In Cal football’s weekly press conference, General Manager Ron Rivera was added to the roster to discuss some of the playcalling and personnel changes that have taken place in the last week, including when passing game coordinator Pat McCann took over playcalling duties in the second half after a dreadful offensive display in the first two quarters of Cal’s loss to UNLV Saturday.
Head coach Tosh Lupoi, Rivera and the offensive staff discussed changes to how the playcalling was executed heading into the game but when the offense only managed to put up seven points against a middling UNLV defense in the first 30 minutes, Lupoi opted to have McCann take over on the fly.
“We talked about how we want to do things, how we're going to do things, and then we didn't do them, so we most certainly had to change,” Rivera said. “I think it just shows that he's looking for answers, which is great. He's trying to be aggressive in terms of finding those answers, and really just trying to show the players that he's willing to do what he needs to do to give ourselves a chance to win.
“If you continue to do the same thing, isn't that insanity if you keep getting the same results, and I think that's kind of what he's alluding to, is that he felt he had to do that. I mean, our initial play caller is a young play caller, a guy who's got a lot to learn still. Very good football coach, understands the game, but he's got some things to learn.”
Lupoi was also asked about the changes.
“Yeah, there were a couple of them,” Lupoi noted. “So made a change during the game. As you guys know, last week I spent every single meeting with the offense, every walk-through, every period, every quarterback meeting, just trying to stimulate some things of what we could improve on, and it's really cool.
“Second series to get the longest touchdown of the year, utilizing different personnel. Kind of brought guys out that had not contributed, such as Tyree Samms. You know, Taimani's been down, had a neck injury for a couple weeks, and was healthy enough to go. So we started the game plan together, put a lot of different (things in), stepped up a lot of responsibilities and aspects, and then wanted to change that up.
“So moving in a in a different direction as far as a playcaller and excited about it, and honestly, guys, the most excited thing I am about is just the dynamics of our staff. Coach Somerville is a damn good coach, and he's extremely intelligent and can target some of his efforts and highlight some of his strengths of manipulating defenses and getting getting us some winning plays, and and then ultimately having someone that's had a lot of experience calling plays in Pat McCann. He's been a former offensive coordinator, around three years of experience. You know, Coach Jeff Tedford highly recommended to him to me. Ron Gould highly recommended him to me. Did a great job on his interview. He was already a coordinator for us, passing game coordinator, and I think that sparked us.”
As a former head coach, particularly one reaching the heights of success in the NFL, winning the Super Bowl as a player, leading his team to a Super Bowl appearance as a head coach with the Carolina Panthers in 2015 and twice winning AP NFL Coach of the Year, it’s a balancing act for Rivera as a GM. The head man made it clear he’s there for input and has given it but it’s ultimately the head coach’s option whether to apply the advice or not - at least for now.
“It is a balance,” Rivera said. “It really is, and it's hard because I don't want to interfere or make a suggestion that he doesn't agree with. But at the same time, I want to be able to explain it to him, and I've done that, and he's been very good about that. We basically meet, whether you want to call it the end of the week or the beginning of the week, the next week after the game, and we'll talk about what just happened, and we'll talk about some things, and he's been great. He's been tremendous in terms of it.
“If there is one thing I'll say, he's watched the film several times, and his recollection of what's happened and what's gone on has been tremendous. Some of the suggestions I made, he's worked with some of them that we've discussed, and whether he agreed or disagreed. But what he decides, that's his decision. I'm going to be honest and upfront with him, and he's been tremendous in terms of listening, and we've had some really good conversations about things.”The GM is also troubled by the penalties and the clear display of undisciplined play on the field on Saturday as the Bears racked up 16 infractions to the tune of 147 yards in penalties.
“Well, first of all, it does drive you crazy because they are things that we control ourselves for the most part,” Rivera said. “The second part of that though, is they are correctable. It is from an aggressive nature on some of those penalties, and something our guys have got to learn is to be a little more disciplined and understand how important it is to keep your focus on what the intent really is, not to go out and hurt anybody or hit anybody late. It's to get after the quarterback, and there's a certain part where you've got to be able to recognize and understand that you guys just have to pull off.
