UCLA is the new Indiana. Was Cal ever in the running for Bob Chesney? Why are we holding a training program for first time head coaches and coordinators?
I really like RR, but these hires have me questioning his judgement for the first time.
Was Rolovich kept on staff for this kind of emergency? If so, it's time to break the glass.
I agree with Eric, "...don't think it will actually make any difference..." re: a coaching change to Rolovich. While it could be an improvement our offense ~ specifically the OL ~ is so bad. Currently it appears we have lost our #1 & 2 running backs. Hell, Mohammad was leading the nation is yards after contact with most of the contact occurring at or behind the line of scrimmage. Folks, that is not a stat one wants to lead in!
The offense's performance on Friday night was so low, a demotion or firing is the only outcome for the OC. Tosh doesn't need to make it public but behind closed doors he HAS to make that change. The change should have occurred on Saturday morning else Tosh doesn't have the leadership to be a HC.
We are in a dire situation on offense. We must make changes to the OL. For the Wagner game, I suggested that Cal use multiple OL combinations to find out which 5 really wanted to play. Alas, Cal mostly played the same 5 guys. Those guys rarely won the line battle against Wagner, yeah Wagner!
Cal needs to start on off-season program that sends all of the OL to Japan for intensive Sumo training. Their stand up straight technique will get them thrown out of the ring in seconds. They will learn leverage ~ low man wins. OL may be the smartest guys on the field but they are also the least athletic. Cal has a surplus of OL that can't move and frankly don't play with an attitude. I watched the entire Oregun OL scrum push their RB over the goal line against u$c last night. And my thought was, "geez I never see our OL do that". Needless to say, Anae needs to be fired or demoted immediately as well. I would take a chance ~ albeit a BIG chance ~ on having Saffell leading the OL from here on out.
The story line from Friday night is shocking, points by unit:
Like many, I’m wondering where Ron Rivera was in the process of setting up this staff. Now I’m wondering where he’ll be in trying to sort things out. I guess we’ll see what Tosh is made of if anything changes.
Weirdly, the apparent over complication of the offense leading to paralysis but not fooling the defense at all reminds me of late Tedford era.
I think you nailed it. As we sat in the stands wondering if they even had a playbook, I had Old Blue buds texting me from far and wide one question " Where's the offense??". If Tosh doesn't make a change at OC today, say Aloha to JKS next season.
JKS has the blueprint for making it to the League and playing on a successful team. Just do what Fernando Mendoza did ~ simple. If I were JKS' advisor and this continues, I certainly would tell him to move on. aTm desperately needs a QB and they have a lot of money.
Tosh needs to dump the OC now, In over his head. I saw this during the UCLA game, I knew this train wreck was coming. The inability to even come up with one play to move the ball more than 15 yards down field was evident against UCLA. The Musgrave offense was in full effect. Everything is to the outside, zero crossing routes, no quick slants, no middle of the field throws. It’s so generic nobody can get open, it’s embarrassing. Rolovich needs to take over the offense right now. He has a run and shoot background. This offense needs to be completly revamped on the fly, huge task. Need elements of the run and shoot, quick passing game, integrated into the playbook, takes pressure off the o line, doesn’t mean throwing 30 screens a game. The loss of Mohamed is going to make this even worse if they do nothing. Clemson was a bad football team, had zero business loosing to them. The time to see if Tosh is the right guy is right now. Can he push his pride aside and make a change at OC? Good coaches figure it out right away, bad ones do nothing. Bottom line is the alarm bells are sounding off everywhere. Can this new head coach put out the fire? It remains to be seen. Wow, this didn’t take long to get here. It’s the same old CAL.
Your analysis is spot on. This team is a complete disaster and it’s a situation I lay at the feet of the coaching staff. Talk about really bad decisions, why on Earth would a new head coach with a huge budget behind him choose to hire inexperienced guys to run the offense and the defense? I would think you’d go out and try to poach the most college experienced people you could find. But not Lupoi. He hired guys like himself with little relevant experience in the new college game.
