UNLV did get demolished by SJSU, but it should be noted that they lost QB Doug Brumfield to injury, which is a pretty significant loss (like if Cal were to lose Chase Garbers last year or something). Brumfield was killing it before then.
Troy Taylor won't be around long enough while Cal waddles around with a middlin' head coach who hasn't shown one time he can have a winning record in conference and won't this year, either. Colorado would be crazy not to take a flier on him. The man has won in impressive fashion wherever he has has been. And sooo impressive to give up an OC position at Utah to earn his D1 head coaching bonafides. I am a Sac State alum from way back, and I will repeat how difficult it must be to win at a commuter school where no one cares much of anything about campus life, including sports. The basketball court on campus is a complete joke, hardly larger than a high school gym.
Yes, we all expect Coach Wilcox to be around for some time. Also, I too would like to see a more creative offense, Coach Musgrave does NOT seem to be the answer.
However, has anyone noticed the great work Coach Toler has been doing? As Director of Recruiting and also as Wide-Outs Coach he is critical to the success of CAL Football going forward, and CAL should do WHATEVER they can to retain him.
My friend said that Sac State hosts Montana in a #2 vs #4 match at 8 PM, the same week Cal plays UW. I may do a double header if Cal/UW is before 2 PM and go scout Troy Taylor for myself.
Living in El Dorado Hills, I was able to tune in late to the Sac St game and witness the beatdown. Yeah, HS football vibes.
Then found this fairly recent article on Taylor which paints in some color (furnishing his home with but a mattress as co-OC of EWU) about the guy beyond what I can read in his cv on Wikipedia or the sac st site.
I know the WFC team doesn’t get paid and Troy’s got nothing to do presently with Cal football, but wouldn’t it be wild (or maybe not wild at all) for someone at WFC to go get an interview with the guy given than A) he’s Cal football alumni B) he’s nearby and C) his name gets dropped regularly in the comments.
Thing I would want to know: any reason his approach would not work at Cal? Maybe not HC, but OC perhaps?
1 - UCLA – DTR is for real and he’s just the start of their weapons. Had an answer for everything Utah put up.
2 – USC – Still unbeaten and loaded. WSU played ‘em tough, but the skill positions were just too much. Could be quite the LA rivalry down the road.
3 – Oregon – It was only AZ, but Nix showed what he can do in the air and on the ground.
4 - Utah – Dropped three spots…….gotta show up next week against USC or……
5 – WSU – Played tough in their loss, and seem to be a solid team with the Incarnate Word pipeline.
6 – OSU – Rather be lucky than good? Hello Beavers! Lots of talent almost lost to ‘Furd but a win is a win….with a backup QB to boot! Oh, and I think they were lucky AND good....
7 – UW – The talking heads rank them higher, but you gotta actually WIN to stay up in my power rankings
8 – Cal – Not seeing any easy games with the teams above……OSU will be a rock fight
9 – ASU – If this was their last gasp before kicking the can, they picked a good game to show some life and stun the Dawgs
10 – ‘Furd – 96% chance of winning with 15 seconds left….. THIS was ‘Couging It if I’ve ever seen Couging it….. Given 'Furd is looking up at WSU, maybe it's now 'Furding it???
11 – AZ – There are teams they could beat, but no gimmes the rest of the season after the ASU showing…..
12 – Colorado – No coach, no hope, no……I’m not gonna say it before Cal shows up
My Two Cents. Welp. Props to Gobears49 for his early Taylor advocacy.
In all honesty, I think the "teasing" was less about Taylor as a candidate, then the PAC12 Network style back-to-back-to-back-to-back reiterations. That being said, you bravely held your course and you need credit for both your vision and steadfastness.
All that being said, despite the SEC fan-style turning on JW by some of us, I think, as others here have said, JW is a brilliant coach making the most of what he's dealt and Troy Taylor would be faced with the same obstacles that have hobbled Cal football for many years, now. Sacramento, in general, is a more football friendly area and the administration there likely does not hamper recruiting and team progress nearly as much as in Bezerkeley (spelling intentional). Taylor as OC is VERY appealing, but how long before the institutional hobbling would make him as much an object of scorn as Musgraves is now? IMHO, we need to step back and identify the more fundamental causes of Cal's middling, which, I hate to say and has already been said, includes student and alumni apathy, as well as purposeful and arbitrary limitations set by campus leadership. Tedford, Sonny, and, now, JW were/are, at the least, very good coaches with mediocre results at Cal, mostly just Cal. There comes a point where we must recognize that there's something rotten in Berkeley and sacrificing coach after coach will not solve the fundamental challenges to Cal football.