“You know, when a crisis happens, that's what a good culture, a good staff, a good coach does, is try to find a way to win when crisis hits. So that's what we're going to continue to do. And I'll tell you one thing: this group, the way they're attacking and answering, you know, we have not missed a beat as far as our hunger and our approach, and it's going to take everything we got and a lot of cleanup based off of our major faults from one thing or a different thing in each game, where we can put three phases together to go beat the best team yet that we're facing (Virginia Tech).
Saturday’s Homecoming kickoff vs the Hokies (4-1, 1-1 ACC) will be at 12:30 at Memorial Stadium and will be televised on the ACC Network.
I don't think waiting until you are losing to a mid major in your 5th game after your QB is out for the game is aggressive.
It smells of desperation. Barely above oblivious. And that a GM had to advise the HC "hey, your offense is trash" rather than the HC knowing... Or that the HC sat in every offensive meeting between week 4 and 5 and said "everything looks good!"
The PR speak exposes so much, somehow I feel worse.
The worst part is Daddy coming in to explain why tosh is not insane for doing the same thing for 4 and a half games.
After listening to these pressers there is no doubt who is in charge of the football program who is calling the shots…Ron Rivera! It's going to be an interesting season between Rivera and Lupoi! I think you can safely say goodbye to Sagapolutele.
What are coaches ever supposed to say when they're losing? We're going to give up? Clearly my hires were a disaster? I don't believe in this team?
"Somerville is a very smart football man. That's why I hired him. He's a very big piece of our future. But he's not ready to be a coordinator. That's my fault. We are getting that fixed ASAP."
What are coaches ever supposed to say when they're losing? We're going to give up? Clearly my hires were a disaster? I don't believe in this team?
"Somerville is a very smart football man. That's why I hired him. He's a very big piece of our future. But he's not ready to be a coordinator. That's my fault. We are getting that fixed ASAP."
Something like that, not bull**** coach speak.
That's what he's suppose to say.
So that's what you expect Sean Payton to say about your boy Davis Webb? Of course not.
What are coaches ever supposed to say when they're losing? We're going to give up? Clearly my hires were a disaster? I don't believe in this team?
"Somerville is a very smart football man. That's why I hired him. He's a very big piece of our future. But he's not ready to be a coordinator. That's my fault. We are getting that fixed ASAP."
Something like that, not bull**** coach speak.
That's what he's suppose to say.
So that's what you expect Sean Payton to say about your boy Davis Webb? Of course not.
Not my boy but Davis Webb's entire (short) coaching career has been under Sean Payton with significantly more experience than Somerville. His resume actually looks like a perfect one for an OC position, at least for an accelerated career path.
Sean took a chance with Davis but at least it seemed to make sense. He certainly could have said something similar to what I wrote. I have no idea what he said. Tosh took a complete leap of faith on Somerville with no actual coaching experience on his end or Somerville's. He'd do well to come out and own this big mistake.
What are coaches ever supposed to say when they're losing? We're going to give up? Clearly my hires were a disaster? I don't believe in this team?
"Somerville is a very smart football man. That's why I hired him. He's a very big piece of our future. But he's not ready to be a coordinator. That's my fault. We are getting that fixed ASAP."
Something like that, not bull**** coach speak.
That's what he's suppose to say.
So that's what you expect Sean Payton to say about your boy Davis Webb? Of course not.
Not my boy but Davis Webb's entire (short) coaching career has been under Sean Payton with significantly more experience than Somerville. His resume actually looks like a perfect one for an OC position, at least for an accelerated career path.
Sean took a chance with Davis but at least it seemed to make sense. He certainly could have said something similar to what I wrote. I have no idea what he said. Tosh took a complete leap of faith on Somerville with no actual coaching experience on his end or Somerville's. He'd do well to come out and own this big mistake.
What are coaches ever supposed to say when they're losing? We're going to give up? Clearly my hires were a disaster? I don't believe in this team?
