There is little question that right now the performance of the Cal Bears has been extremely disappointing and that the fans are unhappy. Much of the blame for this has to be laid at the feet of Jeff Tedford, who as head coach is ultimately responsible for the preparation of the team. The question then must be, why is a man who was so successful just a decade ago, failing so miserably this year.
I think the start of the answer to this questoin can be found in Tedford's biography. From that you can build a picture of the types of offenses the man was exposed to, and start to theorize what he's looking to do now.
Tedford was a QB for Fresno state and then played several seasons in the CFL in the late 80's early 90's. In my mind this is critical. Back then most teams in the CFL used a variant of what is now called the "Vertical Passing" offense. Good examples of that offense would be the Pittsburgh Stealers back when they had Bradshaw at QB, Swann and Stallworth as the WRs and Harris as the RB, or the Miami Dolphins of the mid-70's back when they had a season where they went 17-0. The Oakland Raiders also used this offense for many years.
This offense is a modificatoin of the smash-mouth philosophy. The change is that in addition to basing the offense around a solid run game, the QB is expected to be able to stretch the defense with long passes. Mobility isn't much of a concern for the QB, and in reality there isn't many reads. When a pass is called, its usually a 7 step drop and then a long pass.
After Tedford retired he became a coach as Fresno State, where he was given credit for the emergence of Trent Dilfer and later David Carr (although he was at Oregon when Carr was a sophomore.). I don't know much about the offense at Fresno state, but back then the conference was not known for fierce defenses. Pocket Passers could do well in the conference.
Tedford moved to Oregon, which is where the QB Guru label was solidified, but here is where you start to see some of the flaws. The 2 QBs he is given credit for coaching were Akili Smith and Joey Harrington. Smith was a mobile QB with indifferent accuracy. Tedford helped Smith stand in the pocket and trust in his blockers. He then helped in the development of the offense that gave Harrington a true chance to shine. Although there were elements of the spread starting to appear, the base of the offense was still a vertical passing scheme.
Then Tedford landed at Cal. He brought in a solid offensive philosophy. The offensive line quickly gelled and gave Kyle Boller plenty of time to throw. the NFL scouts looked at the development of Kyle Boller and declared Tedford a true QB guru because he took a QB that had struggled for years and turned him into a star. But what most people missed was the running game. in 2002 Joe Igber an unheralded RB ran for nearly 1200 yards. It was this that helped the team turn around from the 1-10 season.
2003 and 2004 were definitely the best seasons that Tedford had at Cal. He "discovered" a pocket passing QB in Rodgers who had an accurate and powerful arm. Teams feared the ability that Rodgers had to throw deep and the team had WRs like MacArthur who could stretch defenses. The amount of fear that Rodgers generated was a huge part of why J.J. Arrington ran for more than 2100 yards in 2004.
But 2005 was definitely a mental shock to Tedford. His choice for QB (Longshore) was injured in the first game, and due to the fact that he'd recruited JC transfer QBs twice in the past 3 years he didn't have another pocket passer as a backup. Instead he was forced to play Joe Ayoob. In many ways Ayoob was similar to Akili Smith in that he was a mobile, but inaccurate QB. However, this time Tedford didn't manage to build up Ayoob's confidence quickly. At first Ayoob wasn't terrible, but teams figured out that he didn't have a strong arm. So they developed a simple defense. Stop or slow the running game and crowd all short passing routes.
It worked. Ayoob never did well throwing long, and his confidence shrank as the season progressed. By the end of the season Tedford was forced to replace Ayoob with Steve Levy. There is no questoin in my mind that his had a huge effect on Tedford's psyche. The vertical passing system that he was tied to had failed. Waht bothers me is that it appears he blamed the system, but didn't accept his own problems. The issue was that Ayoob was not the right QB for a vertical passing system. And rather than adjust the system, Tedford tried to force him to play in a system he was not suited for.
