Jared and his receivers are gone, jobs well done! ... enter "pre-junior-Jared" QB with a big experienced OL and new WRs and RBs with great potential for increased YAC ... should be lots of fun. Maybe now, RPO where the R is designed and possible.

Bobodeluxe;842644566 said:

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This reads like a return to late JT O.

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Far from it actually -- spav's actually a ballsy MF.


This is probably one of the best calls that I've seen Spav make in his career:

[video=youtube;-frHahVlUuU][/video]

Go to 2:05 ish

4&5 down 17-7 -- pre-snap WVU shows a man across blitz, but TAMU realizes that leaves an ILB in coverage on their RB (who would typically set in pass pro in a 6 man protection) -- QB checks into something special that you can tell Spav installed -- RB runs a route right through the middle of the defense and catches the WVU LB flat footed, easy TD.

Ballsy call, but that's what you like to see from your OC.

I don't like this hire.

Strykur;842644586 said:

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I don't like this hire.

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Whom would you have hired?

killa22;842644580 said:

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Far from it actually -- spav's actually a ballsy MF.


This is probably one of the best calls that I've seen Spav make in his career:

[video=youtube;-frHahVlUuU][/video]

Go to 2:05 ish

4&5 down 17-7 -- pre-snap WVU shows a man across blitz, but TAMU realizes that leaves an ILB in coverage on their RB (who would typically set in pass pro in a 6 man protection) -- QB checks into something special that you can tell Spav installed -- RB runs a route right through the middle of the defense and catches the WVU LB flat footed, easy TD.

Ballsy call, but that's what you like to see from your OC.

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nice post ... but seeing red/white against blue/gold is disconcerting ...

SurvivorOf1and10fkaLEA;842644587 said:

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Whom would you have hired?

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Anybody else. Texas fans are already commenting about their increased optimism regarding our game this fall.

SonOfCalVa;842644549 said:

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A&M's mess wasn't his doing as shown in the OC revolving door there - which is on the HC.

Jones has taken over the OL, it's HIS unit and he's no longer burdened by other people's blocking scheme, like stupid VS.

The OL will run block and pass protect as Jones wants ... and he's very well liked and respected ... because he's tough.
Once the VS was diminished, then cast aside, the results have been very noticeable. 2015 showed increasing OL results. Now, with all of 2016 ahead, four starters returning including a solid Cochran at LT, experienced reserves ready to compete, and recruits coming in, OL battles will be fun to see and hear about. Uluave foregoing his mission is like getting him as another recruit again, with his 'shirt year in Jones' system under his belt.

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I hear ya and want to believe, but that chart showed the A&M offense humming along quite well in 2012 and 2013 with different OC leadership combos under Sumlin (2012 being his first season as HC there). The last two seasons under Spavital, it went downward progressively quite a bit...

The A&M D was quite respectable this past year yielding about 22 PPG. He's out for a reason. The offense was a disappointment. That doesn't mean he can't get it right here though.

A&M had recruiting classes in the top portions of the SEC, so maybe he can help with the incoming talent. His ability to have the offense score will be the measuring stick of course...

He's young, energetic, an air raid guy and is known to recruit well. Clear to see why we got him...

killa22;842644580 said:

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Far from it actually -- spav's actually a ballsy MF.


This is probably one of the best calls that I've seen Spav make in his career:

[video=youtube;-frHahVlUuU][/video]

Go to 2:05 ish

4&5 down 17-7 -- pre-snap WVU shows a man across blitz, but TAMU realizes that leaves an ILB in coverage on their RB (who would typically set in pass pro in a 6 man protection) -- QB checks into something special that you can tell Spav installed -- RB runs a route right through the middle of the defense and catches the WVU LB flat footed, easy TD.

Ballsy call, but that's what you like to see from your OC.

