MoragaBear;842517969 said:

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Out of curiosity GHB, who do you would've helped the Cal defense if they stayed? I'd contend that it was injuries (especially in 2014) that hurt the D far more than departures.

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One could argue that we had so many injuries because the starters had to play so many minutes due to lack of competent backups.

dajo9;842517999 said:

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I don't object to the academic focus at all. I'm just less enthusiastic about the upcoming year than christopher. I don't think anybody outside of a few posi-bears in here expect us to compete for the North title this year. Me, personally, I predict a 6-6 season if Stanfurd's defense takes a big step back. Otherwise 5-7.

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that would mean pretty much mean no quantifiable progress between last season and this. the only thing you could say is that we're playing Texas instead of BYU, but in a year when the rest of the PAC are weak and with Goff in his 3rd year....wow that would be disappointing.

beeasyed;842518001 said:

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that would mean pretty much mean no quantifiable progress between last season and this. the only thing you could say is that we're playing Texas instead of BYU, but in a year when the rest of the PAC are weak and with Goff in his 3rd year....wow that would be disappointing.

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you ain't kidding. If we are a .500 team with a potential NFL first round QB in his 3rd year? Frankly Sonny should be fired on the spot. I'm much more optimistic than 5-7, 6-6.

grandmastapoop;842517909 said:

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One day we will find out that SonofCalVa is either Sonny/Sonny family member/PR person hired by Sonny or Cal. I am about as positive as you can be coming off 6 wins in 2 years and 9 in 3 years, but his posts manage to always spin every thing as far as possible in Sonny's favor, usually blaming any failings on Sonny's predecessor. Family member or hired gun...one of the two.

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I just think of him as SonnysDadInVa and it all makes sense.

I'm pretty bullish on the Bears this year, hoping to not be disappointed. A bowl game is a must.

dajo9;842517999 said:

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I don't object to the academic focus at all. I'm just less enthusiastic about the upcoming year than christopher. I don't think anybody outside of a few posi-bears in here expect us to compete for the North title this year. Me, personally, I predict a 6-6 season if Stanfurd's defense takes a big step back. Otherwise 5-7.

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Dajo, my original post was no parody at all. I'm really excited about the upcoming season and also the long term especially prognosis when looking at the academic caliber recruits Cal is bringing on, guys will be here longer and most importantly the intelligence of these guys will pay huge dividends on the field.

MoragaBear;842517969 said:

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Out of curiosity GHB, who do you would've helped the Cal defense if they stayed? I'd contend that it was injuries (especially in 2014) that hurt the D far more than departures.

As for Lovett, his body of work -especially at the collegiate level- would seem to outweigh his recent results with the Eagles.

Could be a personnel issue or bad fit or that he's simply a better college coach than pro, unless he's simply lost it, which I very much doubt.

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I agree,
people just like looking for the negative in everything. Sure the guy looks bad at the Eagles, but why did he get hired by the eagles? Because he was the best available college guy out there. Some times players. especially pros, dont like a guy and tune him out. At least he succeeded in the SEC. Heck, look at Burns body of work last year concluding with the job against BYU, resulting in MC Clure saying "We need to be coached better" and Avery transferring, yet some of you criticize a top college defensive coach? did you see how wide open guys were in that game?

Shees - Who, based on their entire body of work, would you rather have this guy or Burns? I'm happy to have both. I believe Burns is going to learn a lot from this guy who will leave after a year - guaranteed.

elpbear;842518007 said:

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I just think of him as SonnysDadInVa and it all makes sense.
But I'm always stoned and imagine many stupid things that seem to make sense..

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fify

MaximusArelliusDaBearius;842518010 said:

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I agree, people just like looking for the negative in everything.

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Irony - lots of people are saying positive things, but you decided to... yeah. That.

SonOfCalVa;842518012 said:

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fify

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LOL, that was funny. Thanks, I needed a laugh.

In reality, I'm sure you're not Sonny's dad, because I am sure he's a great guy and not a complete idiot.

moonpod;842518006 said:

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you ain't kidding. If we are a .500 team with a potential NFL first round QB in his 3rd year? Frankly Sonny should be fired on the spot. I'm much more optimistic than 5-7, 6-6.

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I think we can be a better team than last year and still finish 5-7 due to the schedule. 5-7 has us losing to:
@Texas
@Oregon
@UCLA
USC
@Utah
Arizona State
@Stanford

Granted, we could win some of those games, but do you feel confident about any of them?

dajo9;842518017 said:

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I think we can be a better team than last year and still finish 5-7 due to the schedule. 5-7 has us losing to:
@Texas
@Oregon
@UCLA
USC
@Utah
Arizona State
@Stanford

Granted, we could win some of those games, but do you feel confident about any of them?