"Somerville is a very smart football man. That's why I hired him. He's a very big piece of our future. But he's not ready to be a coordinator. That's my fault. We are getting that fixed ASAP."
Something like that, not bull**** coach speak.
That's what he's suppose to say.
So that's what you expect Sean Payton to say about your boy Davis Webb?
That's similar to what Payton said about Webb on Thursday. Did you read what Payton said?
What are coaches ever supposed to say when they're losing? We're going to give up? Clearly my hires were a disaster? I don't believe in this team?
"Somerville is a very smart football man. That's why I hired him. He's a very big piece of our future. But he's not ready to be a coordinator. That's my fault. We are getting that fixed ASAP."
Something like that, not bull**** coach speak.
That's what he's suppose to say.
That is essentially what he said, just framing the change as a positive, focusing more on McCann:
" "So moving in a in a different direction as far as a playcaller and excited about it, and honestly, guys, the most excited thing I am about is just the dynamics of our staff. Coach Somerville is a damn good coach, and he's extremely intelligent and can target some of his efforts and highlight some of his strengths of manipulating defenses and getting getting us some winning plays, and and then ultimately having someone that's had a lot of experience calling plays in Pat McCann. He's been a former offensive coordinator, around three years of experience. You know, Coach Jeff Tedford highly recommended to him to me. Ron Gould highly recommended him to me. Did a great job on his interview. He was already a coordinator for us, passing game coordinator, and I think that sparked us."
I really don't see anything wrong with that. We got all the information we need. McCann is calling the plays, his background, experience in play calling, Summerville is still involved, he is a smart and valuable team member and there is harmony on the staff and Tosh thinks this gave us a spark and will be better going forward. The focus was more on McCann.
Nothing else needs to be said. No need to trash a coach or player in the press. Somerville has been demoted, no need to pile on. The object is to make the changes needed while keeping the staff and team unified and positive to win the next game. And wanting Tosh to fall on his sword? That is like Cal Strong wanting Tosh to do stadium stairs as penance. Moreover, there is no way for Tosh to "take the blame for hiring Somerville as OC" without trashing Somerville. It is just unnecessary.
Honestly, the way he handled it gave me greater confidence in Tosh as a leader.
What are coaches ever supposed to say when they're losing? We're going to give up? Clearly my hires were a disaster? I don't believe in this team?
Ok, let's be serious.
1. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over. I advised tosh to change. = Our coach is insane. I had to fix it. 2. We replaced the play caller in the second half. He was drawing plays on an iPad. = I don't believe in the staff Tosh hired, or his hires were a disaster. Take your pick.
The problem is his statements were not neutral. They were damning, wrapped in almost-pr language.
If that's as good as they can make it sound, they basically did say "we gave up, we don't trust the team, we don't trust the staff, I had to step in and un**** our disaster of a hire, AND I have to come and explain it to everyone because I don't trust my head coach to deliver the news appropriately, and the ship is sinking and daddy has to come tell the investors I'm in charge."
What are coaches supposed to say? How THEY will fix it. How THEY made decisions to turn the ship. How THEY are in charge.
Instead his boss came in and said "I had to step in because he was giving up the season. Clearly my hire and his hires have been a disaster, and because I don't believe in this team, and no changes were being made, which is insane, I had to step in."
What are coaches ever supposed to say when they're losing? We're going to give up? Clearly my hires were a disaster? I don't believe in this team?
Ok, let's be serious.
1. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over. I advised tosh to change. = Our coach is insane. I had to fix it. 2. We replaced the play caller in the second half. He was drawing plays on an iPad. = I don't believe in the staff Tosh hired, or his hires were a disaster. Take your pick.
The problem is his statements were not neutral. They were damning, wrapped in almost-pr language.
If that's as good as they can make it sound, they basically did say "we gave up, we don't trust the team, we don't trust the staff, I had to step in and un**** our disaster of a hire, AND I have to come and explain it to everyone because I don't trust my head coach to deliver the news appropriately, and the ship is sinking and daddy has to come tell the investors I'm in charge."
