I hate the time between football season and next football season. So, why not talk about next season.

Offense: we lose: Ooms, Wharton, Ways, Bunting, and Laird.

Chris Brown looked pretty good last night, I thought. Noa is a player, when healthy, and Duncan is an up and comer.

Obviously, the Bears need a QB to put everything together, but with the transfers / new recruits, could this be a formidable offense? How will the line be next year?

Thoughts?

Defense: losing Palmer and JK. Anybody else?
Our outside LBs should be lights out, especially paired with Weaver. Also, the safeties might be the best in the nation.

I'd love to hear from those who are more in the know than me.

Kool-Aid is back on the menu, boys!

Soldierbear said:

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I hate the time between football season and next football season. So, why not talk about next season.

Offense: we lose: Ooms, Wharton, Ways, Bunting, and Laird.

Chris Brown looked pretty good last night, I thought. Noa is a player, when healthy, and Duncan is an up and comer.

Obviously, the Bears need a QB to put everything together, but with the transfers / new recruits, could this be a formidable offense? How will the line be next year?

Thoughts?

Defense: losing Palmer and JK. Anybody else?
Our outside LBs should be lights out, especially paired with Weaver. Also, the safeties might be the best in the nation.

I'd love to hear from those who are more in the know than me.

---

Best in the nation? Does that include states in the old confederacy? Cal might have best in California but I would not extend the "best in" boundary beyond the state.

Overall, I think we can look for a big jump on the offensive side of the ball and a bit of a drop off on the D side. The problem will be the odd year schedule and the substitutions of Utah and ASU for CU and AZ. I would be very happy with 8-4/7-5. Anything less would be disappointing; anything better would be a pleasant surprise.

From SF Chron: Cal promises improvements after bowl debacle ends encouraging season

Quote:

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Wilcox said he'll immediately start an in-depth analysis of the entire program. He'll break down the coaching staff, how it's teaching the players, pregame approaches, in-game schematics and communication.

"What do we need to do to improve at every single level of our program?" said Wilcox, who inked a new five-year deal this month. "That's my job: to help facilitate that. I know we have some great people in our program, but we have to improve. There are areas that we obviously have to get better. There will be a deep dive, and we'll discuss it as a group in January for many, many hours."

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we need play makers on offense. thats reality. based on our current recruits we need a miracle.

I have no confidence at all the offense will be even a smidge better.

The defense...I don't know. We lose a very productive player but I have the sense this side of the ball is kind of plug and play at this point.

71Bear said:

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Soldierbear said:

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I hate the time between football season and next football season. So, why not talk about next season.

Offense: we lose: Ooms, Wharton, Ways, Bunting, and Laird.

Chris Brown looked pretty good last night, I thought. Noa is a player, when healthy, and Duncan is an up and comer.

Obviously, the Bears need a QB to put everything together, but with the transfers / new recruits, could this be a formidable offense? How will the line be next year?

Thoughts?

Defense: losing Palmer and JK. Anybody else?
Our outside LBs should be lights out, especially paired with Weaver. Also, the safeties might be the best in the nation.

I'd love to hear from those who are more in the know than me.

---

Best in the nation? Does that include states in the old confederacy? Cal might have best in California but I would not extend the "best in" boundary beyond the state.

Overall, I think we can look for a big jump on the offensive side of the ball and a bit of a drop off on the D side. The problem will be the odd year schedule and the substitutions of Utah and ASU for CU and AZ. I would be very happy with 8-4/7-5. Anything less would be disappointing; anything better would be a pleasant surprise.

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I would absolutely put our secondary against the rest of the nation... This year.

And who are we losing that should make them less than this year?

I've been wondering how folks know which r-shirt JRs will be returning. We usually don't hear about that until spring.

Correct me if I'm wrong but just because a player hasn't exhausted his eligibility does not mean he will be eligible to play for Cal next season. He must be enrolled in classes at Cal. How do we know that will happen with guys like Ashton Davis or Luc Bequette, not to mention Noa, Hawkins, Rambo, Coutts, G. Thomas (PK), Z Johnson and Psalms? Most of these guys are eligible to graduate and would have to enroll as a graduate student to continue playing football at Cal. At least that is my understanding.

I really can't say how next season looks until I know which of the above will be on our roster.

The good news is that Camryn Bynum will be back, apparently, and we have some new transfers at offensive skill positions that have upside.

