“Tosh Lupoi had a decision to make, he’s sticking with Jackson as the starter tonight, said this will be a quarterback competition moving forward,” Sisler said on the broadcast during Cal’s first drive. “Tosh told us he met privately with Jaron on Sunday, addressed the entire offense on Monday, telling them this was a dream come true as a head coach with two ballers at quarterback.”
It's demotivating to a team to have the coach create confusion about the team's leadership. It's insulting for the head coach to make the team's QB ambiguity a privilege for him. It shows lack of support for either of his QBs.
Clarity and support and focus is what's needed in time of confusion.
So, while it obviously makes very little sense to not play JKS (if you want a chance of winning, .. and the message it says to him, to other top talents who might ever consider Cal, to the team, to WriteForCalifornia, etc), it also makes a very tiny bit of sense to not play JKS (he's as good as gone, may as well start tryouts for 2027).
Good for him as well. Getting sacked and hurt because of lousy pass protection is now a big liability for him. Better for him if he waits until next year to play for a contender and improve his NFL stock by having a big year before going to the draft.
Two comments: 1. If JKS was still on the Concussion Protocol watch list, then why was he put in the game when we were down 41-0 in garbage time? 2. I want Tosh to succeed beyond my wildest dreams, I think any reasonable fan wants that. I appreciate his extreme ownership of the teams issues, however how will that ownership translate to better decisions and a better team? That is my worry. If a surgeon who loses 4 patients because of mistakes on fairly routine surgeries takes extreme ownership does it mean I won't be looking for a new surgeon if I am next on the table? You bet your ass I'll be looking for a new surgeon.
This isn't about life or death of a person, but it could very well be about life or death of our beloved CAL football program. (I guess we could always turn Memorial Stadium into the most expensive rugby pitch in the country). I don't want to come across as mean, but I do want to be blunt: nothing I have seen from Tosh indicates that this team will be fixed and become the winning team we need to be successful within a year or two. This has been such a disaster why should we believe it will change? Time to get real and be ruthless about our approach to success.
Tosh is a lousy communicator, but after watching the video it seemed pretty clear to me what was going on: Brousseau got the practice reps and therefore the start, as temporary backup JKS came in relief when the game was lost, and Tosh doesn’t want to name a starter for SMU, (although I’m sure it will be JKS).
Yeah, makes sense. David Ortega said as much (but not casting Tosh as a “lousy communicator”), in so many words, in Reza’s podcast this week. He discussed how there are many details that go into preparations for the offensive game plan that the QB has to be 100% able to digest and practice in the days leading up to Saturday. So, to him, this uproar over JKS not running with the 1’s vs. WF was “blown way out of proportion.” Just because JKS was physically cleared to play before WF doesn’t mean he was available for the necessary week-long preparations. However, I’m actually pleased JKS got some possessions during garbage time, not as bewildered by this as most here. I think he’ll start vs. SMU-I’m sure for him it was good to get back in the swing of things. He hasn’t had a good year; let’s hope for a breakthrough in Dallas.
Head coaches being poor communicators is not an uncommon issue, yet another example of the wide variety of skills required beyond xs and os, or strategy. Most coaches don't put a lot into it. Not unlike the lack of attention they put into basic math skills, much less the principals of analytics, even though they tend to rely on them.
Unfortunately, it compounds other problems as well.
I want to believe this kind of poor decision making and communication will end and things will improve before the season is over and into the future. But I don't. Its not just the QB decisions and explanations, its the whole dysfunctional mess. It is all of it. One step forward and two steps back. Too many things to learn and manage I guess. And it is not going to change. Damnit. I really hoped for the best this season.
I was recalling on Sunday how Wilcox explained losses - especially in the latter years. He always seemed to be short a card in his hand of answers. Like a man who had run out of ideas and was just circling.
Lupoi also seems to be short of answers. The platitude of "it's on me" reveals nothing that we can hold onto - either for encouragement for the future or understanding the past. We are left mid-season in limbo.
Perhaps we have to be patient with a novice HC. But casting our most expensive, highest-rated talent out in the wind seems to repeat the mistakes Wilcox & Co. made with Mendoza.