And for God’s sake, Lupoi had the “Indiana Miracle” with a Cal QB at the helm as the perfect template to follow. In this new era of portal players, the smart offensive scheme is to keep it really simple with a plug and play format that’s easy for new players to learn and easy to execute. But that’s not what Lupoi went for. Nope, he opted for Somerville’s convoluted, complicated pro scheme that’s too hard for college kids to learn and consequently virtually impossible to execute, leading to what I like to call our current hot mess of a train wreck in a dumpster fire.
We’ve got generational talent at QB and an offense that literally cannot score. An offense that in fact did better with the same QB under Wilcox as coach last year!
What we are facing is a disaster of monumental and very expensive proportions. After all the money and fan hope raised it’s now been exposed as a complete crock of empty hype.
Clearly, Somerville has to go as the sacrificial lamb who doesn’t have a clue how to get out of the offensive mess he’s created. By itself that won’t salvage the season but Lupoi has to do something if only to save his own inexperienced skin.
Frankly, I think we are completely fu$ked for this season because the fundamental changes necessary will be so difficult to implement at this point 4 games into the season. At least simplifying the offense is a step that seems within the realm of possibility.
The deeper program problem is that we’ve no doubt lost our second Heisman Trophy quality QB to another program which we will have the dubious pleasure of watching next year as JKS leads a different team in a run for the national championship. Trust me, he’d be a fool to stay and will make the same calculus as Mendoza did.
And the same holds true for our other good players. Bye, bye Mohammed et al! As for high school recruiting, Lupoi has shat in his own California mess kit — top prospects will take one look at what Lupoi and his crack coaching staff have fielded this year and run to USC or Oregon or, or, or, anywhere but Berkeley, where the emperor’s hype has been exposed and nobody in their right mind who’s a top prospect will want to trust their future to this current coaching crew.
I wish RR luck in sorting through this debacle and trying to keep the money guys on board. I’m betting on something like a 4-8 season and just hoping this team can beat Stanford. But with an offense that can’t score and which did not play well even against Wagner, I’m not holding my breath. So, yes this is a football disaster if there ever was one,
My fear is that Lupoi will simply double down on his original choice, and demand more “patience”, dishing out more brain dead coachspeak in an effort to tamp down the revolt among the fan base.
But this is where Ron Rivera, as the “General Manager” has to step up and, you know, “manage”. With all the talk about Rolovich, Ron has been an HC also—and he would know that trying to run NFL concepts with college kids is asking for the trouble we’re now seeing. We’ve come full circle from last decade’s Tony Franklin system of simplistic, repeatable concepts to this current mishegas of whatever you want to call what we’re currently seeing, which has now devolved into Ian Strong getting outplayed on prayer throws or watching him commit holding when he tries to downfield block.
Sadly, I don’t have confidence that Tosh will act before it’s too late. I’m having Mouse Davis flashbacks to 1981 when Roger Theder tried to use the “Run and Shoot” to energize his team after going 3-8 in 1980.
Davis’ offense worked brilliantly—for nearly all of the first half of the season opener against Texas A&M. Then QB Gale Gilbert broke his leg and was out for the season (shades of 2005?). The team blew that lead against A&M, stumbled badly behind J Torchio, and half way through the season, Theder took over as OC from Davis. The team wound up finishing 2-9, and Theder wound up fired at season’s end after losing Big Game. (Ushering in Joe Kapp…)
I could see where Lupoi doesn’t want to go full panic with Somerville, and this team has more far more talent than the 1981 team had, but in the end, he needs to acknowledge the disaster that’s unfolding, particularly since he’s now lost his #2 and possibly #1 RBs.
How stubborn does Tosh want to get? Is he willing to risk his job for someone else?
Mistakes happen but keep making the same mistake, there needs to be a change. No time to waste to much money and reputation at stake. Its simple fire Somerville and put Rolovich in his place. I said a long time ago Rolovich is the guy. He's qualified!
