I imagine UCLA is having about as much difficulty as we are trying to figure out what this new edition of the Cal football team will look like when it takes the field on Sept. 5. I’m pretty confident that the offense will be more formidable than last year but the defense, as you so clearly point out, is something of a mystery and will require many of the players to step up and show what they are capable of doing. Buckle up!
I was thinking the same thing. ucla is probably looking at Oregon tape to prep for the Bears, but they don't know with certainly what they'll face. And Tosh strikes me as a coach who absolutely will not allow a mediocre defense to step on the field, come hell or high water.
I do not pine for last year’s Defense. The Virginia Tech and Hawai’i Bowl are games we should have won. I’m looking forward to see what a new Staff along with the Transfers can do.
Thank you for the in-depth article on a hard group to access. I am admittedly a glass half full person. I see potential upgrades almost everywhere. Burrell was one of our best line and missed all last year. Johnson is talented and massive. I think the edge rushers are more athletic and talented than those they replaced. Ferrelli and Ualuve both made big plays but scored very low at pff and other analytics. They gambled and missed so many tackles, such as the loss to Virginia Tech where they kept running the same play. The two projected Corners started many games for their playoff teams. We have starters back at nickel and safety positions plus Kingston Lopa who the player and coaches all are raving about. Maybe it does not all come together year one, but I feel confident that there is much more talent this year than in the last 15 years on defense. Plus we have increased our coaching staff a great deal and I think this will help develop, including better nutrition.
Even with a new coaching staff, the question I have before this season is the same as it has been the past 5+ years - “Can our D-Line and OLBs generate enough pressure on the QB with the time they are given by our stable of talented DBs?”
The inability of our D-Line to do much of anything (even while we had standout LBs like Evan Weaver, Cade Uluave, etc.) has been the difference between “we kept it close for 3 quarters” and winning 8-9 games a season.
Good call; no pass rush has killed us for many years. I know Wilcox would point to the QB hurries and tips, which are good, but sacks are much better. GO BEARS!
This. Wilcox defenses, as good as they were, still managed to consistently lose the line of scrimmage. That's why they were merely "solid" and routinely exposed by talented offenses.
DL is Tosh's specialty, so that should be much improved. The question is how soon. I suspect one of the biggest consequences of Wilcox-era cheapness was inadequate S&C, which made our rosters slow and weak for a P5 outfit. That's no longer an issue, but I don't know how much progress Tosh and co. can make there in a single offseason. It feels like there's nowhere to go but up though.
Great work as usual Nick. So much turnover, and so much new talent. We will just have to wait and see how the defense does against UCLA on September 5th. I think the Cal D is going to be tested by the UCLA running backs and their scrambling QB and I betcha they pass the test and do well.
Thinking super-proximally, UCLA’s QB is, as I recall, a huge scramble threat. We’ll likely need someone (LB, safety playing rover LB?) to play the spy role….
Nick, do we have that person and can we afford to NOT have them play in their normal role? I suspect there are ways to reconfigure your defense to accommodate a spy, but I don’t know….
I'm right there with you Nick. We've been wondering in the football wilderness for a long time.
And why I'm pinning my hope on Tosh Lupoi, who will lead us out of the wilderness, finally. Starting with "beating the snot out of ucla" (to quote Kevin Kennedy).
Fortunately, the first four games don't look to be that difficult, especially since the offense will be geared up and ready to go. The Bears will be able to shake out the defense during this time. I'd much rather have new real talent than return a defense with players rated 2-3 stars max.
Hey Nick, from reading your articles I have no doubt you know more than I do about Cal football than I ever will. And yet, I don't feel that much anxiety about the UCLA game. I just don't. It is more just plain good old fashioned excitement about the start of the new season. This first game may be a close one but I believe we will win it.
They are rated at the bottom of the B10. But have historically caused us major headaches. Tosh Lupoi, thankfully, doesn't care about any of that. He'll have the Bears ready to go.