So far, the Rivera/Lupoi administration seems like an outfit ill-equipped to manage Cal's massive new investment in football. Hope they get if figured out quickly.
I don't know about the mistakes Wilcox made with Mendoza. When it came down to it, IU outbid Cal - they threw an enormous amount of money at him - his brother was playing there, Mendoza was undoubtedly tired of getting hit so much, Big 10 football drew/draws more attention than Pac 12, and he was was already thinking about his NFL future.
I know Mendoza’s pre-Cal and Cal history very well, thanks very much. He had only one other offer before Cal’s and working his way up the chart seems like something he was okay with. (He’s certainly been on that path since joining the Raiders.) Mendoza was a three star prospect, ranked 2,149th nationally before coming to Cal and what he did at Cal as Qb was, in the beginning, rather a surprise to most people, since his earlier career didn’t foretell his success. (A large part of that is due to his mentality.) People can talk all they want about how he was dissed by Wilcox, but one thing Mendoza was and is is canny and he knew he could only develop into the player he thought he could be at some other school with a supporting cast - including a decent O line and more than one decent receiver. Oh, andmake the same money. Fernando obviously fit in very well with the Cignetti/Cuban system.
First time I heard Mendoza speak on Ultimate Insider (season that brought Spav back) I knew he was either going to be an NFL quarterback or coach (probably, now, both).
Having a competition for a position is not throwing somebody into the wind. Those competitions probably made Mendoza better...and I don't think it hurts JKS to warm his seat a little. Nobody is entitled to a position, even if you are paying them a lot of money.
Personally, I'd love to see JKS succeed but we are treating a 19 year old kid like he is the Hawaiian Jesus. That's a lot of pressure.
I agree with most all that has been said. BUT, what happened to the Defense? Why did they look so inept. Lopa was back, and Tuitele was not in the first half... But, ????
Lupoi’s only move to retain JKS as a player (this year and next) was to say (1) I started B because I was unsure that JKS had sufficient reps during the week to be prepared, and (2) JKS is my QB going forward: he’s a great talent and the team believes in him. The fact that he continues to equivocate and show lack of conviction is another nail in the coffin of Cal football. Playing hide and seek with SMU re who Cal’s QB will be is absurd. Frankly, this shows a basic misunderstanding of people and leadership. Very unpleasantly surprised.
SMU is going to be playing their entire bench by the 4th quarter so it won’t matter which QB Cal sends in to lead what will no doubt be another debacle.
Yeah, I watched. It was brutal, no doubt. WF might also be the most underrated team in the country, so we'll see what happens with SMU. I'lll burn the barn with you if we get our butts kicked again.
Personally, I think it’s an awkward look, the HC’s boss down on the field with a headset and sometimes stepping fwd to chime in, even last year walking way out onto the field to argue with refs. I don’t know, a general manager has a lane, but maybe in these bizarre days of the college game, the parameters of that role are unclear.
You guys kind of have it twisted. We've put too much emphasis and responsibility on JKS. Football is not a one man game. He lost his spot. Must really suck to be a second stringer, earn the job, then have a bad game and then have masses blame it all on JKS not playing.
I agree that it would be logical to see him go in the new system, but you all are still acting like the one-man band could win. JKS looked bad. I hope he's feeling better and is ready to lead the team; we need his help.
You're way overstating. O's these days are ALL about QBs: it's the most significant position on the field. There are any number of teams that have drastically improved their games, college and pro, because of the inclusion of a really outstanding QB.
JKS went out with a concussion. He should have been put back in when he was cleared to play.
No. He left with a concussion, but lost his spot because he was playing lethargic, not able to execute the offense by getting rid of the ball quickly, not staying in the pocket, and not showing on field leadership. Given, he was not getting much help from his team or coaches, which just goes to show you that one player does not make a team, even if it is the most important position on the field.
Maybe but it’s not just a player. QB is the single more important position in all of team sports. And how you handle the QB position says a lot about the HC. Just look at how JKS played for us last year. He was - for the most part - electric.
Everyone is writing about the offensive being so impotent and the playing of Broussou (sp?) instead of JKS, BUT the real disaster was the DEFENSIVE DISASTER which showed up starting with the first few plays of the Wake Forest offensive explosion. If Tosh is such a great defensive coach, why was our defense so awful. Our DB's were clueless from the very first pass.