Defense and special teams (stay in your lane) basic fundamentals. Why are guys grabbing! Breakdown, violent hit and violent wrap up! Know your playbook and assignments if not sure speak up otherwise we all fail. Internally (coaches) there are big problems that havnt been fixed. Too many greens in the kitchen not enough meat! Like too see a full five star entree.
This is a far more cogent statement of what I tried to write yesterday under the WR transfer article. 8-4 was the floor this season but I am now convinced 6-6 is a reach. If this (not even doomsday, but reasonable) scenario occurs, JKS will transfer (and his stock is now down a ton). And all of those headline recruits will flip. And then it will be either Tosh being fired next year a la Desean Foster or several years of wasted time and money.
The ONLY scenario where I think Tosh saves his skin is firing the special teams coach now - this week - and demoting Somerville now - this week - with Rolovich making the calls. I don't think it will actually make any difference because the offense is so screwed up and yet there is not time to reset it to what it should have been had Tosh not screwed up his first major hire but (a) UNLV is weak this year so there is no game left on the schedule to make the call and buy us some time to install a real offense and (b) it would show complacency is not tolerated.
Note the analysis in ESPN this morning asking what is wrong with JKS. That's how bad it is - when ESPN finds the need to write up an analysis of the QB of a 2-2 team that has been mediocre for years and years, it tells you how far off things have been
I think the money guys are going to be leaning hard on RR to do just that, or lose their support for the inevitable restart and rebuild with the hiring of an experienced and expensive head coach to replace Lupoi.
Looks like the big game will be a big game again. And we could be battling for the worst record in the ACC.
Wolverine holding picture frame of harsin
Did we honestly think 30 year old Assistant QB Coach would make a good 1st year OC..?
Tosh empowering Somervile to such an important role while the program is in a “WIN NOW” scenario will haunt us for a long time.
Any chance of keeping JKS for his junior season is in shambles.
Agree. Zero chance he stays. I actually hope he leaves at this point. I really want to see him do well.
UCLA is the new Indiana. Was Cal ever in the running for Bob Chesney? Why are we holding a training program for first time head coaches and coordinators?
I really like RR, but these hires have me questioning his judgement for the first time.
Was Rolovich kept on staff for this kind of emergency? If so, it's time to break the glass.
Agreed, RR has to step in right now and order Tosh to make immediate changes.
I agree with Eric, "...don't think it will actually make any difference..." re: a coaching change to Rolovich. While it could be an improvement our offense ~ specifically the OL ~ is so bad. Currently it appears we have lost our #1 & 2 running backs. Hell, Mohammad was leading the nation is yards after contact with most of the contact occurring at or behind the line of scrimmage. Folks, that is not a stat one wants to lead in!
The offense's performance on Friday night was so low, a demotion or firing is the only outcome for the OC. Tosh doesn't need to make it public but behind closed doors he HAS to make that change. The change should have occurred on Saturday morning else Tosh doesn't have the leadership to be a HC.
We are in a dire situation on offense. We must make changes to the OL. For the Wagner game, I suggested that Cal use multiple OL combinations to find out which 5 really wanted to play. Alas, Cal mostly played the same 5 guys. Those guys rarely won the line battle against Wagner, yeah Wagner!
Cal needs to start on off-season program that sends all of the OL to Japan for intensive Sumo training. Their stand up straight technique will get them thrown out of the ring in seconds. They will learn leverage ~ low man wins. OL may be the smartest guys on the field but they are also the least athletic. Cal has a surplus of OL that can't move and frankly don't play with an attitude. I watched the entire Oregun OL scrum push their RB over the goal line against u$c last night. And my thought was, "geez I never see our OL do that". Needless to say, Anae needs to be fired or demoted immediately as well. I would take a chance ~ albeit a BIG chance ~ on having Saffell leading the OL from here on out.
The story line from Friday night is shocking, points by unit:
Defense +7
Offense +3
ST's -7
Pathetic
Go Bears
I was just in Japan and saw some sumo wrestling. Out of the box idea - recruit the sumo wrestlers for our O line. Can’t be much worse.