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I really don't care about Ballsy. I care about results. In his two years as OC at aTm, the offensive production plummeted, the fans hated him, their top two QB's transferred and he got fired. Now, anytime you are dealing with an assistant, it is hard to know whether he is the issue or there are other issues in the program that are outside his control. (for instance, I think the running back situation was dysfunctional under Tom Holmoe, yet the same coach has proven to be one of the great developers of running backs in colldge football). The reality at aTm could be anything from he was a horrible OC to he was scapegoated for whatever the real causes of the problems are, but I'd sure feel better if someone could explain what the hell happened there and why it won't happen here.

I think there is no question this is an upgrade on the recruiting side, but I think it is hard to argue this is an upgrade on the coaching side.

LIKE:
* It wasn't Likens
* If you aren't going to get someone w/ CA connections at least get someone with connections in Tx or Fl.
* Up until last year his career had a pronounced upward mobility which speaks to innate talent
* Apparently he's a good recruiter, something this staff desperately needs
* System continuity

DON'T LIKE:
* The air of dishonesty from Sonny about waiting for the new guy to finish recruiting (possibly not dishonesty, maybe we didn't get our 1st target)
* Being fired by a P5 school after one season = red flag
* The uniformity of those negative comments about him has an all too familiar ring too it, like with Ludwig

WOW, what a huge get. Spavital is responsible for Geno Smith and Johnny Manziel?

tequila4kapp;842644603 said:

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LIKE:
* It wasn't Likens
* If you aren't going to get someone w/ CA connections at least get someone with connections in Tx or Fl.
* Up until last year his career had a pronounced upward mobility which speaks to innate talent
* Apparently he's a good recruiter, something this staff desperately needs
* System continuity

DON'T LIKE:
* The air of dishonesty from Sonny about waiting for the new guy to finish recruiting (possibly not dishonesty, maybe we didn't get our 1st target)
* Being fired by a P5 school after one season = red flag
* The uniformity of those negative comments about him has an all too familiar ring too it, like with Ludwig

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I don't have the quote in front of me, but did Sonny actually say we were waiting for the candidate to finish recruiting or did he say we were waiting for recruiting to finish (which could have meant we didn't want to deal with the issue until we were done and could put full attention to it)? I remember wondering if Sonny was being misinterpreted by Cal fans.

OaktownBear;842644601 said:

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I really don't care about Ballsy. I care about results. In his two years as OC at aTm, the offensive production plummeted, the fans hated him, their top two QB's transferred and he got fired. Now, anytime you are dealing with an assistant, it is hard to know whether he is the issue or there are other issues in the program that are outside his control. (for instance, I think the running back situation was dysfunctional under Tom Holmoe, yet the same coach has proven to be one of the great developers of running backs in colldge football). The reality at aTm could be anything from he was a horrible OC to he was scapegoated for whatever the real causes of the problems are, but I'd sure feel better if someone could explain what the hell happened there and why it won't happen here.

I think there is no question this is an upgrade on the recruiting side, but I think it is hard to argue this is an upgrade on the coaching side.

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There are some question marks -- but from a schematic standpoint, he fits the system that we have in place, I can see why Sonny went this direction. I think Spav could develop into a fine OC under Sonny, but like you said its hard to argue that on a raw comparison between him and Tony that this is an upgrade.

Spav has the potential to be an eventual upgrade, and should work well within the framework we have going right now.

OaktownBear;842644606 said:

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I don't have the quote in front of me, but did Sonny actually say we were waiting for the candidate to finish recruiting or did he say we were waiting for recruiting to finish (which could have meant we didn't want to deal with the issue until we were done and could put full attention to it)? I remember wondering if Sonny was being misinterpreted by Cal fans.

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“I probably would’ve already had a hire if it wasn’t for recruiting,” said Dykes, who hopes to add another several recruits before the Feb. 3 signing day. “It’s the end of recruiting, and some of the possibilities are recruiting for schools. They’re trying to finish up, and we’re certainly trying to finish up.”

Fair point. He said "some" of the possibilities. Maybe we didn't get our first choice. Maybe we got our first choice but the fact other candidates were recruiting meant the entire process was affected by recruiting.

Strykur;842644592 said:

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Anybody else. Texas fans are already commenting about their increased optimism regarding our game this fall.

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of course they are ... as they should if they're fans ...