Look I get it new coach and all, but I hate to say the Tosh is raw and too green to be head coach, head assistant, top assistant yes not head coach maybe Division Ii and learn there. The next guys are the defensive coach clues between a 4-4flex and 5-3 double blitzing the left and right linebackers. It's the obvious that is killing the team and.poor coach is damaging our players. And if the AD does not demote or fire the Head Coach than the Chancellor needs to fire the A.D or risk booster not sending money's to any funds.
I really want to believe that JKS wasn't available due to concussion until later in the week. But let's remember that UNLV was TWO weeks before and Tosh said JKS was clear to return THAT GAME. It made sense for JKS sitting out against VT out of caution, but how did it make sense against Wake? Just feels like he reused last week's excuse. The actual answer is that Tosh benched JKS for performance (as was reported elsewhere), maybe to send a message, and it blew up in his face.
Tosh is completely out of his depth right now and I can only imagine the stories that will come out regarding that.
Realistically, Wake was going to kick out butts up and down the field so maybe we avoided re-injury. But most of the conference is better than us. Neither QB did well this week, so presumably JKS will start against SMU. And we'll hear how Tosh super extremely ultra owns the loss unless we can put together a respectable showing again.
No, WF is better IMO. I’m not just saying this based on the eye test. FWIW, WF beat Louisville on the road, whereas SMU lost to Louisville by two scores. WF has been the more consistent team. As we know from last year, SMU can have unexpected letdowns (and Jennings miscues) that tilt things cattywompas. At least that’s what I am telling myself as I get ready for the game in Dallas.
Lupoi might as well be buying a ticket out of Berkeley for JKS. To bench this once-in-a-decade QB for a CS transfer - or even to say you're putting him in competition with Brousseau - is a diss that a player of JKS's caliber isn't likely to want to take without reaction. JKS might not have been playing up to expectations at the beginning of the year - and these were enormous - but you can hardly blame him for the woes of the entire O, especially early on. What Lupoi should be doing is scheming with the OC - and JKS - to determine how best to play to his and the O's strengths and possibilities with the players that are available. Instead Lupoi seems to want to play at head coach - rah-rahing and all that - in service to his own ego than being a proper head coach. We may be smacking up against the hard wall between hype and substance that earlier prevented Lupoi from being a head coach, lo, these many years.
That was a lot of rambling for very little substantive content. Reporter questions aren’t going to be any surprise and it could help him a lot to refine his talking points, rehearse them, and stay on script.
We couldn't stop them! I am still waiting for the defense to play hard hitting and violent tackling football! We don't have thumpers. This kind of hitting becomes infectious and everybody gets jacked up. JUST DONT TOUCH THE HEAD!
The Chronicle reported this:
“Tosh Lupoi had a decision to make, he’s sticking with Jackson as the starter tonight, said this will be a quarterback competition moving forward,” Sisler said on the broadcast during Cal’s first drive. “Tosh told us he met privately with Jaron on Sunday, addressed the entire offense on Monday, telling them this was a dream come true as a head coach with two ballers at quarterback.”
It's demotivating to a team to have the coach create confusion about the team's leadership. It's insulting for the head coach to make the team's QB ambiguity a privilege for him. It shows lack of support for either of his QBs.
Clarity and support and focus is what's needed in time of confusion.
If I were JKS, I would be calling my agent.
Oh, you can bet JKS called his agent weeks ago and there’s big money waiting to greet him when he emerges from the portal.
So, while it obviously makes very little sense to not play JKS (if you want a chance of winning, .. and the message it says to him, to other top talents who might ever consider Cal, to the team, to WriteForCalifornia, etc), it also makes a very tiny bit of sense to not play JKS (he's as good as gone, may as well start tryouts for 2027).
Good for him as well. Getting sacked and hurt because of lousy pass protection is now a big liability for him. Better for him if he waits until next year to play for a contender and improve his NFL stock by having a big year before going to the draft.
Lupoi's body language in that press conference says it all: He is in over his head and has no idea how to fix the sinking ship known as Cal Football.