So we come to 2006. Tedford having learned the wrong lesson from 2005 brings in Dunbar to add "elements of the spread" to the offense. The funny thing is that Longshore was the perfect QB for a vertical passing scheme.
2007 I think was the final nail in the coffin of what I consider Tedford's "breakdown". Longshore was injured in the Oregon game and then Riley made a mental mistake.
The mental mistake was the big thing. Deep down I believe that Tedford always thought that any QB he coached would be perfect mentally. The discovery that Riley could make a mistake broke him. There is no question in my mind that the reason he kept sending Longshore out in game after game was due to the error Riley made. In Tedford's mind a QB that could make that level of mental mistake was unable to win games, so he stuck with Longshore rather than play Riley.
Since then we've seen this flaw emerge in more than just QB selection. Tedford completely abandoned the idea of holding to just one offense after 2007. But deep down the key elements remained.
The offense is expected to run the ball well.
The QB is expected to have a powerful and accurate arm that teams fear.
The QB is to avoid sacks and if possible avoid hits altogether. Few QB runs are called and the option will not be a huge part of the offense.
----
The funny thing is that I don't believe that Tedford even recognizes what he is doing with the offense anymore. The foundation of his belief in offense systems was damaged in 2005 and destroyed in 2007. since then he has had no focus for his offense. The problems with Bigelow getting playing time is a symptom of the same mental breakdown. Tedford can no longer forgive a mental mistake by an underclassman.
I'll admit I have been down on Tedford since 2007 when he kept sending an injured Longshore out to start in game after game. Anyone watching the team objectively could see that Longshore was unable to step into his throws and was terrified of any additional contact. Teams knew that the long pass was no longer an option for Cal and the offense suffocated under an unrelenting pressure at the LOS.
And that pressure has never ended. The USC game demonstrated it perfectly as USC had their OLB's crowd the LOS and jumping on any outside running plays stuffing Sofele for a loss several times.
I'm pretty sure that Tedford has no idea that this is happening. The lack of a mental anchor for his offense leaves him unable to see the flaws in the offensive play, nor in the talents of the players on the field. In the end, this must be his downfall.
I think the start of the answer to this questoin can be found in Tedford's biography. From that you can build a picture of the types of offenses the man was exposed to, and start to theorize what he's looking to do now.
Tedford was a QB for Fresno state and then played several seasons in the CFL in the late 80's early 90's. In my mind this is critical. Back then most teams in the CFL used a variant of what is now called the "Vertical Passing" offense. Good examples of that offense would be the Pittsburgh Stealers back when they had Bradshaw at QB, Swann and Stallworth as the WRs and Harris as the RB, or the Miami Dolphins of the mid-70's back when they had a season where they went 17-0. The Oakland Raiders also used this offense for many years.
This offense is a modificatoin of the smash-mouth philosophy. The change is that in addition to basing the offense around a solid run game, the QB is expected to be able to stretch the defense with long passes. Mobility isn't much of a concern for the QB, and in reality there isn't many reads. When a pass is called, its usually a 7 step drop and then a long pass.
After Tedford retired he became a coach as Fresno State, where he was given credit for the emergence of Trent Dilfer and later David Carr (although he was at Oregon when Carr was a sophomore.). I don't know much about the offense at Fresno state, but back then the conference was not known for fierce defenses. Pocket Passers could do well in the conference.
Tedford moved to Oregon, which is where the QB Guru label was solidified, but here is where you start to see some of the flaws. The 2 QBs he is given credit for coaching were Akili Smith and Joey Harrington. Smith was a mobile QB with indifferent accuracy. Tedford helped Smith stand in the pocket and trust in his blockers. He then helped in the development of the offense that gave Harrington a true chance to shine. Although there were elements of the spread starting to appear, the base of the offense was still a vertical passing scheme.
