Hopefully, TEs become an integral part of the offense.
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Cal Football
Bears' New TE Coach Tim Plough Ready For New Challenge at Cal
The Bears made a big shift in philosophy at the tight end coaching position in the offseason, much as they have on all the offensive coaching changes, replacing longtime veteran Geep Chryst with a young, enthusiastic and offensively creative new addition in new tight ends coach Tim Plough.
Plough brings a wealth of offensive experience with him having been an OC for 10 years at Northern Arizona, UC Davis and Boise State. He also was involved in game planning as a consultant to the program late in the Bears’ tumultuous 2022 season.
Plough has had the opportunity to coach against Cal twice with UC Davis and is anxious to be in the home locker room instead this next season.
“I was there when (Jeff) Tedford was still the coach (in 2010), so I actually coached there twice,” said Plough. “The first time Tedford was still coaching and it was my first game as an actual coach. I was a quarterback coach at UC Davis. We got killed (34-13). I think it was Keenan Allen’s first game. He was a freshman, I think. He might have thrown for a touchdown, ran for a touchdown, and caught a touchdown. Cameron Jordan was on the defensive line. Long, long, long player.
“The next time I was with Coach Hawk (Dan Hawkins) and we came up here and we were pretty good that year (a 27-13 Cal victory). Hung in there for a while and that was one of the first times I ever talked to (Justin) Wilcox. After that game he called me with the defensive staff, and we just compared notes from the game. That was the first time I ever talked one on one with him.”
“That doesn’t happen very often. If you know you’re not going to see them again and FCS to FBS that’s a good opportunity for them to get some scouting done from another opponent just so they know and with Wilcox and Hawkins being so close. That was cool for me.
“The defensive staff here has been really good for a long time under Justin (Wilcox) so to have them critique what we were doing and tell us some stuff we were doing well was really helpful.”
One of the first things that Plough was able to see during his stint as a consultant during part of last season and after his arrival at Cal was the closeness between the players, the tight bonds of the staff and the strong relationship the players have with the Cal staff and despite the highly disappointing season, the buy-in and resolve of the players remains strong.
“Obviously, we all want to win games and no one is more competitive than Justin Wilcox,” Plough said. “We all want to win and no one is satisfied at all with the record from a year ago but what I saw in my small time visiting was a team that was all in, was working their butt off to win those games at the end of the year and a head coach and a leader that was really pushing them to continue to strive to be as good as they can be. But also doing it in a really respectful way and to witness that when you have a season without having the amount of wins you want, that’s when you’re going to see what kind of people are here and that was a cool thing for me was to be a fly on the wall to see that these are really good people.
“They work really hard; they care about the players and the players care about them. I think that is a great place to lead toward a lot of wins. Now it’s time to get over that hump and turn those close losses into close wins and that can happen really fast nowadays.”
That feeling was especially evident in Cal’s late games against tough competition where the team could’ve easily folded but rather battled to tight 41-35 and 35-29 losses at USC and to UCLA at Memorial.
“I think you could tell by the last few games. Playing USC as tough as we did, playing UCLA as tough as we did, I think a lot of teams in that situation could have gone a lot of different ways. So I think that is a sign of how much the players care about the staff and how much the staff cares about the players and wants to lead to success. You have to put the work in and it is a result-oriented business but I think if you have that then it is achievable to turn things around. That’s the exciting thing about being here.”
Plough brings a unique depth of knowledge to the game having spent the bulk of his time as a coach as an offensive coordinator so he brings a unique perspective to coaching tight ends with a full knowledge how his corps fit into the overall scheme and game plan on any given Saturday.
“I think the cool thing for me is that I have been the coordinator for 12 of the 15 years I have been a coach so I had to coach all the positions anyways because when you’re a coordinator, you have to have a wide knowledge of all the positions anyways,” noted Plough. “I have always been involved with tight ends because they have to do so much offensively. They have to be involved in the run game, the pass game, protections, and all that. So I have always felt like if I wasn’t going to coach quarterbacks, tight Ends is the next best thing with the involvement that they have in all of the facets of the offense.
“I feel well versed in that and I am excited for the challenge and having a position room that I can sink my teeth into and develop those guys in what I think is an important position but also giving them a wide lens of the full picture through the quarterback’s eyes and quarterback coordinating I have helped with can help them see the game from a different light that will help them anticipate and play faster and more confidently. So I am excited for that and I think it’ll be a lot of fun.”
Plough was asked about the approach the staff is taking with their tight end additions this offseason and how they envision them fitting in.
“I think the world we’re in with the transfers and everything, you’re taking a look at transfers that can fit in with what you’re doing schematically but more importantly, they have to fit within the culture of the team,” Plough noted. “I think both of these guys check those boxes.
“Asher (Alberding) already has a leg up because he was in the North Texas program and he knows Coach (Mike) Bloesch’s run game really well and I think that is going to allow him to get a head start on things and be confident in the verbiage and all of that. He's an extremely physical player at the point of attack, an excellent run blocker, an excellent pass protector who didn’t have a chance to show what he was capable of in the pass game, which was one of the reasons he was excited about getting out here because he was more excited about the opportunity to be involved in catching passes, too and be in the type of offense that Spav (Jake Spavital) can create.