More like he didn't know how to drive a boat to begin with and it's sinking from the start.
Did someone say boat? Pretty sure Tosh knows a thing or two about boats…
Ha,ha. That's a good one and it shows how old we are!
Tosh belongs in the back seat, not the driver. (Found this gif while searching for that boat gif)
https://platform.uwdawgpound.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/173/chorus/assets/890798/uw_sarkdzoolanderjeep_medium_medium.gif
Two comments: 1. If JKS was still on the Concussion Protocol watch list, then why was he put in the game when we were down 41-0 in garbage time? 2. I want Tosh to succeed beyond my wildest dreams, I think any reasonable fan wants that. I appreciate his extreme ownership of the teams issues, however how will that ownership translate to better decisions and a better team? That is my worry. If a surgeon who loses 4 patients because of mistakes on fairly routine surgeries takes extreme ownership does it mean I won't be looking for a new surgeon if I am next on the table? You bet your ass I'll be looking for a new surgeon.
This isn't about life or death of a person, but it could very well be about life or death of our beloved CAL football program. (I guess we could always turn Memorial Stadium into the most expensive rugby pitch in the country). I don't want to come across as mean, but I do want to be blunt: nothing I have seen from Tosh indicates that this team will be fixed and become the winning team we need to be successful within a year or two. This has been such a disaster why should we believe it will change? Time to get real and be ruthless about our approach to success.
I think JKS was limited earlier in the week which limited his reps leading up to the game but he was 100% cleared on game day?
This appears to be what happened but Tosh does make it difficult to interpret.
That is an understatement…
Tosh is a lousy communicator, but after watching the video it seemed pretty clear to me what was going on: Brousseau got the practice reps and therefore the start, as temporary backup JKS came in relief when the game was lost, and Tosh doesn’t want to name a starter for SMU, (although I’m sure it will be JKS).
Yeah, makes sense. David Ortega said as much (but not casting Tosh as a “lousy communicator”), in so many words, in Reza’s podcast this week. He discussed how there are many details that go into preparations for the offensive game plan that the QB has to be 100% able to digest and practice in the days leading up to Saturday. So, to him, this uproar over JKS not running with the 1’s vs. WF was “blown way out of proportion.” Just because JKS was physically cleared to play before WF doesn’t mean he was available for the necessary week-long preparations. However, I’m actually pleased JKS got some possessions during garbage time, not as bewildered by this as most here. I think he’ll start vs. SMU-I’m sure for him it was good to get back in the swing of things. He hasn’t had a good year; let’s hope for a breakthrough in Dallas.
Head coaches being poor communicators is not an uncommon issue, yet another example of the wide variety of skills required beyond xs and os, or strategy. Most coaches don't put a lot into it. Not unlike the lack of attention they put into basic math skills, much less the principals of analytics, even though they tend to rely on them.
Unfortunately, it compounds other problems as well.
I want to believe this kind of poor decision making and communication will end and things will improve before the season is over and into the future. But I don't. Its not just the QB decisions and explanations, its the whole dysfunctional mess. It is all of it. One step forward and two steps back. Too many things to learn and manage I guess. And it is not going to change. Damnit. I really hoped for the best this season.
"Time to get real and be ruthless about our approach to success."
Are you suggesting firing Tosh?
Sadly, yes. This train is off the tracks and never getting back on them. We need a modern, high speed train, not a junker in a ditch.
I was recalling on Sunday how Wilcox explained losses - especially in the latter years. He always seemed to be short a card in his hand of answers. Like a man who had run out of ideas and was just circling.
Lupoi also seems to be short of answers. The platitude of "it's on me" reveals nothing that we can hold onto - either for encouragement for the future or understanding the past. We are left mid-season in limbo.
Perhaps we have to be patient with a novice HC. But casting our most expensive, highest-rated talent out in the wind seems to repeat the mistakes Wilcox & Co. made with Mendoza.
So far, the Rivera/Lupoi administration seems like an outfit ill-equipped to manage Cal's massive new investment in football. Hope they get if figured out quickly.