Then Tedford landed at Cal. He brought in a solid offensive philosophy. The offensive line quickly gelled and gave Kyle Boller plenty of time to throw. the NFL scouts looked at the development of Kyle Boller and declared Tedford a true QB guru because he took a QB that had struggled for years and turned him into a star. But what most people missed was the running game. in 2002 Joe Igber an unheralded RB ran for nearly 1200 yards. It was this that helped the team turn around from the 1-10 season.
2003 and 2004 were definitely the best seasons that Tedford had at Cal. He "discovered" a pocket passing QB in Rodgers who had an accurate and powerful arm. Teams feared the ability that Rodgers had to throw deep and the team had WRs like MacArthur who could stretch defenses. The amount of fear that Rodgers generated was a huge part of why J.J. Arrington ran for more than 2100 yards in 2004.
But 2005 was definitely a mental shock to Tedford. His choice for QB (Longshore) was injured in the first game, and due to the fact that he'd recruited JC transfer QBs twice in the past 3 years he didn't have another pocket passer as a backup. Instead he was forced to play Joe Ayoob. In many ways Ayoob was similar to Akili Smith in that he was a mobile, but inaccurate QB. However, this time Tedford didn't manage to build up Ayoob's confidence quickly. At first Ayoob wasn't terrible, but teams figured out that he didn't have a strong arm. So they developed a simple defense. Stop or slow the running game and crowd all short passing routes.
It worked. Ayoob never did well throwing long, and his confidence shrank as the season progressed. By the end of the season Tedford was forced to replace Ayoob with Steve Levy. There is no questoin in my mind that his had a huge effect on Tedford's psyche. The vertical passing system that he was tied to had failed. Waht bothers me is that it appears he blamed the system, but didn't accept his own problems. The issue was that Ayoob was not the right QB for a vertical passing system. And rather than adjust the system, Tedford tried to force him to play in a system he was not suited for.
So we come to 2006. Tedford having learned the wrong lesson from 2005 brings in Dunbar to add "elements of the spread" to the offense. The funny thing is that Longshore was the perfect QB for a vertical passing scheme.
2007 I think was the final nail in the coffin of what I consider Tedford's "breakdown". Longshore was injured in the Oregon game and then Riley made a mental mistake.
The mental mistake was the big thing. Deep down I believe that Tedford always thought that any QB he coached would be perfect mentally. The discovery that Riley could make a mistake broke him. There is no question in my mind that the reason he kept sending Longshore out in game after game was due to the error Riley made. In Tedford's mind a QB that could make that level of mental mistake was unable to win games, so he stuck with Longshore rather than play Riley.
Since then we've seen this flaw emerge in more than just QB selection. Tedford completely abandoned the idea of holding to just one offense after 2007. But deep down the key elements remained.
The offense is expected to run the ball well.
The QB is expected to have a powerful and accurate arm that teams fear.
The QB is to avoid sacks and if possible avoid hits altogether. Few QB runs are called and the option will not be a huge part of the offense.
----
The funny thing is that I don't believe that Tedford even recognizes what he is doing with the offense anymore. The foundation of his belief in offense systems was damaged in 2005 and destroyed in 2007. since then he has had no focus for his offense. The problems with Bigelow getting playing time is a symptom of the same mental breakdown. Tedford can no longer forgive a mental mistake by an underclassman.
I'll admit I have been down on Tedford since 2007 when he kept sending an injured Longshore out to start in game after game. Anyone watching the team objectively could see that Longshore was unable to step into his throws and was terrified of any additional contact. Teams knew that the long pass was no longer an option for Cal and the offense suffocated under an unrelenting pressure at the LOS.
And that pressure has never ended. The USC game demonstrated it perfectly as USC had their OLB's crowd the LOS and jumping on any outside running plays stuffing Sofele for a loss several times.
I'm pretty sure that Tedford has no idea that this is happening. The lack of a mental anchor for his offense leaves him unable to see the flaws in the offensive play, nor in the talents of the players on the field. In the end, this must be his downfall.