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if quantifying it helps, i think we have better than a 50% chance against Utah, and around a 40-50% against Texas, LA, and Stanfurd. sure we could get marginally "better" and still be 5-7, but that would not be significant improvement by any measure. not with the talent and experience we finally have. we SHOULD be able to win 8.

In order of confidence

1. Utah
2. Texas
3. UCLA
4. Stanfurd
5. ASU
6. Oregon
7. $C

whole thing comes down to does the defense improve? If the defense improves by ONE TOUCHDOWN less a game than yes, I feel damn good about beating texas, utah, ucla, the furd and ASU frankly. If the defense however stays in the nether regions of where it was last year, then absolutely the season Dajo forsees (marginal offensive improvement only) will occur and IMO, that should lead to Sonny being fired on the spot. That won't happen, but he won't get extended which will mean he's a dead man walking anyways.

dajo9;842517862 said:

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I hope Lovett and Burns work well together. This has a desperate look to it, but after the last two years desperate may be appropriate.

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He seems like a solid hire. In fact the entire defensive staff looks like solid hires. Everyone knows our defense needs massive improvement. But given the coaching hires and recruiting success, I'm not smelling desperation here.

beeasyed;842518018 said:

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if quantifying it helps, i think we have better than a 50% chance against Utah, and around a 40-50% against Texas, LA, and Stanfurd. sure we could get marginally "better" and still be 5-7, but that would not be significant improvement by any measure. not with the talent and experience we finally have. we SHOULD be able to win 8.

In order of confidence

1. Utah
2. Texas
3. UCLA
4. Stanfurd
5. ASU
6. Oregon
7. $C

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IMO you are not giving full credit to how difficult the Utah game will be:
1. Utah was a strong team in 2014 and does not appear to have lost much.
2. Utah is high up in the Mountains.
3. Utah is an away game.

Of the seven listed
I would rank them from less difficult to more difficult:
1. Texas
2. Stanfurd
3. Utah
4. Oregon
5. UCLA
6. ASU
7. $C

68great;842518030 said:

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IMO you are not giving full credit to how difficult the Utah game will be:
1. Utah was a strong team in 2014 and does not appear to have lost much.
2. Utah is high up in the Mountains.
3. Utah is an away game.

Of the seven listed
I would rank them from less difficult to more difficult:
1. Texas
2. Stanfurd
3. Utah
4. Oregon
5. UCLA
6. ASU
7. $C

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they also have a terrible offense, and have lost 2-3 defensive starters in the offseason, and....their Defensive Coordinator + DL coach. considering that was their strong point, i think it'll be a big impact for them.

this seems like a decent hire given how incredibly late in the game it is but his resume isn't really inspiring. Reminds me of Marshall's resume (the OL coach). Never able to stick anywhere. Swings up and down (the number of promotions and demotions on Lovett's resume seems unusual). Looks like he was once hired by Buddy Teevans.

To me the defense will improve, the question I have is how much? We have many returning starters, there seems to be an established d line rotation at this point, linebackers are solid, White at corner is solid, I think someone steps up at the other corner and at nickel. Safety seems to be an issue but it has been an issue the last two years. Having two DB coaches will help with the guys coming in. On paper the defense is improved and I believe it has improved on the field also. The other thing that I think makes the defense better is Cal should have a pretty good run game this year, with Goff stepping up to another level and all receivers back except Harper I see the running game opening up as opposing D's will have to protect against the pass. A solid running game will keep the defense of the field and allow us to protect leads.

As for wins I think we beat Texas, I attempt follow other teams and leagues and from what I'm seeing Texas is not that good.
Utah should be a win also, they lost a lot of players.
UCLA will no doubt be better defensively but the offense takes a step back this year. I think its a close game and Cal pulls it out.
Stanfurd is another team I think took a step back but who knows on this one.
ASU tough D and well coached, Id say its a tossup
Oregon is a question mark, a new QB usually means your not going to have the success you had in the past but hey its Oregon, I think Oregon wins but not in the blowout fashion they have done so recently.
USC, we played em close last year lost by 8, I think if there's a big improvement in defense as in their top receiver doesn't have a career game we win this one.

grandmastapoop;842517958 said:

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Did a little research on him. This is a bit troubling:

"In Lovett’s two years here, the Eagles allowed an NFL-high 8,874 passing yards."

A lot more goes into passing yards allowed than simply a coach's abilities, but it's at least something to be aware of.

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It seems that Cal allowed a FBS-high 8,498 passing yards from 2013-2014 so it is indeed a little concerning. Granted, more games in the NFL played and higher talent level attacking that secondary but still trying to solve a last place FBS finish in pass defense with last place and second-to-last place NFL pass defense does provide reason for some skepticism.

okaydo;842517855 said:

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John Lovett to coach CBs.