So, shooting the dark, I agree with those that think our defense will take a small step back but our offense takes a step forward. How that all shakes out is unclear right now. I think DeRuyter will have our defensive players ready but the offense is still a wild card. Depending on our offense, we could be anywhere from 5-7 to 8-4 next season.

10 wins, no excuses, if our defense is lights out next season but our offense is still atrocious and we limp to 7-8 wins then Wilcox will start to feel the heat around here.

Soldierbear said:

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Obviously, the Bears need a QB to put everything together, but with the transfers / new recruits, could this be a formidable offense? How will the line be next year?

Thoughts?

---

No, this will not be a formidable offense. If we have an average offense next year, I'll throw a party and invite you all. We do need better QB play, but every part of the offense has to step it up.

I'm skeptical that the new WR's are going to make much impact I'm hopeful that we get a couple of OL that step up and raise the level of play the way that some past young offensive linemen of the past took us to a new level. Greatwood's recruits need to start bearing some fruit. I kinda like the look of some of our new RB's, so i'm hoping we get a good rotation next year.

I think Modster will reduce our number of cringeworthy throws.

Strykur said:

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10 wins, no excuses

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I think that's unrealistic. We could win 8 games next year and be substantially improved from this year.

Strykur said:

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10 wins, no excuses, if our defense is lights out next season but our offense is still atrocious and we limp to 7-8 wins then Wilcox will start to feel the heat around here.

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LOL...

Wilcox is the best thing to happen to Cal since early JT. The only heat Wilcox will feel in the Bay Area is the increasingly warm weather in the summer time....

These discussions are always a crap shoot at this point. On paper the schedule looks tougher, but you don't really know what changers in coaching personnel and players will occur (just look at the uncertainty at Utah at this point), not to mention injuries and frosh who may be ready to play at least 4 games, and a myriad of other factors. Palmer is a big loss, but there are other dline players who will have more experience, so who knows? Starting linebackers may be just as good, and the unit probably is deeper, DBs were deep and probably still look strong as unofficial word is all the guys are staying put. This year the focus was on good defenses (Utah, Udub, Cal among others) and even WSU has a fairy good defense, but only WSU seemed to have a consistently good offense as far as conference goes. Next year the offenses may catch-up. Oregon in particular may take a step on offense.

I'm not sure how much the oline improves, losing two experienced players, including a leader who started every game for 3 years in Ooms. They may more athletic and a bit deeper, but they lose on overall experience level. 2020 the oline could be very good and this may be a transition year. RB doesn't look deep, and I don't see a break away threat. Brown seems physical, but is that much different than Laird? WRs on paper look more athletic, but lack P5 experience other than the ex-Michigan player who could be a difference maker, assuming he has someone to get him the ball. And QB is a crap shoot. I don't see any guaranty the unit is much better. Maybe spring practice proves the new players (and perhaps coaches) really make a difference. But if predicting another 7 win season at this early juncture doesn't seem unreasonable. The insider guys really won't know what Cal has (or other teams) until late part of spring practice.

heartofthebear said:

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Most of these guys are eligible to graduate and would have to enroll as a graduate student to continue playing football at Cal. At least that is my understanding.

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I would suggest your understanding is flawed. Unless the student-athletes have maxed out their credits to be an undergraduate student, they can continue their undergraduate studies.

From the college of letters and science (I'm assuming slightly different numbers for the college of engineering):

"If you have declared a single major and wish to stay longer than eight semesters (four semesters for transfers), you may continue to enroll until you exceed 130 units (this includes all college work except deductible units). For example, if you have completed 130 or fewer units at the end of your eighth semester, you may enroll in the following semester in as many units as you want. But, if you have 130.1 units, you may not enroll again, and your registration will be blocked.

Students who have more than one major may continue to enroll until they exceed 136 units (which includes all college work except deductible units)." (see, https://ls.berkeley.edu/advising/planning/enrolling/unit-ceiling)

Better sign up early for those ballroom dancing courses.

Soldierbear said:

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...
Defense: losing Palmer and JK. Anybody else?
...

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Defense also loses Rush OLB Alex Funches who had a solid season overall (some really good performances, but also some poor games like against UCLA). Hoping that our strong LB recruiting can fill in here with Deng or Patu from the 2019 class or maybe Ogunbanjo or Aftlin (sp?) from the 2018 class. And of course getting Goode back at OLB on the other side.

Basically, I am confident that our defensive coaches, if we hang onto them, can develop and mold the returning players and the newcomers into a really good, cohesive unit again.