I don't know about the mistakes Wilcox made with Mendoza. When it came down to it, IU outbid Cal - they threw an enormous amount of money at him - his brother was playing there, Mendoza was undoubtedly tired of getting hit so much, Big 10 football drew/draws more attention than Pac 12, and he was was already thinking about his NFL future.
They are referring to the fact that he had to compete for his job with guys like Sam Jackson V. The horror.
I know Mendoza’s pre-Cal and Cal history very well, thanks very much. He had only one other offer before Cal’s and working his way up the chart seems like something he was okay with. (He’s certainly been on that path since joining the Raiders.) Mendoza was a three star prospect, ranked 2,149th nationally before coming to Cal and what he did at Cal as Qb was, in the beginning, rather a surprise to most people, since his earlier career didn’t foretell his success. (A large part of that is due to his mentality.) People can talk all they want about how he was dissed by Wilcox, but one thing Mendoza was and is is canny and he knew he could only develop into the player he thought he could be at some other school with a supporting cast - including a decent O line and more than one decent receiver. Oh, andmake the same money. Fernando obviously fit in very well with the Cignetti/Cuban system.
First time I heard Mendoza speak on Ultimate Insider (season that brought Spav back) I knew he was either going to be an NFL quarterback or coach (probably, now, both).
Having a competition for a position is not throwing somebody into the wind. Those competitions probably made Mendoza better...and I don't think it hurts JKS to warm his seat a little. Nobody is entitled to a position, even if you are paying them a lot of money.
Personally, I'd love to see JKS succeed but we are treating a 19 year old kid like he is the Hawaiian Jesus. That's a lot of pressure.
I agree with most all that has been said. BUT, what happened to the Defense? Why did they look so inept. Lopa was back, and Tuitele was not in the first half... But, ????
Exactly! At least when Tuitele got in, he played hard. For most of the second half, they did okay, but by then it was too late.
Lupoi’s only move to retain JKS as a player (this year and next) was to say (1) I started B because I was unsure that JKS had sufficient reps during the week to be prepared, and (2) JKS is my QB going forward: he’s a great talent and the team believes in him. The fact that he continues to equivocate and show lack of conviction is another nail in the coffin of Cal football. Playing hide and seek with SMU re who Cal’s QB will be is absurd. Frankly, this shows a basic misunderstanding of people and leadership. Very unpleasantly surprised.
Exactly how he should communicate. Not only for the sake of the team and JKS but for future 4/5 star recruits. Very poor leadership IMO.
There is no chance that JKS is coming back.
SMU is going to be playing their entire bench by the 4th quarter so it won’t matter which QB Cal sends in to lead what will no doubt be another debacle.
Extreme negabear talk.
Truth hurts. Did you watch the WF game? How do you think Cal would do against Miami?
Yeah, I watched. It was brutal, no doubt. WF might also be the most underrated team in the country, so we'll see what happens with SMU. I'lll burn the barn with you if we get our butts kicked again.
How about a weekly open competition between Ron (he loves the headset), Tosh and the rest of his staff to see if there is a HC in the program?
Personally, I think it’s an awkward look, the HC’s boss down on the field with a headset and sometimes stepping fwd to chime in, even last year walking way out onto the field to argue with refs. I don’t know, a general manager has a lane, but maybe in these bizarre days of the college game, the parameters of that role are unclear.
RR’s only job now is to get us out of this mess, and standing on the sidelines is not the way to do it.
He should just become HC
You guys kind of have it twisted. We've put too much emphasis and responsibility on JKS. Football is not a one man game. He lost his spot. Must really suck to be a second stringer, earn the job, then have a bad game and then have masses blame it all on JKS not playing.
I agree that it would be logical to see him go in the new system, but you all are still acting like the one-man band could win. JKS looked bad. I hope he's feeling better and is ready to lead the team; we need his help.
Josh Allen could not make this team a winner. It’s not about one player. JKS is simply emblematic of the larger dysfunction.
You're way overstating. O's these days are ALL about QBs: it's the most significant position on the field. There are any number of teams that have drastically improved their games, college and pro, because of the inclusion of a really outstanding QB.
JKS went out with a concussion. He should have been put back in when he was cleared to play.