MoragaBear;842644616 said:

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He was the first choice. Some who interviewed were recruiting, some not.

I never saw any misdirection, knowing what I knew.

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It is so laughable how people who have an agenda jump to the dumbest conclusions. (Not directed at you MoragaBear)

HUGE red flag: What is this guy's involvement in the major turmoil at A&M including the QB exodus they just had?

CaliforniaEternal;842644658 said:

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HUGE red flag: What is this guy's involvement in the major turmoil at A&M including the QB exodus they just had?

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considering many of their best offensive recruits/players have come out in support of spav (including Kyle Allen) I wouldn't worry about it

I think the point was Sonny was recruiting. No time for this hire process. They have a deal in principal but need to work out the details, etc. And that is still the case, and then it needs to go to the UC HR to get finalized.

CALiforniALUM;842644630 said:

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It is so laughable how people who have an agenda jump to the dumbest conclusions. (Not directed at you MoragaBear)

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Other than DrunkOski, whose stated agenda was to draw eyeballs to this site, I just don't see it.

This is a great pickup. Sure he could use more seasoning as an OC but that's what Sonny is for. He's a STELLAR recruiter and that's more important at this juncture IMO.

Dykes, Phase II post-2015, is moving along nicely.

moonpod;842644670 said:

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This is a great pickup. Sure he could use more seasoning as an OC but that's what Sonny is for. He's a STELLAR recruiter and that's more important at this juncture IMO.

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Agreed. It's not like we have a defensive minded HC that would rely solely on the OC to implement the offense. Having the recruiting chops is huge.

beeasyed;842644660 said:

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considering many of their best offensive recruits/players have come out in support of spav (including Kyle Allen) I wouldn't worry about it

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Wow. You and I agree on something. I agree with you. This smells like a desperate HC trying to catch lightning in a bottle to appease a deluded and entitled fanbase.

2014: Highly-rated RS frosh Kenny Hill is having a good season until he runs into a buzz saw in Alabama, Ole Miss, and Miss State. Throws a bunch of INTs and is yanked for highly-rated true frosh Kyle Allen. Hill transfers.

2015: SO Kyle Allen is having a good season then runs into a buzz saw in Alabama and Ole Miss and gets yanked for highly-rated true frosh Kyler Murray. Murray plays well against So. Carolina then throws 5 INTs against Auburn and W. Carolina and gets yanked for Kyle Allen. Murray and Allen both transfer.

Apparently, in Sumlin's book, if you ever throw 3 INTs in a game, you are dead to him. Imagine if Dykes and TF yanked Goff after his first 3 INT game.

Based on player responses, I'm guessing Sumlin was the issue, not Spavital.

Strykur;842644592 said:

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Anybody else. Texas fans are already commenting about their increased optimism regarding our game this fall.

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Wow. You seem to really be in the know. I'm glad you are here to point these things out for us.

jackbauerish;842644486 said:

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Another coach with no connection to California?!?!:headbang

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Its a valid observation, but his recruiting chops are without question: he pulled two of the best players in recent memory from the Phoenix area and got them out of the Pac-12 and down to College Station Texas. This is a recruiting upgrade, that's the least of the concerns.

SonOfCalVa;842644518 said:

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:cry: ... lol
We did damn well pulling academic/character/athletic recruits from some of the top HS programs in this state ... and in other states ... color your post: WTF ...

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Dykes himself said Cal has to do better keeping guys home...you don't have to defend your boy when he admits there is an issue. Again, this does address the issue with a better overall recruiter.
Sonny did good with the hire, Sonny did good with the hire...there, I repeated it for you so you don't have to go off on neeners or negas or whatever word you are making up to deflect even a hint of critical thinking.

Face facts. The board remains divided on Dykes. Until he beats one of the peer four teams, or a top 10 non-conference opponent, everything he does to a portion of the audience here is going to be suspect. Or until he does worse than last year, and gets canned. I'm willing to wait and see, based on both record and the quality of performance I see on the field, although I would be dissatisfied if we don't get to seven wins again next year. If you want to build a program, you have to be able to win consistently, even through transitions.

