Now, we need to sign four or five P-5 level players and win some games this year and a lot more games the next.

Go Bears!

What are the reactions on the fURD boards about Madsen's into speech? I KNOW they watched.

calumnus said:

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stu said:

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calumnus said:

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ncbears said:

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Richard_Lee said:

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eastcoastcal said:

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Says the recruitment of him at Cal dropped off with the coaching change

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Hmm. Ben Braun.

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Bozeman. Madsen talked about meeting with Campanelli and the interest stopped with the coaching change. I think Madsen would have committed to Stanfurd before Braun was hired.

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Probably, but Madsen went on a two year Mormon mission. He enrolled at Stanford in 1996 as a 20(?) year old freshman, same year Braun became the Cal coach.

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I can imagine Bozeman being less interested than Campanelli, and Madsen specifically mentioned Campanelli recruiting him.

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Probably prior to it being clear he was going to take a mission. Cal has recruited a lot of LDS players in football, even with Holmoe as Head Coach. Have any ever commited, taken a two-year mission, and then enrolled at Cal? One problem is I think you can only defer admission for one year without having to reapply? Madden obviously had the grades but it is far easier at Stanford.

As forwards in his three years Bozeman brought in:
Michael Stewart
Tremaine Folwkes
Sean Marks
Shareef Abdur-Rahim

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I believe Marvin Philip committed, went on his mission, and then enrolled at Cal. But he may have enrolled at Cal for a year or two before taking his mission.

southseasbear said:

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Cal8285 said:

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gobears23 said:

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Not trying to get too enamored with Madsen on day 1 but his charisma is off the charts compared to Fox. His candor is so refreshing. Nailed that intro!

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My wife's grandmother was a very serious, fairly dour Missouri farm woman. Her charisma was off the charts compared to Fox.

So let's expand the vision. Madsen has more charisma than any basketball (or football) coach Cal has had in my time as a Cal fan, starting in 1974, and it is off the charts compared to at least most of them.

He won the press conference by a lot, let's hope the winning continues on the court!!

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I thought Mariucci had a lot of charisma.

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Good point. I thought I had mentally run through every FB and MBB HC since 1974, but somehow, my brain left off Mooch. We've had a few coaches with some charisma, but Mooch and Madsen the only ones who exude it.

Let's hope Madsen doesn't make as poor a hire for his staff as Mooch made in Tom Holmoe as defensive coordinator.

Cal8285 said:

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southseasbear said:

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Cal8285 said:

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gobears23 said:

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Not trying to get too enamored with Madsen on day 1 but his charisma is off the charts compared to Fox. His candor is so refreshing. Nailed that intro!

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My wife's grandmother was a very serious, fairly dour Missouri farm woman. Her charisma was off the charts compared to Fox.

So let's expand the vision. Madsen has more charisma than any basketball (or football) coach Cal has had in my time as a Cal fan, starting in 1974, and it is off the charts compared to at least most of them.

He won the press conference by a lot, let's hope the winning continues on the court!!

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I thought Mariucci had a lot of charisma.

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Good point. I thought I had mentally run through every FB and MBB HC since 1974, but somehow, my brain left off Mooch. We've had a few coaches with some charisma, but Mooch and Madsen the only ones who exude it.

Let's hope Madsen doesn't make as poor a hire for his staff as Mooch made in Tom Holmoe as defensive coordinator.

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Good point, but I think quality assistants (particularly at the coordinator level) are much more critical in football than basketball.

I loved the accounts of Mooch telling stories to his players the night before a game. It was a wild year that ended with a depressing bowl loss, but we appeared to be a program with an upward trajectory until Mooch left us (with Holmoe!).

ncbears said:

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Richard_Lee said:

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eastcoastcal said:

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Says the recruitment of him at Cal dropped off with the coaching change

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Hmm. Ben Braun.

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Bozeman. Madsen talked about meeting with Campanelli and the interest stopped with the coaching change. I think Madsen would have committed to Stanfurd before Braun was hired.

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That's right. You are correct.

I had forgotten how long Mark Madsen's college career was due to the long hiatus from his Mormon mission.

Would anybody describe Braun as charismatic? Maybe not as in fill up the room charismatic but certainly very likable and engaging.

Richard_Lee said:

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eastcoastcal said:

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Says the recruitment of him at Cal dropped off with the coaching change

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Hmm. Ben Braun.

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Todd Bozeman

There is a "charisma" theme running through this thread that makes me wonder whether this site got confused with the cyberbears site.

Civil Bear said:

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ncbears said:

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Smooth answer about the current players.
Smooth answer about the state of the program and why he is optimistic.
I think, in general, he is just real smooth.

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Interesting. I loved his answers, but smooth never came to mind. I'd go as far as to say he came off more awkward than smooth, which helped with his authenticity.

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A bit nervous.

southseasbear said:

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Cal8285 said:

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southseasbear said:

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Cal8285 said:

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gobears23 said:

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Not trying to get too enamored with Madsen on day 1 but his charisma is off the charts compared to Fox. His candor is so refreshing. Nailed that intro!

---

My wife's grandmother was a very serious, fairly dour Missouri farm woman. Her charisma was off the charts compared to Fox.