Sadly, it's the exact opposite on offense. I have this feeling that we could have Aaron Rodgers or Jared Goff at QB and Desean Jackson and Keenan Allen etc. at receiver and our current sub-par QB/WR offensive coaching staff would "develop" them into fairly good/decent players instead of stars. Of course, at this point, I'd take good/decent offense in a heartbeat.

Strykur said:

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10 wins, no excuses, if our defense is lights out next season but our offense is still atrocious and we limp to 7-8 wins then Wilcox will start to feel the heat around here.

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Limp to 7-8 wins? I think that would be a good season considering the schedule and our offense.

71Bear said:

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Strykur said:

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10 wins, no excuses, if our defense is lights out next season but our offense is still atrocious and we limp to 7-8 wins then Wilcox will start to feel the heat around here.

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LOL...

Wilcox is the best thing to happen to Cal since early JT. The only heat Wilcox will feel in the Bay Area is the increasingly warm weather in the summer time....

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"since early JT"

Yeah and that ended so damn well for us.

If we can find one or two play makers on offense and an upgrade at QB, and the defense remains the same or improves I think 8 - 9 wins is doable. I like the quote above from Wilcox about evaluating the whole program. Hopefully, he has a QB guru coming in soon.

01Bear said:

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heartofthebear said:

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Most of these guys are eligible to graduate and would have to enroll as a graduate student to continue playing football at Cal. At least that is my understanding.

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I would suggest your understanding is flawed. Unless the student-athletes have maxed out their credits to be an undergraduate student, they can continue their undergraduate studies.

From the college of letters and science (I'm assuming slightly different numbers for the college of engineering):

"If you have declared a single major and wish to stay longer than eight semesters (four semesters for transfers), you may continue to enroll until you exceed 130 units (this includes all college work except deductible units). For example, if you have completed 130 or fewer units at the end of your eighth semester, you may enroll in the following semester in as many units as you want. But, if you have 130.1 units, you may not enroll again, and your registration will be blocked.

Students who have more than one major may continue to enroll until they exceed 136 units (which includes all college work except deductible units)." (see, https://ls.berkeley.edu/advising/planning/enrolling/unit-ceiling)

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This is comforting but it still seems like more 4 year Jrs. leave before their last year of football eligibility than we anticipate, thereby altering our roster for the following year. Losing senior players is a big deal and can affect our season. For example, having Ashton and Hawkins is way different than not having them.

I still don't know how we can assume that they will all be returning to Cal next year. That almost never happens. Although Wilcox has created some glue there that makes people want to stick around.

Soldierbear said:

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I hate the time between football season and next football season. So, why not talk about next season.

Offense: we lose: Ooms, Wharton, Ways, Bunting, and Laird.

Chris Brown looked pretty good last night, I thought. Noa is a player, when healthy, and Duncan is an up and comer.

Obviously, the Bears need a QB to put everything together, but with the transfers / new recruits, could this be a formidable offense? How will the line be next year?

Thoughts?

Defense: losing Palmer and JK. Anybody else?
Our outside LBs should be lights out, especially paired with Weaver. Also, the safeties might be the best in the nation.

I'd love to hear from those who are more in the know than me.

---

Apparently a more aggressive recruiting of cheerleaders is gaining positive traction

heartofthebear said:

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01Bear said:

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heartofthebear said:

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Most of these guys are eligible to graduate and would have to enroll as a graduate student to continue playing football at Cal. At least that is my understanding.

---

I would suggest your understanding is flawed. Unless the student-athletes have maxed out their credits to be an undergraduate student, they can continue their undergraduate studies.

From the college of letters and science (I'm assuming slightly different numbers for the college of engineering):

"If you have declared a single major and wish to stay longer than eight semesters (four semesters for transfers), you may continue to enroll until you exceed 130 units (this includes all college work except deductible units). For example, if you have completed 130 or fewer units at the end of your eighth semester, you may enroll in the following semester in as many units as you want. But, if you have 130.1 units, you may not enroll again, and your registration will be blocked.

Students who have more than one major may continue to enroll until they exceed 136 units (which includes all college work except deductible units)." (see, https://ls.berkeley.edu/advising/planning/enrolling/unit-ceiling)

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This is comforting but it still seems like more 4 year Jrs. leave before their last year of football eligibility than we anticipate, thereby altering our roster for the following year. Losing senior players is a big deal and can affect our season. For example, having Ashton and Hawkins is way different than not having them.