Oaktown: In a vacuum the Spavital hire is concerning. But I think that he might team up with Dykes very well. In that sense he might be similar to TF but without the ego to always have things his way. That gives me hope that some of the problem areas with TF could go by the wayside, namely the vertical scheme, and the overaggressive playcalling on 3rd down etc.

I mean Spavital is young and has his career ahead of him.
Do you really think he needs to promote a system and generate meaningless late game stats like TF did?

Will Spavital want to go for the TD instead of the winning field goal late in the ASU game? Something that Dykes thankfully overruled resulting in Anderson's winning kick on 3rd down.

Will Spavital throw long on 3rd and 7?

Will Spavital keep Lasco and Goff in the game late against SDS if Cal is up by 28 points resulting in a season changing injury to Lasco?

You liked the Counzo Martin hire.
But Martin's ego is forcing Cal into half court basketball which isn't the strength of his players.
Martin is a great recruiter and so is Spavital. But I doubt Spavital will control the system like Martin does and hence I think those issues may not play out.

The problem with Franklin was that Dykes didn't really control him until the end. Spavital will be controlled.

I know this places a lot of faith in Dykes, something I don't think you have. And I would agree if we were talking about defense. But I'm not concerned about Dykes when it comes to offense.

heartofthebear;842644688 said:

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Will Spavital want to go for the TD instead of the winning field goal late in the ASU game? Something that Dykes thankfully overruled resulting in Anderson's winning kick on 3rd down.

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Did this actually happen? Franklin wanted to go for the TD at the end of the ASU game? I would have absolutely lost my mind if we had done that. The game was won when we got to the 12 (or whatever it was). Anything other than a field goal there would have been coaching malpractice.

Rushinbear;842644569 said:

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Spav's background says that ours will be Sonny's offense, executed by Spav, and not an offense that Spav might be bringing with him. I'm not worried about an excess of bubble screens (of course, the first bubble screen that gets stuffed will bring out the "told ya so's" like crazy.).

Good to have youth, recruiting enthusiasm and smarts.

PS The Aggie faithful hate anyone who doesn't have them in the playoffs. Look what their "fair-haired boy" did in the pro's after playing sandlot for them.

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People do realize our current offense utilizes a lot of running plays and screens, right? Just because Aggies are butthurt doesn't change the fact this strategy was very effective for Cal.

Sebastabear;842644690 said:

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Did this actually happen? Franklin wanted to go for the TD at the end of the ASU game? I would have absolutely lost my mind if we had done that. The game was won when we got to the 12 (or whatever it was). Anything other than a field goal there would have been coaching malpractice.

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Tell that to Connor Halliday haha.

Sebastabear;842644690 said:

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Did this actually happen? Franklin wanted to go for the TD at the end of the ASU game? I would have absolutely lost my mind if we had done that. The game was won when we got to the 12 (or whatever it was). Anything other than a field goal there would have been coaching malpractice.

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It is well documented that Dykes over-ruled Franklin on that play.
Franklin wants stats more than wins despite what his PR machine claims.

tequila4kapp;842644611 said:

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"I probably would've already had a hire if it wasn't for recruiting," said Dykes, who hopes to add another several recruits before the Feb. 3 signing day. "It's the end of recruiting, and some of the possibilities are recruiting for schools. They're trying to finish up, and we're certainly trying to finish up."

Fair point. He said "some" of the possibilities. Maybe we didn't get our first choice. Maybe we got our first choice but the fact other candidates were recruiting meant the entire process was affected by recruiting.

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Sounds like political-speak when you need to answer a question in front of the media, but there's no reason to actually reveal any detail, i.e. a good answer.

Regarding the choice, we have to trust that Dykes was able to make an even more-informed decision than the posters on this board. (Yes, I guess that's a bit of a dig at the folks who have an opinion about this hire, based on some skeletal Spavital bio facts.) Okay, there was Buh, I get that, but don't we just have to assume that each time Dykes makes a mistake, he learns from it and that he's capable of identifying/hiring a good OC?