Another good dimension to this hire that no one seems to be mentioning is that Spavital has been here before, so he knows what Cal and Berkeley are about and presumably likes it here or he wouldn't have come back. That seemed to be the main issue with Dykes: he felt uncomfortable here (insert your favorite chicken spaghetti joke/dig), and was pining for the comfier confines of the Lone Star State. Cal fans don't have to worry that Spavital will have culture shock and run out the door the first chance he gets because of it.
I liked what Spavital said about seeing the potential at Cal his first time around. I'm sure he feels very motivated to bring that potential to life. Cal can only go up from where they are offensively. Cal has the elements in place to be the powerhouse that it once was. I'm always hopeful, but there is a real reason to be optimistic with this hire.
Fantastic. I've been anxiously awaiting this news and this makes me happy. As others here have said, this is a real departure for Wilcox in some ways, and Spav is a proven OC with an offensive scheme that works. I'm happy for the players and team. Now we need an OL coach who can do things like Oregon State and run the ball when everyone knows you are going to run the ball and still run the ball down their throat. Go Bears!
This is a really great hire. When dykes was fired, a lot of the players lobbied for spav to get the HC gig. Wilcox needed to take a big swing here and break conventional wisdom. Musgrave was boring and didn’t utilize the playmakers on offense enough but that was partly due to the atrocities of the offensive line. This is a solid solid hire and I think it keeps ott, sturdivant, and hunter from hitting the portal. Spav is also a great recruiter and they’ll be able to get more offensive weapons from the portal.
The prevailing hypothetical has been what if we could pair Wilcox’s defense with Sonny’s offense. Welp, this is about as close were going to get to see if that can happen. For me, it makes a lot of sense. The biggest question will be whether he can coerce the types of players he needs for his offense to run to come here.
Assuming we don’t lose a lot of our skill players on offense to the portal, I would say he has a fairly good core to work with right now at WR, TE, RB, and even QB. We just need to get the OL situated with a good OL coach and some portal additions.
"This is a huge decision for Justin Wilcox. The success or failure of this hire will likely make or break".....ak_A_bear's mind next season. Otherwise, I like it. Almost sent me into a St. Vitus dance with Spavtic moves.
Shiny ribbon on a massive turd in a box of an athletic department.
Nothing has changed.
We’ll witness another bowl-less season
Maybe an NIT berth by Fox
All will get raises and extensions for blowing a giant horse cock.
Troy Taylor will instantly transform Furd into an 8-4 contender…
And old blues will continue to be pacified by shiny ribbons on flaming bags of poop on their doorsteps in Claremont.
Nothing has changed.
The only difference between being a Bear and a porn star is at least porn ends in orgasm whereas being a bear begins with orgasm and ends with being pooped on.
For those of you who wondered why this took so long......it was because I wad glued to twitter and looking at sources for the next move. Today I traveled.....and here we are. You're welcome :)
On a serious note: Spav has proven not only at other places but also at Cal that he can run an offense. I think Wilcox needed someone who was the anthesis of him and here we are. This benefits the receivers and Ott, who can attack the 2nd level and break a tackle and he's gone.
Also and I cannot stress this enough: his head coaching record DOES NOT have relevance here. The administrative work and purpose is completely different. I give this hire a B.
I'll take a B any day compared to the flat out F when Musgrave was calling plays. As they say in Alcoholics Anonymous: "Once you have hit bottom, there is nowhere to go but up."
This is true. There can be no offense without an offensive line. Doesn't matter what system, what manipulations are done. You need the trenches to succeed.
From what I can gather in what went on this week. And stuff I was told. Nothing about the hire was really slow or inefficient. Parts kept moving and then finally aligned. Also knowing who was in the mix Spav is a solid choice of an OC who has succeeded as an OC at every P5 stop he has been to.
Solid hire where we know the floor with a coach that recruited here annd knows how to recruit at Cal. And that floor on the field is a conference leading offense with a top 15 offense in YPG, TDs, YPP and total yards.
I'd say we can undo the Jeremiah Hawkins transfer but he already grad transferred to Missouri Southern (and might be out of eligibility).
Just joking here. I don't see anyone offhand but maybe some OL (I see Dalton Cooper mentioned a number of places but not sure if he has eligibility). It looks like Spav heavily prioritized the transfer portal (which pissed off Texas HS coaches) so there probably aren't many with eligibility.
This is objectively a good hire. Young, strong recruiter, established track record of success as a power 5 offensive coordinator. Period. Not a great head coach at Texas state? Who cares. Not all good coordinators make good head coaches. For anyone saying this is Beau Baldwin all over again, no it’s not. Beau Baldwin’s experience prior to Cal was Central Washington and Eastern Washington.
Yeah I remember all the talk on Golden Blogs back then was keeping Spav as the OC would’ve been the dream scenario, but I think he thought he was ready to be the head coach. Ultimately, he left for WVU which frankly, under Dana Holgerson, was probably a better job than Cal. I’m getting increasingly stoked about this hire. Maybe third times a charm for Wilcox…
Why what happened to future quarterback Kyle Miller? What type of offense the new OC will bring to Cal
Another good dimension to this hire that no one seems to be mentioning is that Spavital has been here before, so he knows what Cal and Berkeley are about and presumably likes it here or he wouldn't have come back. That seemed to be the main issue with Dykes: he felt uncomfortable here (insert your favorite chicken spaghetti joke/dig), and was pining for the comfier confines of the Lone Star State. Cal fans don't have to worry that Spavital will have culture shock and run out the door the first chance he gets because of it.
