Unconfirmed at this point, but it appears as though Mike Blasquez has been relieved of his duties as the Cal Strength and Conditional Coach.

Given Dykes' comments regarding the general shape the team was in during spring practices, this shouldn't come as much of a shock.

Unfortunate, but necessary.

He sucked, guess I can't say I did not see this coming.

The only results were our OL getting blown off the line of scrimmage all season and guys constantly getting hurt.

Hire one of the dudes at Stanfurd for all I care anything would be better.

I think many of us expected this after last year's injury plagued season and the public feud with McCain, however, we know that a few players were slackers in the weight room and bad luck might also have played a part. Hopefully our luck turns and the new coaching staff will not be as forgiving of would be starters missing time in the weight room or time in class. The recalcitrants were a minority and I want to emphasize that.

BlueAndGold;842122630 said:

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Unfortunate, but necessary.

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I actually think it is fortunate to get rid of him now before he does more damage....let us know when we get a new S&C coach and who it is....thanks.

BearInNeb;842122629 said:

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Unconfirmed at this point, but it appears as though Mike Blasquez has been relieved of his duties as the Cal Strength and Conditional Coach.

Given Dykes' comments regarding the general shape the team was in during spring practices, this shouldn't come as much of a shock.

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I'm surprised it took so long given the rapidity with which our other coaches were dismissed.

Don't really know why he wasn't let go earlier. Hopefully we get a new one in time to reverse any bad habits before the season starts. Are S&C coaches allowed to hold workout sessions during the off season?

Even though the S&C coach is supposedly not for FB only - I fully expect the S&C staff to resemble people more in synch with the Dykes-Franklin conditioning approach ....

So no more MMA style training? We threw the best elbows in the PAC 12!

This is ironic. I thought Blasquez was supposed to be an improvement as he was already well known as a trainer in the athletic dept. The only change was to make him more available to the football program. That was my understanding.

Maybe the new facilities are so high tech that you need a manual to use them and then they lost the manual...hate that when that happens.:headbang

I'm glad to know that Dykes has high enough standards to demand changes in the off-season. Under JT, the timeline for change was usually 2 years (see Marshall and Daft). I think this also sends a message to the players that conditioning is going to be taken very seriously. It wouldn't surprise me if the final depth charts come down to issues of conditioning.

Wow I remember when some people were worried that Tosh would take Blasquez with him up to UW....

This is great news! I feel little sympathy. Whatever, he had to go.

I think these are reported more than purported, but that's just me.

turkey02;842122656 said:

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I think these are reported more than purported, but that's just me.

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Ya talkin' turkey?

SoCalBear323;842122658 said:

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Ya talkin' turkey?

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Proper Oxford Turkey

I try to never say anything mean about the players, who are (for all their size and strength) just kids who are laying their bodies and their health on the line for our school every time they take the field.

I do not feel the same way about our coaches. This is a long overdue change. I was shocked when Blasquez was the only coach retained given our obvious conditioning/injury problems without even getting into the mess with McCain. I know people said at the time that this wasn't a FB only decision, but come on. He needed to go.

Sebastabear;842122664 said:

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I try to never say anything mean about the players, who are (for all their size and strength) just kids who are laying their bodies and their health on the line for our school every time they take the field.

I do not feel the same way about our coaches. This is a long overdue change. I was shocked when Blasquez was the only coach retained given our obvious conditioning/injury problems without even getting into the mess with McCain. I know people said at the time that this wasn't a FB only decision, but come on. He needed to go.

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Since it's now been mentioned a second time, could you fill me in on McCain? I know he's been injured a great deal. And some felt he was not gaining enough muscle mass. Some reports suggested that McCain himself felt that some Cal players weren't trying hard enough. Other reports claimed that McCain was not sucking it up enough to play through his injuries. The end result is that I've been pretty confused about McCain for a while. I like the fire and the effort and upside. But I remain concerned about his skinniness and his susceptibiliity to injury.

Surprised he wasn't let go in the beginning of transition... As far as McCain goes I've never questioned his effort and work ethics... He did a great job last year playing through the injuries

and unconfirmed = rumor...but that's okay..the Tedford conspiracy theorists will live on indefinitely..and anyway, it wasn't that our OL has been outplayed and pussy..they just weren't trained correctly..got it..Sunny deDykes will take care of that!!

There was universal praise on this site when he came over from DLS.

Bobodeluxe;842122675 said:

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There was universal praise on this site when he came over from DLS.

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Change is good..... until it isn't.

Bobodeluxe;842122675 said:

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There was universal praise on this site when he came over from DLS.

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You make it sound like people have learned nothing new, seen no results since that decision that might possibly affect the way they might think.

Bobodeluxe;842122675 said:

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There was universal praise on this site when he came over from DLS.

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That's because some worship everything DLS

ayetee11;842122690 said:

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That's because some worship everything DLS

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Nah, I don't think that's it. The players were tweeting like crazy about how tough his workouts were and how they were getting "Blasquez'd" because they were so tough and they were going to be in such great shape come the season (I believe this was pre-2011?).