When I came to Cal, I learned, after enrolling, about Cal's great eras of football, with Cal's most recent Rosebowl appearance being less than 20 years prior. Joe Roth was QB my Freshmen year; Chuck Muncie, Westley Walker were a joy to watch and gave us promise. But that was beginning of a long decline propped up by moments, like The Play. Then Tedford came and many fans were reminded, again, of the Pappy Waldorf years. We were moments away, mid-season, 2007, from a number one ranking as, I forget who, but the number one team had just lost; I was there at Memorial and it was packed. Then we lost to Oregon State. Then we ended up with a middling, but bowling season. The dream was alive, again, though, however tough Tedford's fall from grace was.
Yes, it became easier to be a Cal football fan. Like the memory of the Pappy Waldorf years, the Tedford years revitalized student and alumni interest and support for the program. But such enthusiasm has a shelf-life that ticks towards expiration. And the people that impose self-sanctions on the program that are worse, in some ways, than NCAA death penalties, know full well they can throttle, if not kill interest in Cal football. In short, they are purposely cultivating apathy.
Yes, there's some smart-ass Cal leadership wonks that are smugly and under a veil limiting Cal football lest we become a "football factory." Lest it be demonstrated that there's more to a great institution than brains. Lest physical fortitude and determination be proven a virtue.
Honestly, I think there's people in Cal leadership that are simply afraid of football players in an instinctive, visceral way. Scaredy Bears, if they deserve to be called Bears.
The good news is that UW and OSU look increasingly beatable. The bad news is that Oregon. U$C and UCLA look increasingly unbeatable. 7-5 still on the table though 6-6 still looking more realistic.
Troy Taylor's offense in so effective and imaginative. He would be a MUCH better offensive coordinator than what Cal has now. He definitely will be a D1 head coach somewhere.
UNLV did get demolished by SJSU, but it should be noted that they lost QB Doug Brumfield to injury, which is a pretty significant loss (like if Cal were to lose Chase Garbers last year or something). Brumfield was killing it before then.
Troy Taylor won't be around long enough while Cal waddles around with a middlin' head coach who hasn't shown one time he can have a winning record in conference and won't this year, either. Colorado would be crazy not to take a flier on him. The man has won in impressive fashion wherever he has has been. And sooo impressive to give up an OC position at Utah to earn his D1 head coaching bonafides. I am a Sac State alum from way back, and I will repeat how difficult it must be to win at a commuter school where no one cares much of anything about campus life, including sports. The basketball court on campus is a complete joke, hardly larger than a high school gym.
Yes, we all expect Coach Wilcox to be around for some time. Also, I too would like to see a more creative offense, Coach Musgrave does NOT seem to be the answer.
However, has anyone noticed the great work Coach Toler has been doing? As Director of Recruiting and also as Wide-Outs Coach he is critical to the success of CAL Football going forward, and CAL should do WHATEVER they can to retain him.
My friend said that Sac State hosts Montana in a #2 vs #4 match at 8 PM, the same week Cal plays UW. I may do a double header if Cal/UW is before 2 PM and go scout Troy Taylor for myself.
Living in El Dorado Hills, I was able to tune in late to the Sac St game and witness the beatdown. Yeah, HS football vibes.
Then found this fairly recent article on Taylor which paints in some color (furnishing his home with but a mattress as co-OC of EWU) about the guy beyond what I can read in his cv on Wikipedia or the sac st site.
https://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/article266564216.html
I know the WFC team doesn’t get paid and Troy’s got nothing to do presently with Cal football, but wouldn’t it be wild (or maybe not wild at all) for someone at WFC to go get an interview with the guy given than A) he’s Cal football alumni B) he’s nearby and C) his name gets dropped regularly in the comments.
Thing I would want to know: any reason his approach would not work at Cal? Maybe not HC, but OC perhaps?
This week’s Power Rankings, by BTown85
1 - UCLA – DTR is for real and he’s just the start of their weapons. Had an answer for everything Utah put up.
2 – USC – Still unbeaten and loaded. WSU played ‘em tough, but the skill positions were just too much. Could be quite the LA rivalry down the road.
