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Cal Football

Veteran Former Cal OL Coach Steve Greatwood Returns to Program

October 18, 2022
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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.

Discussion from...

Veteran Former Cal OL Coach Steve Greatwood Returns to Program

14,067 Views | 48 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by calumnus
KoreAmBear
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calumnus said:

Hopefully this doesn't mean Wilcox thinks Musgrave's play calls we're good but "we just have to block better."

Even IF that were the only problem, I don't think the introduction of some "blocking" (er holding) techniques is going to move the needle.

The only chance got an immediate improvement is in better playcalling and I believe it was WIAF who said there would be changes?. I hope we find out what those will be soon. Hope it is not just Musgrave to the booth.
6 years into the his tenure in which we have had bottom tier offenses ever season and yet to have a conference season over .500 -- this very well could be his mindset.
OdontoBear66
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Deutsch said:

Only relevant Q: will this (or any other tweak) help in getting the ball to playmakers in space?
We have the playmakers whether it be at TE, WR, QB or RB. We need to get them time and openings to do what they do best.
oscarsBBurger
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This is such a cop out. The o line is terrible, we know this. Against Colorado there really was no meaningful second half adjustments. I'm sure Greatwood knows how to get the best out of our student athletes, but until the play calling changes we are throwing good money at bad places....
movielover
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Texas made a bold move in the off season, after one season at 5-7 - with a porous defense that allowed 31 PPG. (Even worse without the Rice shutout.)

They brought in recently unemployed defensive guru / HC Gary Patterson from TCU. They're now 5-2, only allowing 18.3 PPG.
calumnus
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OdontoBear66 said:

Deutsch said:

Only relevant Q: will this (or any other tweak) help in getting the ball to playmakers in space?
We have the playmakers whether it be at TE, WR, QB or RB. We need to get them time and openings to do what they do best.


Running Ott straight up the middle against 9 in the box is not going to work better because Greatwood will teach our guys to hold again. It did not help Baldwin's offense much.
Alkiadt
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calumnus said:

91Cal said:

If you fire Angus outright, I would expect that increases the likelihood that SV enters the portal at the first opportunity.

That said, the OC/playcalling deficiency has to be addressed as well. The mess isn't only attributable to the OL.


What if 3 time Pro Bowler Tarik Glenn were promoted to OL Coach from his current administrative position? Would we lose players and recruits?

Greatwood could be HIS advisor (if he needs one).


Who says Glenn is even interested in being a college position coach? I think you're vastly underestimating the time commitment and job demands ( especially the recruiting). Just because a guy played at the next level ( and likely made a fantastic amount of money), doesn't always mean they have the desire to pursue a very difficult job. Just sayin'….if there was interest Cal and Wilcox would already know.
Besides Mike Saffel is already on staff helping out the O-line. Not sure if he's ready yet for a promotion.
movielover
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The time commitment for recruiting is why Greatwood retired.

He sure got here quick. Must be in close contact w JW.
GoCal80
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I'm not sure that Greatwood would help with offensive adjustments. A Colorado sports reporter named Brian Howell said that "he thinks the Buffaloes, playing with an interim coach after the firing of Karl Dorrell, confused Cal last Saturday."

"There was an element of surprise. They did things no team had ever seen on film… There were some things schematically they did on defense that was very different. They completely revamped their defense in a matter of 10-12 days. They created new positions for players, they brought new energy on defense."

https://www.johncanzano.com/p/canzano-trail-blazers-should-enter
Arcadiabear
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GoCal80 said:

I'm not sure that Greatwood would help with offensive adjustments. A Colorado sports reporter named Brian Howell said that "he thinks the Buffaloes, playing with an interim coach after the firing of Karl Dorrell, confused Cal last Saturday."

"There was an element of surprise. They did things no team had ever seen on film… There were some things schematically they did on defense that was very different. They completely revamped their defense in a matter of 10-12 days. They created new positions for players, they brought new energy on defense."

https://www.johncanzano.com/p/canzano-trail-blazers-should-enter
all the more terrible that we did nothing with our 10 to 12 days


thinking that we would run through the rest of the season with the anemic offense that showed up against WSU is terrible coaching.

While others got better, we stood still. Because WILCOX IS IN OVER HIS HEAD
HearstMining
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Arcadiabear said:

GoCal80 said:

I'm not sure that Greatwood would help with offensive adjustments. A Colorado sports reporter named Brian Howell said that "he thinks the Buffaloes, playing with an interim coach after the firing of Karl Dorrell, confused Cal last Saturday."