“JT (Byrne), during the covid year of 2020, we were recruiting him pretty heavily to UC Davis before he sort of blew up and started receiving Pac-12 offers. He did not really get a senior football season because of covid which I think probably stopped some of his bigger recruiting. He did a great job at Oregon State, developed really well as a pass blocker.
“He was a tremendous athlete in high school, also playing baseball and basketball. I think for him it was about coming back to the bay area and coming back home. He always wanted to be a part of the Cal program from an academic standpoint. But I think he's the type of guy that has the athleticism where he can do some real damage in the passing game, and I think he will fit really well in the run schemes we’re putting together.
“I remember when he was coming out in his high school tape, he played quarterback and safety and wideout and tight end. He kind of played everything. I remember we really liked him because he was a great baseball and basketball player, so he was one of those guys that was a great athlete and played everything. So, I wasn’t shocked he went out to a Pac-12 school right out of high school. He’s always wanted to be a part of the Cal program; he’s had a real close relationship with (former Cal LB) Scott Fujita and he looked at this as an opportunity to get into a program he’s really wanted to be a part of and be part of an offensive scheme where I think fits his traits really well.”
Both new portal additions are particularly impressive off the field as well.
“Asher’s (Alberding) got his own cryptocurrency business that he started. He's already in the master’s program here. He’s doing the same thing Jackson Sirmon is doing. JT (Byrne) you feel like could be the president of the United States one day with the way he is able to talk to people. Both of these guys fit this program really well. In lifts and workouts, already you can tell how excited they are and they’re both really going to help us because the attitude in that room and the type of culture we have really fits really well.”
One of the returning tight ends Plough is anxious to get his hands on is 6-4/240 redshirt junior Elijah Mojarro, who has played in 25 games, starting two in 2022, with 6 receptions for 73 yards as a redshirt soph last season.
“You know I did see his film and I have been around the program a little bit before and got to see him, Plough said of Mojarro. “I just love how physical he is, and how much he cares about his teammates. I think he started on all the special teams’ units. Again, I think he is a selfless guy that cares about the program, defiantly a guy I am excited to see in this scheme to see what he can do in the run game and the pass game. Another great kid and I am excited about him.”
Another player the new TE coach is looking to work with is incoming frosh Ben Marshall, a versatile and athletic tight end who will likely be the most athletic pass catcher of the unit.
“He’s kind of funny, similar to the JT Byrne high school film. He played wildcat quarterback and he has lots of athleticism he has. A funny story for him is on his recruiting trip, they went to Chase Arena and they were doing the basketball game knockout game with the recruits on the court and he was doing windmill dunks. I think his biggest hurdle is getting in the weight room and putting on the type of weight where he can play comfortably at that position. He’s got the frame to do that and is just a good kid from a good family. I think he gets it from all the levels, and I think we just need to develop him from a physical standpoint and putting on weight and everything but athletically, he’s everything you want.”
With the departure through the portal of preferred walk-on fullback Beau Tagaloa, the Bears don’t have a clear candidate as of yet for the seldom-used fullback slot but former linebacker Andy Alfieri, who made the switch to the tight end/fullback position in fall camp last year could potentially be a candidate since he played some running back in high school.
“I think that is always tough,” Plough said of the transition. “When you’re playing one side of the ball then you make that transition where you have to learn new fundamentals and aspects of the game so I have an appreciation of how difficult that is. I think as a person, he checks all the boxes; I was talking to him about it the other day, a clean slate from steps A to Z. Let’s just teach the fundamentals and get you confident in that position and see where that leads. Obviously, I think he has good ability. It's just that opportunity to make that full transition.”
“I think he’s a guy that could definitely do that. Usually, you’ll see those linebacker types of transitions to that. We always joke about Malik McMorris. He’s a part of the program now with the defense but we were watching some film of him the other day. A big bowling ball of butcher knives, knocking people over. I think all that is on the table for guys.”
Plough also has his eyes on 6-5/230 redshirt frosh tight end Jack Endries who spurned scholarship opportunities at several Ivies and service academies as well as San Jose State and Fresno State to walk-on at Cal for the chance to eventually earn a scholarship. Endries displayed ample receiving skills at nearby Monte Vista in high school, frequently flexing out, compiling 49 catches for 579 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 games his senior season.
“I think one guy that jumped out to me watching the practice film from the year and watching the team was Jack Endries,” noted Plough. “I think he’s a tremendous athlete that has a lot of good traits. Checks all the boxes of things we talked about, and I am excited about him, I think he’s got a really bright future too. So he’s another guy that will be fun to watch in spring. He was on the scout team a lot last year and they speak frequently about his ability going against them all year so again I think that says a lot about who he is.”
Plough (37) is one of three current or former offensive coordinators in the Bears’ new offensive brain trust, all under 40.
It should be a new look indeed for the Cal offense in 2023 and it can’t come soon enough.
Related:
Former North Texas OC/OL Coach Bloesch Hits the Ground Running at Cal
Spavital Ready to Run it Back at Cal
Spavital Ready to Run it Back at Cal Pt. 2
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