No. He left with a concussion, but lost his spot because he was playing lethargic, not able to execute the offense by getting rid of the ball quickly, not staying in the pocket, and not showing on field leadership. Given, he was not getting much help from his team or coaches, which just goes to show you that one player does not make a team, even if it is the most important position on the field.
If JKS was “playing lethargic,” why was he put back into the game down 41-0? Are you talking about “playing lethargic” before the concussion?
Maybe but it’s not just a player. QB is the single more important position in all of team sports. And how you handle the QB position says a lot about the HC. Just look at how JKS played for us last year. He was - for the most part - electric.
Everyone is writing about the offensive being so impotent and the playing of Broussou (sp?) instead of JKS, BUT the real disaster was the DEFENSIVE DISASTER which showed up starting with the first few plays of the Wake Forest offensive explosion. If Tosh is such a great defensive coach, why was our defense so awful. Our DB's were clueless from the very first pass.
And as we type this, Ed Dickson scored again!
Well, the offense only scored one TD and that against replacements. Most observes would call that "impotent."
Look I get it new coach and all, but I hate to say the Tosh is raw and too green to be head coach, head assistant, top assistant yes not head coach maybe Division Ii and learn there. The next guys are the defensive coach clues between a 4-4flex and 5-3 double blitzing the left and right linebackers. It's the obvious that is killing the team and.poor coach is damaging our players. And if the AD does not demote or fire the Head Coach than the Chancellor needs to fire the A.D or risk booster not sending money's to any funds.
Agreed. Look at Chesney and CIgnetti. Dues paying does work.
Even Lane had to take a step back to FAU before going to Ole Miss.
I really want to believe that JKS wasn't available due to concussion until later in the week. But let's remember that UNLV was TWO weeks before and Tosh said JKS was clear to return THAT GAME. It made sense for JKS sitting out against VT out of caution, but how did it make sense against Wake? Just feels like he reused last week's excuse. The actual answer is that Tosh benched JKS for performance (as was reported elsewhere), maybe to send a message, and it blew up in his face.
Tosh is completely out of his depth right now and I can only imagine the stories that will come out regarding that.
Realistically, Wake was going to kick out butts up and down the field so maybe we avoided re-injury. But most of the conference is better than us. Neither QB did well this week, so presumably JKS will start against SMU. And we'll hear how Tosh super extremely ultra owns the loss unless we can put together a respectable showing again.
SMU is a better team than WF so I don’t even want to think about how soon they will pull their starters to save them for a bigger game.
After they look at our game film, they'll send their starters on vacation.
No, WF is better IMO. I’m not just saying this based on the eye test. FWIW, WF beat Louisville on the road, whereas SMU lost to Louisville by two scores. WF has been the more consistent team. As we know from last year, SMU can have unexpected letdowns (and Jennings miscues) that tilt things cattywompas. At least that’s what I am telling myself as I get ready for the game in Dallas.
He’s just a vacuous rah rah meathead. I can’t wait for him to be fired.
Lupoi might as well be buying a ticket out of Berkeley for JKS. To bench this once-in-a-decade QB for a CS transfer - or even to say you're putting him in competition with Brousseau - is a diss that a player of JKS's caliber isn't likely to want to take without reaction. JKS might not have been playing up to expectations at the beginning of the year - and these were enormous - but you can hardly blame him for the woes of the entire O, especially early on. What Lupoi should be doing is scheming with the OC - and JKS - to determine how best to play to his and the O's strengths and possibilities with the players that are available. Instead Lupoi seems to want to play at head coach - rah-rahing and all that - in service to his own ego than being a proper head coach. We may be smacking up against the hard wall between hype and substance that earlier prevented Lupoi from being a head coach, lo, these many years.
That was a lot of rambling for very little substantive content. Reporter questions aren’t going to be any surprise and it could help him a lot to refine his talking points, rehearse them, and stay on script.
We couldn't stop them! I am still waiting for the defense to play hard hitting and violent tackling football! We don't have thumpers. This kind of hitting becomes infectious and everybody gets jacked up. JUST DONT TOUCH THE HEAD!
Right. Don’t wait up!
I really really don’t want to write Tosh off, but it’s getting dire. We cannot remain this undisciplined and have any success.