3 – Oregon – It was only AZ, but Nix showed what he can do in the air and on the ground.
4 - Utah – Dropped three spots…….gotta show up next week against USC or……
5 – WSU – Played tough in their loss, and seem to be a solid team with the Incarnate Word pipeline.
6 – OSU – Rather be lucky than good? Hello Beavers! Lots of talent almost lost to ‘Furd but a win is a win….with a backup QB to boot! Oh, and I think they were lucky AND good....
7 – UW – The talking heads rank them higher, but you gotta actually WIN to stay up in my power rankings
8 – Cal – Not seeing any easy games with the teams above……OSU will be a rock fight
9 – ASU – If this was their last gasp before kicking the can, they picked a good game to show some life and stun the Dawgs
10 – ‘Furd – 96% chance of winning with 15 seconds left….. THIS was ‘Couging It if I’ve ever seen Couging it….. Given 'Furd is looking up at WSU, maybe it's now 'Furding it???
11 – AZ – There are teams they could beat, but no gimmes the rest of the season after the ASU showing…..
12 – Colorado – No coach, no hope, no……I’m not gonna say it before Cal shows up
My Two Cents. Welp. Props to Gobears49 for his early Taylor advocacy.
In all honesty, I think the "teasing" was less about Taylor as a candidate, then the PAC12 Network style back-to-back-to-back-to-back reiterations. That being said, you bravely held your course and you need credit for both your vision and steadfastness.
All that being said, despite the SEC fan-style turning on JW by some of us, I think, as others here have said, JW is a brilliant coach making the most of what he's dealt and Troy Taylor would be faced with the same obstacles that have hobbled Cal football for many years, now. Sacramento, in general, is a more football friendly area and the administration there likely does not hamper recruiting and team progress nearly as much as in Bezerkeley (spelling intentional). Taylor as OC is VERY appealing, but how long before the institutional hobbling would make him as much an object of scorn as Musgraves is now? IMHO, we need to step back and identify the more fundamental causes of Cal's middling, which, I hate to say and has already been said, includes student and alumni apathy, as well as purposeful and arbitrary limitations set by campus leadership. Tedford, Sonny, and, now, JW were/are, at the least, very good coaches with mediocre results at Cal, mostly just Cal. There comes a point where we must recognize that there's something rotten in Berkeley and sacrificing coach after coach will not solve the fundamental challenges to Cal football.
When I came to Cal, I learned, after enrolling, about Cal's great eras of football, with Cal's most recent Rosebowl appearance being less than 20 years prior. Joe Roth was QB my Freshmen year; Chuck Muncie, Westley Walker were a joy to watch and gave us promise. But that was beginning of a long decline propped up by moments, like The Play. Then Tedford came and many fans were reminded, again, of the Pappy Waldorf years. We were moments away, mid-season, 2007, from a number one ranking as, I forget who, but the number one team had just lost; I was there at Memorial and it was packed. Then we lost to Oregon State. Then we ended up with a middling, but bowling season. The dream was alive, again, though, however tough Tedford's fall from grace was.
Yes, it became easier to be a Cal football fan. Like the memory of the Pappy Waldorf years, the Tedford years revitalized student and alumni interest and support for the program. But such enthusiasm has a shelf-life that ticks towards expiration. And the people that impose self-sanctions on the program that are worse, in some ways, than NCAA death penalties, know full well they can throttle, if not kill interest in Cal football. In short, they are purposely cultivating apathy.
Yes, there's some smart-ass Cal leadership wonks that are smugly and under a veil limiting Cal football lest we become a "football factory." Lest it be demonstrated that there's more to a great institution than brains. Lest physical fortitude and determination be proven a virtue.
Honestly, I think there's people in Cal leadership that are simply afraid of football players in an instinctive, visceral way. Scaredy Bears, if they deserve to be called Bears.
The good news is that UW and OSU look increasingly beatable. The bad news is that Oregon. U$C and UCLA look increasingly unbeatable. 7-5 still on the table though 6-6 still looking more realistic.
Troy Taylor's offense in so effective and imaginative. He would be a MUCH better offensive coordinator than what Cal has now. He definitely will be a D1 head coach somewhere.
“Wait until next year” is the Cal football mantra, regardless.
If Cal loses to Colorado, they’re the worst team in the Conference in year 6 of Wilcox and have far bigger issues.