stu said:

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A few opinions on the desirability of the Cal job:

Pros:
* high major conference
(Really?)
* major university with worldwide recognition
(Most coaches and players don't care.)
* weather
(I'll give you that.)

Cons:
* cost of living
(Almost impossible for players and coaches to find decent housing within budget. Very limited on-campus housing.)
* history of athletic administration issues
(Athletics not a priority for admin and most students. And never will be.)
* current state of the program
(Poor facilities for men's basketball. No practice facility and must share Haas with several other sports. Relatively low salaries for coaches relative to area's cost of living. )

Depends on point of view:
* academics
(Most coaches and players seek a place where players can be admitted and players can remain eligible. Sink or swim attitude at Berkeley not helpful in this respect.)
* politics
(Politics is 24/7 at Cal; everything becomes political. It gets old for many.)
* Berkeley
(City areas around campus kind of sketchy.)

Depends on timing:
* available scholarships (anywhere from 1 to 6)
(Other negatives largely overshadow this. New coach must have some flexibility in "roster management.")

Opinions on how the above relate to when to fire, who to hire?

Given the above negs, very difficult to hire an accomplished D-1 head coach. Cal's best hope is to somehow identify up and coming coaches who are willing to take on the Cal job, at that point in their careers, despite its many negatives. Then Cal must work hard to retain such coaches. It they leave, wash and repeat with another up and coming guy. Be willing to change coaches after 3 or 4 years if improvement is not apparent.)

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4thGenCal said:

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Big C said:

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^^^ Thank you, donors, who made this happen. ^^^

One day, California Basketball will come growling back!

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Monty reached out to several of us about a huge logistical issue where his key players were living (rougher parts of Oakland) and were there because of rent savings (players then got a very low monthly amount plus less than $100 for weekend food (meals are covered during the week). By saving on housing costs, excess monies often would be sent home to help their families. Monthly financial support toward housing has increased along with a separate amount which does cover the student athlete personal care expenses, weekend meals etc. Not a money maker for the players, but much better than years past. Given the distance to the Arena, players were often late to practice, meetings - if bus connections etc were behind/traffic etc.. The plea was to buy close to campus housing to alliviate the distance and also provide much better monitoring of the players for all areas common to youth - focus on academics, sufficient sleep, no late partying, and create better team bonding via majority of team being housed in one location. Originally 52 donors stepped up in various donations - generally $25k to $125k contributions (currently 19 remain as partners in now one housing site). The basketball site is on Dwight and the players really appreciate the quality of the property, location, security, and the ability to bond/look after one another as need be. Football does have a significant challenge for housing because there is not in place a similar set up and also the #'s to provide near by housing, are so much larger. Incoming freshman and sopmore's certainly have the dorm availability, but the upper classmen prefer their own housing for many legit reasons from quiet down time (have to get to sleep at reasonable hours due to 6:30am workouts and also want their own rooms). The solution is expensive - buy property that is either a home and or apartment complex close to campus that is run as a "give back" to our university financially speaking. Meaning the investment return is low, since monthly rents have to be NCAA compliant (consistent with market rents range) and also have to be available (apartments) to both students and student athletes (ratio needs to be equal). There is a push to get those alums/football donor's to consider pooling together monies to buy a couple of houses (to house 6 players each) to help chip away at this important issue. However its tough to get individuals to put up the monies needed to raise the required funds. The goal is to get 2-3 houses over the next 2 years to really make an meaningful impact for the student athletes college experience. Recruiting would be greatly impacted, as often parents are very interested in housing options that are safe, close to campus and offer comfortable quiet living for their Sons. Personally I am focused on making this happen as its a very needed/important area of the Football program.

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stu said:

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A few opinions on the desirability of the Cal job:

Pros:
* high major conference
* major university with worldwide recognition
* weather

Cons:
* cost of living
* history of athletic administration issues
* current state of the program

Depends on point of view:
* academics
* politics
* Berkeley

Depends on timing:
* available scholarships (anywhere from 1 to 6)

Opinions on how the above relate to when to fire, who to hire?

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