Sonny Dykes to couch outside WRs.

http://www.calbears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30100&ATCLID=210236659

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[COLOR=#292929][FONT=Mercury SSm A] "Lovett is coming off two years with Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles,[/FONT][/COLOR] where he was demoted to scout duty after two last place and next-to-last place finishes in the NFL in pass defense[COLOR=#292929][FONT=Mercury SSm A]."

Really-is this the best hire we can come up with?[/FONT][/COLOR]

looks good to me

MoragaBear;842517969 said:

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Out of curiosity GHB, who do you would've helped the Cal defense if they stayed? I'd contend that it was injuries (especially in 2014) that hurt the D far more than departures.

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Not GHB but I will throw out some names. Would have been nice if Steve Williams stuck around for 2013 and KamJack stuck around for 2014. They weren't killers in and of themselves, but when combined with injuries they resulted in guys who weren't ready for action seeing way too many snaps. Injuries were the larger contributor and perhaps those guys weren't able so stay on the team due to academics, but regardless of the reason it's hard to argue we are a better team in 2013 with Isaac Lapite getting snaps than Steve Williams. Would we have gotten smoked by tOSU with Williams in the secondary? Probably but not definitely.

Similarly I would have liked to have seen what our secondary would have been like with KamJack last year. I think he would have given us a lot of good snaps and helped us deal with all of those injuries.

Anybody know where the Eagles stood on yards given up per play? I presume that the defense was out there a lot with Kelley running his no huddle offense. Also, are the same Eagles' DB's coming back this year under different coaches? Or have the Eagles had to come up with some better players?

Turnover is inevitable with a regime change and we should stop bellyaching about it. The defensive staff seems pretty capable and complete and it is now year two of Kaufman. We should expect to see some signs of improvement and frankly if there isn't any, considering where we have been in the last two years, I would be very surprised and disappointed.

Unit2Sucks;842518048 said:

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Not GHB but I will throw out some names. Would have been nice if Steve Williams stuck around for 2013 and KamJack stuck around for 2014. They weren't killers in and of themselves, but when combined with injuries they resulted in guys who weren't ready for action seeing way too many snaps. Injuries were the larger contributor and perhaps those guys weren't able so stay on the team due to academics, but regardless of the reason it's hard to argue we are a better team in 2013 with Isaac Lapite getting snaps than Steve Williams. Would we have gotten smoked by tOSU with Williams in the secondary? Probably but not definitely.

Similarly I would have liked to have seen what our secondary would have been like with KamJack last year. I think he would have given us a lot of good snaps and helped us deal with all of those injuries.

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would've liked to have seen Tagaloa, Okafor, Hunter, Ragin, and Whitener stay. not necessarily in that order.

beeasyed;842518067 said:

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would've liked to have seen Tagaloa, Okafor, Hunter, Ragin, and Whitener stay. not necessarily in that order.

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Yep. I was just addressing the secondary but certainly there were guys in the front 7 whose return could have helped a weary defense. Of course, not all would have been eligible to play and that's not on SonnyofSonofCalVa (eg Dykes).

beeasyed;842518067 said:

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would've liked to have seen Tagaloa, Okafor, Hunter, Ragin, and Whitener stay. not necessarily in that order.

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Are hunter and whitener still in football? Okafor?

MoragaBear;842518083 said:

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Hunter's at Sam Houston State. Okafor quit football to focus on school. Whitener's at Oklahoma State and had to sit out a year in the transfer. Ragin mainly played special teams for Oregon and had 13 tackles in his sophomore season.

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I'll include recruits who were all but certain to come to Cal until the Exodus. Guys like Koa Farmer.

Farmer turned into a LB. not really a need. Wadood on the other hand....

I think Farmer would've found his way into the lineup as a safety at Cal last year even though he's moved to LB at Penn State. No idea how good he would've been but I'm pretty sure he would've been better than what we had. We were down to playing walk-on WRs at Safety last year.

I wouldn't include Wadood since it didn't seem like he was coming anyways.

yoshibear;842517902 said:

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Is that where Perry Klein went?

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That's the guys who did back flips right?

hanky1;842518098 said:

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I think Farmer would've found his way into the lineup as a safety at Cal last year even though he's moved to LB at Penn State. No idea how good he would've been but I'm pretty sure he would've been better than what we had. We were down to playing walk-on WRs at Safety last year.

I wouldn't include Wadood since it didn't seem like he was coming anyways.

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how do you draw that conclusion after Wadood silently committed to Cal, made it public at The Opening, and then endured 7 or 8 awful games in the season before decommitting?

that was a weak, imbalanced class. don't think it was a big surprise our top guys bailed.