I liked what Spavital said about seeing the potential at Cal his first time around. I'm sure he feels very motivated to bring that potential to life. Cal can only go up from where they are offensively. Cal has the elements in place to be the powerhouse that it once was. I'm always hopeful, but there is a real reason to be optimistic with this hire.
Fantastic. I've been anxiously awaiting this news and this makes me happy. As others here have said, this is a real departure for Wilcox in some ways, and Spav is a proven OC with an offensive scheme that works. I'm happy for the players and team. Now we need an OL coach who can do things like Oregon State and run the ball when everyone knows you are going to run the ball and still run the ball down their throat. Go Bears!
This is a really great hire. When dykes was fired, a lot of the players lobbied for spav to get the HC gig. Wilcox needed to take a big swing here and break conventional wisdom. Musgrave was boring and didn’t utilize the playmakers on offense enough but that was partly due to the atrocities of the offensive line. This is a solid solid hire and I think it keeps ott, sturdivant, and hunter from hitting the portal. Spav is also a great recruiter and they’ll be able to get more offensive weapons from the portal.
I forgot about the players lobbying for him.
#drop50
I think this was a great hire. Gives me some reason to hope. Hopefully we really clean up in the transfer portal.
The prevailing hypothetical has been what if we could pair Wilcox’s defense with Sonny’s offense. Welp, this is about as close were going to get to see if that can happen. For me, it makes a lot of sense. The biggest question will be whether he can coerce the types of players he needs for his offense to run to come here.
Assuming we don’t lose a lot of our skill players on offense to the portal, I would say he has a fairly good core to work with right now at WR, TE, RB, and even QB. We just need to get the OL situated with a good OL coach and some portal additions.
"This is a huge decision for Justin Wilcox. The success or failure of this hire will likely make or break".....ak_A_bear's mind next season. Otherwise, I like it. Almost sent me into a St. Vitus dance with Spavtic moves.
Shiny ribbon on a massive turd in a box of an athletic department.
Nothing has changed.
We’ll witness another bowl-less season
Maybe an NIT berth by Fox
All will get raises and extensions for blowing a giant horse cock.
Troy Taylor will instantly transform Furd into an 8-4 contender…
And old blues will continue to be pacified by shiny ribbons on flaming bags of poop on their doorsteps in Claremont.
Nothing has changed.
The only difference between being a Bear and a porn star is at least porn ends in orgasm whereas being a bear begins with orgasm and ends with being pooped on.
Jake Spavital lol
Ain’t you the fella that got banned for saying all the homophobic shit? Who let you back in?
For those of you who wondered why this took so long......it was because I wad glued to twitter and looking at sources for the next move. Today I traveled.....and here we are. You're welcome :)
On a serious note: Spav has proven not only at other places but also at Cal that he can run an offense. I think Wilcox needed someone who was the anthesis of him and here we are. This benefits the receivers and Ott, who can attack the 2nd level and break a tackle and he's gone.
Also and I cannot stress this enough: his head coaching record DOES NOT have relevance here. The administrative work and purpose is completely different. I give this hire a B.
I'll take a B any day compared to the flat out F when Musgrave was calling plays. As they say in Alcoholics Anonymous: "Once you have hit bottom, there is nowhere to go but up."
Sounds akin to Gruden’s FFCA.
B is good.
Let’s get competent O-line play and the offense should be fine…which is saying something.
North Texas?
This is true. There can be no offense without an offensive line. Doesn't matter what system, what manipulations are done. You need the trenches to succeed.
You don’t even need to be Michigan or UGA with a line stacked with NFL picks…just a decent unit that gives the O a chance!!
From what I can gather in what went on this week. And stuff I was told. Nothing about the hire was really slow or inefficient. Parts kept moving and then finally aligned. Also knowing who was in the mix Spav is a solid choice of an OC who has succeeded as an OC at every P5 stop he has been to.
Solid hire where we know the floor with a coach that recruited here annd knows how to recruit at Cal. And that floor on the field is a conference leading offense with a top 15 offense in YPG, TDs, YPP and total yards.
It's been only 23 days since Musgrave was fired.
Also a very good point.
Does Texas State have any potential difference makers that may join Spav?
There might be an OL or two that looks very intriguing.
I'd say we can undo the Jeremiah Hawkins transfer but he already grad transferred to Missouri Southern (and might be out of eligibility).
Just joking here. I don't see anyone offhand but maybe some OL (I see Dalton Cooper mentioned a number of places but not sure if he has eligibility). It looks like Spav heavily prioritized the transfer portal (which pissed off Texas HS coaches) so there probably aren't many with eligibility.
Good points…now let’s nail the O-line hire.
This is objectively a good hire. Young, strong recruiter, established track record of success as a power 5 offensive coordinator. Period. Not a great head coach at Texas state? Who cares. Not all good coordinators make good head coaches. For anyone saying this is Beau Baldwin all over again, no it’s not. Beau Baldwin’s experience prior to Cal was Central Washington and Eastern Washington.
It did cross my mind over how Cal would have looked in 2017-18 with Spav kept on as OC over the decision to go with Baldwin instead...
Yeah I remember all the talk on Golden Blogs back then was keeping Spav as the OC would’ve been the dream scenario, but I think he thought he was ready to be the head coach. Ultimately, he left for WVU which frankly, under Dana Holgerson, was probably a better job than Cal. I’m getting increasingly stoked about this hire. Maybe third times a charm for Wilcox…
All I want for Christmas is Troy Taylor or the return of Tedford. Winners!
I believe this is a great hire. He's familiar with Cal, has a good record as an OC coach. He's a good recruiter as well.
I like this hire
Well I guess this is the closest thing we can do to hire Dykes as OC.