This quote didn't age well.Quote:
but he has built a tremendous foundation for our offensive line unit to build upon in the years ahead.
Photo by SF Gate
Cal Football
Veteran Former Cal OL Coach Steve Greatwood Returns to Program
Cal head coach Justin Wilcox announced this morning that the program has brought in veteran offensive line coach Steve Greatwood as an analyst as of Sunday to help shore up a struggling Cal offense and offensive line.
Greatwood coached with great success for decades at Oregon, with stints in between with the LA Rams, USC and Maryland before coming to Cal from 2017 to 2019, retiring after Cal’s 8-5 Red Box Bowl winning season.
When he retired after the 2019 season, Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said of Greatwood: "Steve Greatwood is one of the best offensive line coaches in the history of our game and an even better person. I have the utmost respect for coach Wood and the work he has done over the last four decades.
“He was the first person I hired at Cal three years ago. The impact he made both on and off the field in the lives of our young men and his fellow coaches during his three seasons with our program will have a positive influence on our program for many years to come. I wish we could keep him around longer because he will be very difficult to replace, but he has built a tremendous foundation for our offensive line unit to build upon in the years ahead. If anyone has earned the right to enjoy his retirement and enjoy life, it's coach Wood."
In this morning’s media session, Wilcox addressed Greatwood’s return.
“It’s a performance-based business, for the coaches and players alike,” Wilcox said. “We have made a couple adjustments with our lineup this season and there’s a potential that could still evolve this week and in coming weeks. In terms of personnel, we added an analyst to the staff who’s familiar with us, Steve Greatwood. He joined us Sunday. An extra set of eyes and a person who’s universally respected, not only as an offensive line coach but as an offensive coach. Eyes and ears and maybe a little fresh perspective.
“Any chance to help make the program better and he’s here to support our staff and we welcome him back.”
Cal’s offense has struggled in four of their six games, culminating in a disastrous 13-point performance in their loss to previously-winless Colorado Saturday so something had to give.
“Ultimately, I’m responsible for all of this. I’m responsible for the performance of the team,” said Wilcox. “And then the coaches are responsible for their individual positions and the players are responsible for their individual play.
“None of us are satisfied with where we are as a team so we need to perform better. There’s no secret. There’s no excuse for us not to be playing better. We need to score. We need to put the ball in the end zone and we as coaches -myself and our offensive coaches- have to give our players better answers, whether that means technique, whether that means schematics, whether it means adjustment in who’s playing, we need to give them better answers. And the players, when they have the opportunity and they know what to do and have the tools and techniques to do it, then they’re responsible for making the play on Saturday.
“So it’s shared but ultimately, I take full responsibility of the team and we’re not performing well enough on offense right now.”
The Bears will likely need to score plenty of points to have a chance to beat 4-2 Washington Saturday. The Huskies lead the conference in scoring at 42.1 points per game behind portal transfer QB Michael Penix and new head coach Kalen DeBoer.
Saturday’s contest will be Cal’s first night game, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 pm at Memorial Stadium.
Never miss the latest news from Bear Insider!
Join our free email list
