrong assistant from Oregon and should have gone for their offensive coordinator.

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I see. Well, are you implying that 300 former Berkeley Bears, along with various movers and shakers are, possibly, nuts?

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Group think?

GoCal80 said:

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Oregon's offensive and defensive coordinators from a year ago both got head coaching jobs in December 2025. The offensive coordinator, Will Stein, was hired at Kentucky. He brought in 29 transfers for a top-ten class nationally; their record is currently 4-1, and they are in 5th place in the SEC. As his offensive coordinator, Stein hired Joe Sloan, Jayden Daniels' QB coach when he won the Heisman. Sloan was elevated to LSU offensive coordinator in 2024, and his offense ranked 7th nationally in passing. As defensive coordinator, Stein hired Jay Bateman, who was Texas A&M's defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, including the 2025 playoff team.

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Look at Florida and UCLA. Gators coach John Sumrall, a head coach previously at Tulane and Troy, brought in OC Buster Faulkner from Georgia Tech where he oversaw that offense with QB Haynes King. His defensive coordinator was the DC at Kentucky the previous 7 seasons. Both guys were long time assistants at multiple stops.

UCLA HC Bob Chesney brought his OC/DC with him from James Madison. DC Colin Hitschler was DC at Cincinnati, Wisconsin and Alabama, besides his time at JMU. OC Dean Kennedy was QB coach at Florida with Dan Mullen and then has been on staff as OC with Chesney at Holy Cross and JMU. Chesney himself has been a HC for 16 years, working his way up from D3 to James Madison and now UCLA iirc. He brought 28 staff members from JMU to UCLA, as well as 12 plyers.

Now compare that amount of coaching experience to the current situation at Cal, which brought in a first time head coach along with two first time coordinators.

Bobodeluxe said:

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GoCal80 said:

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Bobodeluxe said:

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GoCal80 said:

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Oregon's offensive and defensive coordinators from a year ago both got head coaching jobs in December 2025. The offensive coordinator, Will Stein, was hired at Kentucky. He brought in 29 transfers for a top-ten class nationally; their record is currently 4-1, and they are in 5th place in the SEC. As his offensive coordinator, Stein hired Joe Sloan, Jayden Daniels' QB coach when he won the Heisman. Sloan was elevated to LSU offensive coordinator in 2024, and his offense ranked 7th nationally in passing. As defensive coordinator, Stein hired Jay Bateman, who was Texas A&M's defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, including the 2025 playoff team.

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So what are you trying to say?

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Ummmm. Maybe having rookies at every position on Cal's coaching staff from top to bottom wasn't the best idea. I don't know; maybe we hired the wrong assistant from Oregon and should have gone for their offensive coordinator.

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I see. Well, are you implying that 300 former Berkeley Bears, along with various movers and shakers are, o!possibly, nuts?

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Bingo!

Unlike the NFL, our Cal head coaching hiring decisions have to involve a search committee and a whole variety of miscellaneous constituencies. Not a good management model for a football team.

Thanks @alex_kirshner @CalAthletics pic.twitter.com/4FbBnxPDGx

— whiproute 🇵🇸 (@whiproute) October 6, 2026

GoCal80 said:

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Oregon's offensive and defensive coordinators from a year ago both got head coaching jobs in December 2025. The offensive coordinator, Will Stein, was hired at Kentucky. He brought in 29 transfers for a top-ten class nationally; their record is currently 4-1, and they are in 5th place in the SEC. As his offensive coordinator, Stein hired Joe Sloan, Jayden Daniels' QB coach when he won the Heisman. Sloan was elevated to LSU offensive coordinator in 2024, and his offense ranked 7th nationally in passing. As defensive coordinator, Stein hired Jay Bateman, who was Texas A&M's defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, including the 2025 playoff team.

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All to say that we are the NY Jets of CFB. Oregon (Lions) lost both their coordinators for HC jobs. OC went to Kentucky (Bears) and is now leading a 4-1 (3-1) team while DC went to Cal (Jets) and is now leading a 2-3 (1-3) team

GoCal80 said:

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Oregon's offensive and defensive coordinators from a year ago both got head coaching jobs in December 2025. The offensive coordinator, Will Stein, was hired at Kentucky. He brought in 29 transfers for a top-ten class nationally; their record is currently 4-1, and they are in 5th place in the SEC. As his offensive coordinator, Stein hired Joe Sloan, Jayden Daniels' QB coach when he won the Heisman. Sloan was elevated to LSU offensive coordinator in 2024, and his offense ranked 7th nationally in passing. As defensive coordinator, Stein hired Jay Bateman, who was Texas A&M's defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, including the 2025 playoff team.

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This kind of lays out Tosh's thinking to me. He wanted NFL guys... I'm starting to think "We prepare you for the NFL" was a big part of his recruiting pitch. There are certain reports that JKS expected an pro style NFL offense after Tosh's flight out to see him the day he was hired.

The problem, as demonstrated by the two coaches relative successes, is that there are reasons why the best college teams don't run pro style offenses. And those reasons are only increasing with transfer portals / NIL. NFL teams just have more time to spend practicing...and they have more experienced players to execute schemes. In college if you have the same player for 4 years you can coach them up to the next level...but 1 year mercenaries need simple schemes they can focus on executing...

Further, in the NFL the talent level really isn't that wide...everyone is big strong fast and good at their job. You have to get every ounce of advantage you can get with a level playing field.

College football isn't that. It's getting a bit more level with NIL and transfers...but the difference between the best guy and worst guy on any given roster is order of magnitude larger than the best guy in the NFL and the worst guy in the NFL.

You need to focus on executing and getting out of your own way...let the opponent make the mistake that costs the game instead of doing it yourself.

okaydo said:

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Thanks @alex_kirshner @CalAthletics pic.twitter.com/4FbBnxPDGx

— whiproute 🇵🇸 (@whiproute) October 6, 2026

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He's not wrong.

sycasey said:

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concernedparent said:

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concordtom said:

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The bit addresses inexperience with the OC, the DC, Special Teams, and no HC experience to boot.

But I thought Tosh had "all the contacts"?
And like Trump, he was only going to hire all the best people? I believe he said so in his announcement presser! People were already banging on his door.

So the OC Somerville had never called plays before other that 12 year old football?

---

Giving Somerville the job was the moment I seriously questioned the Tosh hire. Hutchings you could kind of squint and make it make sense. He at least was a full-time position coach, played linebacker at the college level, and would serve under a defense minded HC. Somverille has been even worse than I could've even imagined. I thought with the sheer amount of talent we'd at least eek out a below average offense.

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And perhaps not surprisingly, the defense has been reasonably competent while the offense is a trash fire.

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Our defense has been terrible.

There is no bright spot on this team outside of some individual plays.

The roll out of this effort to "save Cal football" could not have been any more disastrous if someone had been intentionally trying to sabotage the program. The intrigue for me for the rest of the season is to see (1) can we put a competitive team on the field for the Big Game and (2) can improvements be made to any of the team's many glaring deficiencies?