"Month one could not have started any worse for Tosh Lupoi at Cal."?
Cal could have lost at Syracuse...that would be worse. At least they only lost to teams that were actually better than them.
Like many, I’m wondering where Ron Rivera was in the process of setting up this staff. Now I’m wondering where he’ll be in trying to sort things out. I guess we’ll see what Tosh is made of if anything changes.
Weirdly, the apparent over complication of the offense leading to paralysis but not fooling the defense at all reminds me of late Tedford era.
I think you nailed it. As we sat in the stands wondering if they even had a playbook, I had Old Blue buds texting me from far and wide one question " Where's the offense??". If Tosh doesn't make a change at OC today, say Aloha to JKS next season.
JKS has the blueprint for making it to the League and playing on a successful team. Just do what Fernando Mendoza did ~ simple. If I were JKS' advisor and this continues, I certainly would tell him to move on. aTm desperately needs a QB and they have a lot of money.
Tosh needs to dump the OC now, In over his head. I saw this during the UCLA game, I knew this train wreck was coming. The inability to even come up with one play to move the ball more than 15 yards down field was evident against UCLA. The Musgrave offense was in full effect. Everything is to the outside, zero crossing routes, no quick slants, no middle of the field throws. It’s so generic nobody can get open, it’s embarrassing. Rolovich needs to take over the offense right now. He has a run and shoot background. This offense needs to be completly revamped on the fly, huge task. Need elements of the run and shoot, quick passing game, integrated into the playbook, takes pressure off the o line, doesn’t mean throwing 30 screens a game. The loss of Mohamed is going to make this even worse if they do nothing. Clemson was a bad football team, had zero business loosing to them. The time to see if Tosh is the right guy is right now. Can he push his pride aside and make a change at OC? Good coaches figure it out right away, bad ones do nothing. Bottom line is the alarm bells are sounding off everywhere. Can this new head coach put out the fire? It remains to be seen. Wow, this didn’t take long to get here. It’s the same old CAL.
Your analysis is spot on. This team is a complete disaster and it’s a situation I lay at the feet of the coaching staff. Talk about really bad decisions, why on Earth would a new head coach with a huge budget behind him choose to hire inexperienced guys to run the offense and the defense? I would think you’d go out and try to poach the most college experienced people you could find. But not Lupoi. He hired guys like himself with little relevant experience in the new college game.
And for God’s sake, Lupoi had the “Indiana Miracle” with a Cal QB at the helm as the perfect template to follow. In this new era of portal players, the smart offensive scheme is to keep it really simple with a plug and play format that’s easy for new players to learn and easy to execute. But that’s not what Lupoi went for. Nope, he opted for Somerville’s convoluted, complicated pro scheme that’s too hard for college kids to learn and consequently virtually impossible to execute, leading to what I like to call our current hot mess of a train wreck in a dumpster fire.
We’ve got generational talent at QB and an offense that literally cannot score. An offense that in fact did better with the same QB under Wilcox as coach last year!
What we are facing is a disaster of monumental and very expensive proportions. After all the money and fan hope raised it’s now been exposed as a complete crock of empty hype.
Clearly, Somerville has to go as the sacrificial lamb who doesn’t have a clue how to get out of the offensive mess he’s created. By itself that won’t salvage the season but Lupoi has to do something if only to save his own inexperienced skin.
Frankly, I think we are completely fu$ked for this season because the fundamental changes necessary will be so difficult to implement at this point 4 games into the season. At least simplifying the offense is a step that seems within the realm of possibility.
The deeper program problem is that we’ve no doubt lost our second Heisman Trophy quality QB to another program which we will have the dubious pleasure of watching next year as JKS leads a different team in a run for the national championship. Trust me, he’d be a fool to stay and will make the same calculus as Mendoza did.
And the same holds true for our other good players. Bye, bye Mohammed et al! As for high school recruiting, Lupoi has shat in his own California mess kit — top prospects will take one look at what Lupoi and his crack coaching staff have fielded this year and run to USC or Oregon or, or, or, anywhere but Berkeley, where the emperor’s hype has been exposed and nobody in their right mind who’s a top prospect will want to trust their future to this current coaching crew.