"There was an element of surprise. They did things no team had ever seen on film… There were some things schematically they did on defense that was very different. They completely revamped their defense in a matter of 10-12 days. They created new positions for players, they brought new energy on defense."

https://www.johncanzano.com/p/canzano-trail-blazers-should-enter
all the more terrible that we did nothing with our 10 to 12 days


thinking that we would run through the rest of the season with the anemic offense that showed up against WSU is terrible coaching.

While others got better, we stood still. Because WILCOX IS IN OVER HIS HEAD
I'm not going to the trouble of checking, but I don't think JW has a great track record for post-bye games.
01Bear
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HearstMining said:

Arcadiabear said:

GoCal80 said:

I'm not sure that Greatwood would help with offensive adjustments. A Colorado sports reporter named Brian Howell said that "he thinks the Buffaloes, playing with an interim coach after the firing of Karl Dorrell, confused Cal last Saturday."

"There was an element of surprise. They did things no team had ever seen on film… There were some things schematically they did on defense that was very different. They completely revamped their defense in a matter of 10-12 days. They created new positions for players, they brought new energy on defense."

https://www.johncanzano.com/p/canzano-trail-blazers-should-enter
all the more terrible that we did nothing with our 10 to 12 days


thinking that we would run through the rest of the season with the anemic offense that showed up against WSU is terrible coaching.

While others got better, we stood still. Because WILCOX IS IN OVER HIS HEAD
I'm not going to the trouble of checking, but I don't think JW has a great track record for post-bye games.

IIRC, he's lost every single one of them at Cal. i could be mistaken, though.
Bobodeluxe
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01Bear said:

HearstMining said:

Arcadiabear said:

GoCal80 said:

I'm not sure that Greatwood would help with offensive adjustments. A Colorado sports reporter named Brian Howell said that "he thinks the Buffaloes, playing with an interim coach after the firing of Karl Dorrell, confused Cal last Saturday."

"There was an element of surprise. They did things no team had ever seen on film… There were some things schematically they did on defense that was very different. They completely revamped their defense in a matter of 10-12 days. They created new positions for players, they brought new energy on defense."

https://www.johncanzano.com/p/canzano-trail-blazers-should-enter
all the more terrible that we did nothing with our 10 to 12 days


thinking that we would run through the rest of the season with the anemic offense that showed up against WSU is terrible coaching.

While others got better, we stood still. Because WILCOX IS IN OVER HIS HEAD
I'm not going to the trouble of checking, but I don't think JW has a great track record for post-bye games.

IIRC, he's lost every single one of them at Cal. i could be mistaken, though.
I, for one, appreciate consistency.
calumnus
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Alkiadt said:

calumnus said:

91Cal said:

If you fire Angus outright, I would expect that increases the likelihood that SV enters the portal at the first opportunity.

That said, the OC/playcalling deficiency has to be addressed as well. The mess isn't only attributable to the OL.


What if 3 time Pro Bowler Tarik Glenn were promoted to OL Coach from his current administrative position? Would we lose players and recruits?

Greatwood could be HIS advisor (if he needs one).


Who says Glenn is even interested in being a college position coach? I think you're vastly underestimating the time commitment and job demands ( especially the recruiting). Just because a guy played at the next level ( and likely made a fantastic amount of money), doesn't always mean they have the desire to pursue a very difficult job. Just sayin'….if there was interest Cal and Wilcox would already know.
Besides Mike Saffel is already on staff helping out the O-line. Not sure if he's ready yet for a promotion.


Tarik Glenn is on staff and supervises the athletics study center, which is actually a more time consuming job than being a position coach. He obviously doesn't have to for financial reasons. He is too young and has too much energy to retire. He is on staff at Cal because he loves Cal.

Saffle is a graduate assistant, which means he is also a student.

Glenn already has his MBA (from Purdue) which he obtained while playing professional football. He is on staff already. He is only 46. A three time Pro Bowler, with a Super Bowl ring, from Oakland (a key recruiting area).

Saffle is from Sammamish, WA. His mom is a Microsoft executive and he is a talented video producer. We have plenty of recruiting representation from the Pacific Northwest. He was recruited by Dykes to play in the Air Raid. Then played in Musgrave's spread offense coached by Greatwood. He played in 21 games with only 13 starts at Cal. He is now 26. You cannot expect to wow recruits with that when compared to an 11 year NFL vet and 3 time Pro Bowler with a Super Bowl ring.
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