What are coaches supposed to say? How THEY will fix it. How THEY made decisions to turn the ship. How THEY are in charge.
Instead his boss came in and said "I had to step in because he was giving up the season. Clearly my hire and his hires have been a disaster, and because I don't believe in this team, and no changes were being made, which is insane, I had to step in."
Huh, where did you get that from what Ron and Tosh said? I think they both made it clear it was Tosh's decision to make the change. For better or worse (worse IMO, he should have better helped create this staff), Ron has been pretty hands off. More a mentor.
Now in the press conference they revealed information about the change that we can criticize. In retrospect, I think after Clemson, if not made immediately, this should have AT LEAST been planned as a possibility so that McCann could be better prepared, with Somerville understanding that there was a backup Qb ready to go into the game if he wasnt getting it done.
However, given what actually happened, I dont see any problem with the press conference itself.
What are coaches ever supposed to say when they're losing? We're going to give up? Clearly my hires were a disaster? I don't believe in this team?
Ok, let's be serious.
1. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over. I advised tosh to change. = Our coach is insane. I had to fix it. 2. We replaced the play caller in the second half. He was drawing plays on an iPad. = I don't believe in the staff Tosh hired, or his hires were a disaster. Take your pick.
The problem is his statements were not neutral. They were damning, wrapped in almost-pr language.
If that's as good as they can make it sound, they basically did say "we gave up, we don't trust the team, we don't trust the staff, I had to step in and un**** our disaster of a hire, AND I have to come and explain it to everyone because I don't trust my head coach to deliver the news appropriately, and the ship is sinking and daddy has to come tell the investors I'm in charge."
What are coaches supposed to say? How THEY will fix it. How THEY made decisions to turn the ship. How THEY are in charge.
Instead his boss came in and said "I had to step in because he was giving up the season. Clearly my hire and his hires have been a disaster, and because I don't believe in this team, and no changes were being made, which is insane, I had to step in."
Huh, where did you get that from what Ron and Tosh said? I think they both made it clear it was Tosh's decision to make the change. For better or worse (worse IMO, he should have better helped create this staff), Ron has been pretty hands off. More a mentor.
Now in the press conference they revealed information about the change that we can criticize. In retrospect, I think after Clemson, if not made immediately, this should have AT LEAST been planned as a possibility so that McCann could be better prepared, with Somerville understanding that there was a backup Qb ready to go into the game if he wasnt getting it done.
However, given what actually happened, I dont see any problem with the press conference itself.
From Ron's words. The quotes in the article and the video.
It's a **** show right now. Everybody can see that. Hopefully it all gets worked out, ASAP. There's nothing we can do. Parsing their words to the press helps us vent, but that's about it.
What are coaches ever supposed to say when they're losing? We're going to give up? Clearly my hires were a disaster? I don't believe in this team?
Ok, let's be serious.
1. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over. I advised tosh to change. = Our coach is insane. I had to fix it. 2. We replaced the play caller in the second half. He was drawing plays on an iPad. = I don't believe in the staff Tosh hired, or his hires were a disaster. Take your pick.
Way to not answer the question. Tosh is not going to throw anyone under the bus, nor should he. Y'all sick of losing but this is absolute nonsense. Fans are mad he didn't say enough but also reading between the lines that he said exactly what he should? JFC guys. Just win, forget the press conference nonsense.
After listening to his press conference, instead of just reading summaries of it, I realize he did basically say what I wrote. So...my bad. And I do agree with Duck's last comment, we just need to start winning and the dissecting of the press conferences will stop. I still wish Tosh would get more succinct but hell I've also had times when I wanted coaches to give us more info so...hell. The bottomline is I just have too much damn time on my hands.
It's a **** show right now. Everybody can see that. Hopefully it all gets worked out, ASAP. There's nothing we can do. Parsing their words to the press helps us vent, but that's about it.
Personally, I'm starting to think about Cal men's and women's basketball.
