Evans Hall: Letters to a Young Head Coach

“Almost everything that matters is difficult, and everything matters” - Rainer Maria Rilke, Letter One, Paris, February 17, 1903

In the collection of letters to Franz Xaver Kappus, poet Rainer Maria Rilke touches upon the themes of art, self knowing, solitude, physical and emotional intimacy. In his first letter to Kappus HC Lupoi Rilke advises:

The biggest obstacle to that development would be for you to look outwards, to expect outside answers to questions that only your innermost feelings in your quietest moments have any chance of answering. - R. M. Rilke, Letter One, Paris, February 17, 1903

Rainer Marie Rilke going to a Cal Football Game, note the lack of the spark of life in his eyes. Credit: mpete91

I must copy that advice and relay this to Coach Lupoi. Not just because it is and sounds wise (to poet and coach alike) but also regarding the fact that there is no trade deadline for us to take advantage of, there are no free agents, and unlike in EA College Football you can’t just swap out a playbook and hope it executes.

Within the program there are certain core principles HC Lupoi has made for the program, and I believe it is important to go inside them and ask ourselves if we have lived by them.

Relentless Effort

[…] every career is the same: full of demands upon you, full of hostility toward the individual,soak through as it where with the hatred of those who have stubbornly, sullenly found their way into this sober line of work. - R. M. Rilke, Letter Six, Rome, October 29. 1903

In the end there are two positions on the football field that are defined by relentless effort and that can be measured by modern statistics and advanced analytics: Offensive and defensive line.

Using HudlIQ we track every single run carry Cal has had in the 2026 season so far. The dots are where our ball carriers are first tackled and on the left hand side we can see the Cal’s distribution and our means relative to the FBS mean. The results are… sad. We have yet to notch a carry where the player was not touched before the 10+ yard line, the mean carry of a Cal RB is basically hit at the line of scrimmage and when hit we generate less than the national mean in yards after contact.

I do not believe we improved on the offensive line run blocking wise, even with the addition of a great RB in Adam Mohammed. The view is a little more encouraging on the offensive line. Here I will spout a heresy on Cal social media: 2026 Cal pass protection isn’t bad. It is just just around mediocre.

The only true issue is the C gap between the RT and TE which is a tough spot since JKS is a lefty QB who is showing signs of a Sophomore slump. Of course anyone can recall a bad snap (ie. Vatikani getting blow up for a sack in a DT/DE stunt against Clemson) but those aren’t as common as they were in 2025 where this was the chart:

YIKES

Looking on the otherside of the ball the story is roughly as bleak as it can at least in defending the run

We’re slightly below average in all tackling metrics in the run game and there is a lot of issues to be clean up with run busts happening in each game (UCLA, the whole game, Wagner had a huge QB scramble to set up their only TD, Syracuse had the game starting run, and Clemson final TD).

Ball Excellence

Do I have to write coach football? Dig deep into yourself for the answer. And if it is yes, if you can meet this solemn question with a strong and simple “I must”, then build yourself around that necessity. - R. M. Rilke, Letter One, Paris, February 17, 1903

Ball excellence is all about executing the offense at a high level. And on this front we’re struggling mightily. For example below we see every single pass placement JKS has where he is missing his receiver right to his left and high.

This issue can also explain the lack of Ian Strong’s production where a lot of his passes have been vertical misses where I assume JKS is trying to get him the ball in 50/50 contested catch situations and it looks more like 1/10 case with Strong right now.

Taking a look on a more positive side: Kingston Lopa has had a good season… if you ignore the success rate allowed in his play. As much of a ball hawk he can be, there are issues with his coverage abilities where when he allows a catch or a missed run tackle it tends to be disastrous for the team.

Something worth noting is that both Ricky Fletcher and Damien Harris are having really good seasons. However, we do have to note that the best QB we have faced passing the ball is … Nico Iamaeava?

Catch separation being a big measure of how close the guys are when the ball is at the hands of the skill player Ricky and Daniel are there to make it very hard to make the catch.

Power of Unit

Merging, surrendering, entering into a union of any kind is not for them (who must still spend a long, long time gathering and saving up) - no that is the last step, the ultimate thing that even a human life may be barely big enough to contain. - R. M. Rilke, Letter Seven, Rome, May 14, 1904

Looking more big picture on both sides of the ball, Cal offense is… offensive? Outside of the sack percentage there isn’t anywhere else the offense has showered itself in glory in any aspect of the game.

Defensively we have been able to really put a stamp on the opposing offenses by really stifling the passing game. Though we are not doing too hot on the rushing front with the Chunk % and yards per rush being on the high side. We could also do a better job reducing a team’s drive success rate (pct. chance a team converts a down on a given drive).

Focusing back on the offense we can see that the offense is more effective out of 3x2 empty sets and from 12 sets across the board. We have tried some 21 looks but have not gotten any good returns from them. We do run 11 (1 RB, 1 TE)and 12 (1 RB, 2 TE) looks more often than the rest of the field.

There is a efficiency to be had where the team gets positive outcomes from a success rate perspective out of Empty 3 x 2 looks with 1 RB and 2 TEs. This allows for the best pass catchers to be on the field, and for JKS to be able to pick and stick with his throwing.

Final Thoughts

Trust yourself and your own feelings, every time, over any of these explications, discussions, or introductions. If it turns out you’re wrong, the natural growth of your inner life will eventually lead you to new heights. - R. M. Rilke, Letter Three, Viareggio near Pisa, Italy, April 23, 1903

There is a lot, a lot, left to be desired from this coaching staff. Thanks to HudlIQ we can see where the scheme and players can improve. It is therefore contingent for the team to find it within themselves and the team for solutions. Pass protection from JKS’ blind side, run fits and tackling, pass location specifically towards Ian Strong, and a schematic wrinkle in the empty 3x2 sets we can lean on to generate successful plays.