I wish RR luck in sorting through this debacle and trying to keep the money guys on board. I’m betting on something like a 4-8 season and just hoping this team can beat Stanford. But with an offense that can’t score and which did not play well even against Wagner, I’m not holding my breath. So, yes this is a football disaster if there ever was one,
Damn - this freaking says it all.
I wish with all my sunshine pumping heart I could disagree with you, but , shit, I can't.
My fear is that Lupoi will simply double down on his original choice, and demand more “patience”, dishing out more brain dead coachspeak in an effort to tamp down the revolt among the fan base.
But this is where Ron Rivera, as the “General Manager” has to step up and, you know, “manage”. With all the talk about Rolovich, Ron has been an HC also—and he would know that trying to run NFL concepts with college kids is asking for the trouble we’re now seeing. We’ve come full circle from last decade’s Tony Franklin system of simplistic, repeatable concepts to this current mishegas of whatever you want to call what we’re currently seeing, which has now devolved into Ian Strong getting outplayed on prayer throws or watching him commit holding when he tries to downfield block.
Sadly, I don’t have confidence that Tosh will act before it’s too late. I’m having Mouse Davis flashbacks to 1981 when Roger Theder tried to use the “Run and Shoot” to energize his team after going 3-8 in 1980.
Davis’ offense worked brilliantly—for nearly all of the first half of the season opener against Texas A&M. Then QB Gale Gilbert broke his leg and was out for the season (shades of 2005?). The team blew that lead against A&M, stumbled badly behind J Torchio, and half way through the season, Theder took over as OC from Davis. The team wound up finishing 2-9, and Theder wound up fired at season’s end after losing Big Game. (Ushering in Joe Kapp…)
I could see where Lupoi doesn’t want to go full panic with Somerville, and this team has more far more talent than the 1981 team had, but in the end, he needs to acknowledge the disaster that’s unfolding, particularly since he’s now lost his #2 and possibly #1 RBs.
How stubborn does Tosh want to get? Is he willing to risk his job for someone else?
To be fair, 0-4 would be worse.
You said it all Avinash...you said it all.
Mistakes happen but keep making the same mistake, there needs to be a change. No time to waste to much money and reputation at stake. Its simple fire Somerville and put Rolovich in his place. I said a long time ago Rolovich is the guy. He's qualified!
Defense and special teams (stay in your lane) basic fundamentals. Why are guys grabbing! Breakdown, violent hit and violent wrap up! Know your playbook and assignments if not sure speak up otherwise we all fail. Internally (coaches) there are big problems that havnt been fixed. Too many greens in the kitchen not enough meat! Like too see a full five star entree.
This is a far more cogent statement of what I tried to write yesterday under the WR transfer article. 8-4 was the floor this season but I am now convinced 6-6 is a reach. If this (not even doomsday, but reasonable) scenario occurs, JKS will transfer (and his stock is now down a ton). And all of those headline recruits will flip. And then it will be either Tosh being fired next year a la Desean Foster or several years of wasted time and money.
The ONLY scenario where I think Tosh saves his skin is firing the special teams coach now - this week - and demoting Somerville now - this week - with Rolovich making the calls. I don't think it will actually make any difference because the offense is so screwed up and yet there is not time to reset it to what it should have been had Tosh not screwed up his first major hire but (a) UNLV is weak this year so there is no game left on the schedule to make the call and buy us some time to install a real offense and (b) it would show complacency is not tolerated.
Note the analysis in ESPN this morning asking what is wrong with JKS. That's how bad it is - when ESPN finds the need to write up an analysis of the QB of a 2-2 team that has been mediocre for years and years, it tells you how far off things have been
Do we need to fire Lupoi?
I think the money guys are going to be leaning hard on RR to do just that, or lose their support for the inevitable restart and rebuild with the hiring of an experienced and expensive head coach to replace Lupoi.