I still don't know how we can assume that they will all be returning to Cal next year. That almost never happens. Although Wilcox has created some glue there that makes people want to stick around.

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Agreed as the the 4-year redshirt junior grad transfer argument. However, if Cal had a winning program or even a program on the upswing, it's also likely that the contributors looking to play another year would stay. Sure, a couple players may still opt to go elsewhere to begin a graduate degree, but I doubt Cal would lose many contributors who were slotted for more playing time in the following year. Rather, we'd probably see more guys follow in the footsteps of Evan Weaver than Tre Watson.

Soldierbear said:

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I hate the time between football season and next football season. So, why not talk about next season.

Offense: we lose: Ooms, Wharton, Ways, Bunting, and Laird.

Chris Brown looked pretty good last night, I thought. Noa is a player, when healthy, and Duncan is an up and comer.

Obviously, the Bears need a QB to put everything together, but with the transfers / new recruits, could this be a formidable offense? How will the line be next year?

Thoughts?

Defense: losing Palmer and JK. Anybody else?
Our outside LBs should be lights out, especially paired with Weaver. Also, the safeties might be the best in the nation.

I'd love to hear from those who are more in the know than me.

---

• What I like about Chris Brown in the game is that the more reps he got, the better he looked.
• I'd like to see receivers who can get open. I don't know if it was a poor scheme or poor route-running but there were too many times this season when all our receivers were covered. I wish one of the really knowledgeable people on this forum would address this.
• I'd like to see effective use of a tight end. McAllen Castles is highly touted, but I the Pac12 is a big jump from South Tahoe HS.
• I'd like to see a running back with a quick first step. Laird was good at finding a hole, but it had to stay open for a while so he could get through it. Maybe Dancy is the guy.

Strykur said:

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10 wins, no excuses, if our defense is lights out next season but our offense is still atrocious and we limp to 7-8 wins then Wilcox will start to feel the heat around here.

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Solve the problems on offense and get 10 wins.

Discover hold under the fifty yard line, and the stadium debt is paid off.

I'm not the best person to start this but hopefully posters who know our roster better will jump in to correct me. So here goes with a first cut at the 2019 spring depth chart:

Offense:
QB: Modster, Garbers
RB: Brown, Dancy
WR: Noa, Duncan, Jerry Hawkins, Remigio, McIlwain (I personally would like to see BM at RB)
TE: Castles, Reinwald
T: Will Craig, Curhan
G: Daltoso, Saffell
C: Gibson

Defense:
NG: Siu, Maldonado
DE: Bequette, Tevin Paul, Zeandae, Odeogu, Tailoa,
ILB: Weaver, Colt, Tattersall
OLB: Goode, the new JC transfer, Ogunbanjo
CB and NB: Bynum, Hicks, Traveon, Drayden
S: Jay Hawk, Ashtyn, Rambo, Trey Turner

PK: Thomas
KO:
P:
LS:


Please add potential contributors, delete guys who are leaving. This omits any guys who haven't played much yet. I don't know which ones are seen as contributors next year.

Yes, I realize no one knows what the depth chart will look like next year. That doesn't mean we can't have a little fun looking at what it could look like.

FuzzyWuzzy said:

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I'm not the best person to start this but hopefully posters who know our roster better will jump in to correct me. So here goes with a first cut at the 2019 spring depth chart:

Offense:
QB: Modster, Garbers
RB: Brown, Dancy
WR: Noa, Duncan, Jerry Hawkins, Remigio, McIlwain (I personally would like to see BM at RB)
TE: Castles, Reinwald
T: Will Craig, Curhan
G: Daltoso, Saffell
C: Gibson

Defense:
NG: Siu, Maldonado
DE: Bequette, Tevin Paul, Zeandae, Odeogu, Tailoa,
ILB: Weaver, Colt, Tattersall
OLB: Goode, the new JC transfer, Ogunbanjo
CB and NB: Bynum, Hicks, Traveon, Drayden
S: Jay Hawk, Ashtyn, Rambo, Trey Turner

PK: Thomas
KO:
P:
LS:


Please add potential contributors, delete guys who are leaving. This omits any guys who haven't played much yet. I don't know which ones are seen as contributors next year.

Yes, I realize no one knows what the depth chart will look like next year. That doesn't mean we can't have a little fun looking at what it could look like.

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Looks about right.