I am a retired 43 year career head high school and and ass't college football coach. My college coaching assignment was the ILB's, so I guess I'm prejudiced, ha ha. However, the ILB's make all the audibles for cover checks, strength of the offensive formations, and they have to have good pursuit angles. Be the best open field tacklers and be able to cover TE's on short zone covers and RB's on wheel routes, etc. They are the brains of the defense on the field.
Yeah, lots of new faces as you have pointed out. Your article states the issue at hand in the second half. Coaching. How will they adapt to their personnel going into to the season and throughout the season i.e. make changes quickly and decisively.
Personally, I would be shocked if Burrell was a markable contributor this year. I would also be shocked if some of last year's guards on offense were contributors this year. So, we seem to differ on some of these personnel choices.
It will come down to how good a job the coaches do in "knowing" their top guys and admitting when they are wrong and moving on to the next.
That said, the overall talent on D is good and I trust they will execute.
This is about as honest a review as could be done, and I appreciate the difficulty involved. Too many unknowns and unproven elements to be confident. I remember when we hired an up and coming guy named Jeff Tedford. When that first play happened, we all felt like a ton of bricks had been taken off our backs. Sometimes, new is awesome! Sometimes, new is just the same old.
One thing is for sure, Ron Rivera will not tolerate anything less than great coaching. Way too much money and skin in the game. He either gets through the half way point in the season liking what he sees, or there will be changes. Not necessarily with Tosh, but with the assistants.
Phew…I guess the only thing I can say is in Tosh I trust. That’s all I got right now.
I imagine UCLA is having about as much difficulty as we are trying to figure out what this new edition of the Cal football team will look like when it takes the field on Sept. 5. I’m pretty confident that the offense will be more formidable than last year but the defense, as you so clearly point out, is something of a mystery and will require many of the players to step up and show what they are capable of doing. Buckle up!
I was thinking the same thing. ucla is probably looking at Oregon tape to prep for the Bears, but they don't know with certainly what they'll face. And Tosh strikes me as a coach who absolutely will not allow a mediocre defense to step on the field, come hell or high water.
I do not pine for last year’s Defense. The Virginia Tech and Hawai’i Bowl are games we should have won. I’m looking forward to see what a new Staff along with the Transfers can do.
Thank you for the in-depth article on a hard group to access. I am admittedly a glass half full person. I see potential upgrades almost everywhere. Burrell was one of our best line and missed all last year. Johnson is talented and massive. I think the edge rushers are more athletic and talented than those they replaced. Ferrelli and Ualuve both made big plays but scored very low at pff and other analytics. They gambled and missed so many tackles, such as the loss to Virginia Tech where they kept running the same play. The two projected Corners started many games for their playoff teams. We have starters back at nickel and safety positions plus Kingston Lopa who the player and coaches all are raving about. Maybe it does not all come together year one, but I feel confident that there is much more talent this year than in the last 15 years on defense. Plus we have increased our coaching staff a great deal and I think this will help develop, including better nutrition.
No risk, no reward. I'll take the mystery D for $1000. In Tosh (and Ron), I trust!
Even with a new coaching staff, the question I have before this season is the same as it has been the past 5+ years - “Can our D-Line and OLBs generate enough pressure on the QB with the time they are given by our stable of talented DBs?”
The inability of our D-Line to do much of anything (even while we had standout LBs like Evan Weaver, Cade Uluave, etc.) has been the difference between “we kept it close for 3 quarters” and winning 8-9 games a season.
Good call; no pass rush has killed us for many years. I know Wilcox would point to the QB hurries and tips, which are good, but sacks are much better. GO BEARS!
Been missing since TDR days
This. Wilcox defenses, as good as they were, still managed to consistently lose the line of scrimmage. That's why they were merely "solid" and routinely exposed by talented offenses.