But, on these forums, there was lots of badmouthing of the former S&C guy, Coach K (especially by insiders who had praised him for years), implying that he was a meathead who had players overlift and all he knew was lifting. They said Blasquez was more knowledgeable about alternative strength training (resistance, plyo, etc.).

When the players began tweeting about the hard workouts, people here did go apesh-t, though. However, I'd say it was warranted - when players are talking about what great conditioning workouts they are getting, it makes sense to assume they'd be better conditioned.

Also, Blasquez hadn't been at DLS in nearly ten years - he had worked with basketball/other sports at Cal in the meantime.

grandmastapoop;842122692 said:

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Nah, I don't think that's it. The players were tweeting like crazy about how tough his workouts were and how they were getting "Blasquez'd" because they were so tough and they were going to be in such great shape come the season (I believe this was pre-2011?).

But, on these forums, there was lots of badmouthing of the former S&C guy, Coach K (especially by insiders who had praised him for years), implying that he was a meathead who had players overlift and all he knew was lifting. They said Blasquez was more knowledgeable about alternative strength training (resistance, plyo, etc.).

When the players began tweeting about the hard workouts, people here did go apesh-t, though. However, I'd say it was warranted - when players are talking about what great conditioning workouts they are getting, it makes sense to assume they'd be better conditioned.

Also, Blasquez hadn't been at DLS in nearly ten years - he had worked with basketball/other sports at Cal in the meantime.

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So maybe we should hire the current DLS S&C coach.

grandmastapoop;842122692 said:

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Nah, I don't think that's it. The players were tweeting like crazy about how tough his workouts were and how they were getting "Blasquez'd" because they were so tough and they were going to be in such great shape come the season (I believe this was pre-2011?).

But, on these forums, there was lots of badmouthing of the former S&C guy, Coach K (especially by insiders who had praised him for years), implying that he was a meathead who had players overlift and all he knew was lifting. They said Blasquez was more knowledgeable about alternative strength training (resistance, plyo, etc.).

When the players began tweeting about the hard workouts, people here did go apesh-t, though. However, I'd say it was warranted - when players are talking about what great conditioning workouts they are getting, it makes sense to assume they'd be better conditioned.

Also, Blasquez hadn't been at DLS in nearly ten years - he had worked with basketball/other sports at Cal in the meantime.

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I think Blasquez was the lead for basketball for 8 years and was highly praised when Sanders-Frison showed up for his senior year in buff shape

grandmastapoop;842122692 said:

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Nah, I don't think that's it. The players were tweeting like crazy about how tough his workouts were and how they were getting "Blasquez'd" because they were so tough and they were going to be in such great shape come the season (I believe this was pre-2011?).

But, on these forums, there was lots of badmouthing of the former S&C guy, Coach K (especially by insiders who had praised him for years), implying that he was a meathead who had players overlift and all he knew was lifting. They said Blasquez was more knowledgeable about alternative strength training (resistance, plyo, etc.).

When the players began tweeting about the hard workouts, people here did go apesh-t, though. However, I'd say it was warranted - when players are talking about what great conditioning workouts they are getting, it makes sense to assume they'd be better conditioned.

Also, Blasquez hadn't been at DLS in nearly ten years - he had worked with basketball/other sports at Cal in the meantime.

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:rollinglaugh:

Hard to believe it didn't work out, then.

Can someone give a summary of the 'public McCain incident?'

Or reference to original thread?

buster99;842122713 said:

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I think Blasquez was the lead for basketball for 8 years and was highly praised when Sanders-Frison showed up for his senior year in buff shape

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Also I remember Brandon Smith came back I think for his sophomore year (his best year I believe) all lean and mean. Contrast that to UCLA's Josh Smith, who never could lose even a little weight over the summer.

DilbungLavingson;842122854 said:

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Can someone give a summary of the 'public McCain incident?'

Or reference to original thread?

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tl;dr they got in some kind of disagreement and McCain tweeted about being disrespected and even said that he'd like to see Blas on the 50, or something to that extent

Very pleased to hear that we're changing direction. It was an absolute necessity. Just surprised it took so long.

What happened? Weren't all the players raving about Blas last summer?

pingpong2;842122925 said:

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What happened? Weren't all the players raving about Blas last summer?

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The Greeks said he had to go, or they would stop drinking at the games.

Just kidding. Really.

BlueAndGold;842122891 said:

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tl;dr they got in some kind of disagreement and McCain tweeted about being disrespected and even said that he'd like to see Blas on the 50, or something to that extent

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Was this before or after the coaching change?

At any rate it seems SD gave Blasquez a shot but wasn't satisfied with the way things were going. Early indications with him seem to be that while he's personable with the media, at the same time he's not afraid to pull the trigger and be a "bad guy" behind the scenes. Good combo IMO.

Would love to hear MB's take on what happened, and who might be coming in!!!!