So let's expand the vision. Madsen has more charisma than any basketball (or football) coach Cal has had in my time as a Cal fan, starting in 1974, and it is off the charts compared to at least most of them.

He won the press conference by a lot, let's hope the winning continues on the court!!

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I thought Mariucci had a lot of charisma.

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Good point. I thought I had mentally run through every FB and MBB HC since 1974, but somehow, my brain left off Mooch. We've had a few coaches with some charisma, but Mooch and Madsen the only ones who exude it.

Let's hope Madsen doesn't make as poor a hire for his staff as Mooch made in Tom Holmoe as defensive coordinator.

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Good point, but I think quality assistants (particularly at the coordinator level) are much more critical in football than basketball.

I loved the accounts of Mooch telling stories to his players the night before a game. It was a wild year that ended with a depressing bowl loss, but we appeared to be a program with an upward trajectory until Mooch left us (with Holmoe!).

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I was mostly joking around about the assistant hire, and you are right that it is more critical in football than basketball. The biggest issue in basketball is making sure you have guys who can successfully do some of the heavy lifting in recruiting.

On the other hand, the 1996 football season was deceptively bad, the Holmoe defensive unit played exactly one good half all season (the first half against USC), didn't beat any bowl teams except a close home win against Nevada (only a bowl team because it won a weak conference and played in the Fresno Bowl(!)), and the three conference wins were 1) 3 OT's against a bad Oregon St. team, lucky to win because when OSU went for a 26 yard FG on 3rd down in the second OT to win the game, instead of falling on the bad snap, OSU tried to kick it anyway and it was easily blocked 2) SC, a team that didn't make a bowl, where Cal played a good half of defense and got lucky early in the second half with SC "fumbling" inside the 10 on a bad officials call (runner's elbow was down before the ball came out), and 3) the 4 OT game against a non-bowl Arizona team.

But with his charisma, Mooch parlayed it into the 49ers head coach job, and with his one good half of defense in 12 games, Holmoe got the Cal job. If Mooch had stayed and gotten rid of Holmoe, however, I think he would have recruited well enough to have some much better seasons. Oh well.

oskidunker said:

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Civil Bear said:

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ncbears said:

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Smooth answer about the current players.
Smooth answer about the state of the program and why he is optimistic.
I think, in general, he is just real smooth.

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Interesting. I loved his answers, but smooth never came to mind. I'd go as far as to say he came off more awkward than smooth, which helped with his authenticity.

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A bit nervous.

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I meant smooth not as style, but as a nice answer to potential landmine questions. He slid by them - and that's "smooth". He didn't badmouth any players singly or as a group - even mentioning "injuries" - and he didn't refer to the prior coach as holding back player development. He did say he would talk to each player about roles, strengths and weaknesses, but that is going to be his conversation with a player and not in conversation with the press. He also harped on the positives in talking about the state of the program - I thought a key statement was where he acknowledged there are some negatives about Cal, but that he was going to sell the positives which more than outweigh a negative (e.g. no practice facility).

barsad said:

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LOL on the bromance tone of this thread. It's like we all got out of a long-term abusive relationship and we're giddy meeting Prince Charming on a first date! He's passed all the first tests, now he'll bring that positivity to on-court results. What's a realistic 1st year record for him? No offense to Joel and current Cal players, but I'd be fine with a team of all transfers plus Newell, fresh slate is needed.

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32 WIN REGULAR SEASON & NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

One more impression, mentioned by Madsen but not about himself: a breath of fresh air.

For most of the Time Coach MadDog was talking at the presser Knowlton looked like a lost dog.

CALiforniALUM said:

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Would anybody describe Braun as charismatic? Maybe not as in fill up the room charismatic but certainly very likable and engaging.

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I think he was in small groups. When he was at Cal I was working at a restaurant that he would frequent, and he always held court and was the star of the table, so to speak.

ncbears said:

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oskidunker said:

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Civil Bear said:

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ncbears said:

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Smooth answer about the current players.
Smooth answer about the state of the program and why he is optimistic.
I think, in general, he is just real smooth.

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Interesting. I loved his answers, but smooth never came to mind. I'd go as far as to say he came off more awkward than smooth, which helped with his authenticity.

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A bit nervous.

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I meant smooth not as style, but as a nice answer to potential landmine questions. He slid by them - and that's "smooth". He didn't badmouth any players singly or as a group - even mentioning "injuries" - and he didn't refer to the prior coach as holding back player development. He did say he would talk to each player about roles, strengths and weaknesses, but that is going to be his conversation with a player and not in conversation with the press. He also harped on the positives in talking about the state of the program - I thought a key statement was where he acknowledged there are some negatives about Cal, but that he was going to sell the positives which more than outweigh a negative (e.g. no practice facility).

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It is not calculated though, which "smooth" implies, it is who he is by nature, just relentlessly positive.

Richard_Lee said:

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CALiforniALUM said:

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Would anybody describe Braun as charismatic? Maybe not as in fill up the room charismatic but certainly very likable and engaging.

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He was ok. But he was better in a room in a conversation with a handful of people instead of speaking at a press conference fielding questions from media. Braun did a lot of coach speak at press conferences.

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Coach speak that would devolve into huge servings of word salad that sounded responsive but would leave you scratching your head.