DL is Tosh's specialty, so that should be much improved. The question is how soon. I suspect one of the biggest consequences of Wilcox-era cheapness was inadequate S&C, which made our rosters slow and weak for a P5 outfit. That's no longer an issue, but I don't know how much progress Tosh and co. can make there in a single offseason. It feels like there's nowhere to go but up though.
Great work as usual Nick. So much turnover, and so much new talent. We will just have to wait and see how the defense does against UCLA on September 5th. I think the Cal D is going to be tested by the UCLA running backs and their scrambling QB and I betcha they pass the test and do well.
Thinking super-proximally, UCLA’s QB is, as I recall, a huge scramble threat. We’ll likely need someone (LB, safety playing rover LB?) to play the spy role….
Nick, do we have that person and can we afford to NOT have them play in their normal role? I suspect there are ways to reconfigure your defense to accommodate a spy, but I don’t know….
I'm right there with you Nick. We've been wondering in the football wilderness for a long time.
And why I'm pinning my hope on Tosh Lupoi, who will lead us out of the wilderness, finally. Starting with "beating the snot out of ucla" (to quote Kevin Kennedy).
Fortunately, the first four games don't look to be that difficult, especially since the offense will be geared up and ready to go. The Bears will be able to shake out the defense during this time. I'd much rather have new real talent than return a defense with players rated 2-3 stars max.
The UCLA game feels like such a massive hinge point, I don’t like having this much anxiety about game #1
Hey Nick, from reading your articles I have no doubt you know more than I do about Cal football than I ever will. And yet, I don't feel that much anxiety about the UCLA game. I just don't. It is more just plain good old fashioned excitement about the start of the new season. This first game may be a close one but I believe we will win it.
go long SPX into September.
They are rated at the bottom of the B10. But have historically caused us major headaches. Tosh Lupoi, thankfully, doesn't care about any of that. He'll have the Bears ready to go.
There may be some truth to this. Fucla will not be ready for the havoc we will bestow upon them. 'cuse could be an issue due to travel...we shall see.
I wonder how different things might be if Oregon didn't make the playoffs last year and Tosh was full time recruiting hs and the portal for Cal sooner
The biggest weakness will be ILB. Losing Uluave and Ferrelli to the portal was huge. ILB is the heart of any defense in football
Or at least question marks for now. Feels like forever that LBs weren't the only sure thing going into the season.
WRONG. The DL is the make or break of any defense.
I am a retired 43 year career head high school and and ass't college football coach. My college coaching assignment was the ILB's, so I guess I'm prejudiced, ha ha. However, the ILB's make all the audibles for cover checks, strength of the offensive formations, and they have to have good pursuit angles. Be the best open field tacklers and be able to cover TE's on short zone covers and RB's on wheel routes, etc. They are the brains of the defense on the field.
Tuitele and Lopa are definitely starting
There's definitely talent and athleticism. The coaching unknowns make things so difficult.
Yeah, lots of new faces as you have pointed out. Your article states the issue at hand in the second half. Coaching. How will they adapt to their personnel going into to the season and throughout the season i.e. make changes quickly and decisively.
Personally, I would be shocked if Burrell was a markable contributor this year. I would also be shocked if some of last year's guards on offense were contributors this year. So, we seem to differ on some of these personnel choices.
It will come down to how good a job the coaches do in "knowing" their top guys and admitting when they are wrong and moving on to the next.
That said, the overall talent on D is good and I trust they will execute.
Go Bears!
This is about as honest a review as could be done, and I appreciate the difficulty involved. Too many unknowns and unproven elements to be confident. I remember when we hired an up and coming guy named Jeff Tedford. When that first play happened, we all felt like a ton of bricks had been taken off our backs. Sometimes, new is awesome! Sometimes, new is just the same old.
One thing is for sure, Ron Rivera will not tolerate anything less than great coaching. Way too much money and skin in the game. He either gets through the half way point in the season liking what he sees, or there will be changes. Not necessarily with Tosh, but with the assistants.