It's hard to escape the conclusion that was also my sense at the time that while Sonny ball, the Cal version, was fundamentally flawed, the biggest issue was wild inconsistencies, which are often in turn a product of a lack of depth and breadth of talent that set up for wild swings and disasters whenever things didn't go better than could be expected.
While the locations of the problems are different in the Wilcox era, the problem persists, which suggests problems that are bigger and outside the control of Sonny or Justin that prevents assembling or maintaining an adequate staff or roster.
It would take some considerable research to confirm a similar situation exists that accounts for basketball and baseball mediocrity, but it seems entirely likely that's the case, and accounts for why what looks like aggregate talent that bounces between the middle of the Mt West and the middle of the Big West levels produces results that match.
No shade on Oski or Sonny, but the cover photo looks like one of those awkward moments when the conversation dies and you realize you may not have that much in common.
Love Michigan, especially as an example of both academic and football excellence, but I gotta' root for Sonny. Go TCU!
Have to give Sonny a lot of credit for washing out of Cal and then wandering in the coaching wilderness for awhile as a consultant (sort of a bounce back thing for fired coaches) before getting the SMU gig and then making the move to TCU. There may be a lesson here for Cal - maybe it's just hard to win here and there are too many administrative obstacles. But Buh and Kaufman as DC's was a disaster. I hope Justin can successfully navigate the waters in Berkeley and also be a winner ultimately.
I still STRUGGLE to figure out why we could have had SUCH a prolific offense and bad defense, when we could CLEARLY recruit and coach a good defense after Sonny left. These things should NOT be mutually exclusive, even at Cal, as it's not a zero-sum equation and we CAN recruit good players on both sides of the ball. This will haunt me until we win a.......well, probably the rest of my life.....
Keep up the analysis! I'm sure it's awesome though I also am not able to digest it at this time....
Part of it is a numbers crunch. I recall the number of scholarship players Sonny allocated to offense was at times much higher than the number on defense. As a result, the normal spread of talent across the unit meant running out of top tier defensive players, and that's before any attrition hit. It takes deft roster management to keep both talent and experience spread evenly and still have any positions that are elite. Combine that with the fact that Cal is a hard place to recruit to, and a harder one to retain at, and problems can arise quickly that are slow to be addressed.
Wilcox’s best defense was largely comprised of Sonny’s recruits.
Wilcox/deruyter were just better coaches than Kaufman. I will wonder, until the day I die, whether or not Sonny left because he wanted to upgrade from Kaufman and was turned down.
We've recruited a damn good defense since then, so why couldn't we then? I get there are challenges, but not so much that we can say that's why we had an outstanding O and a dismal D (see what I did there???). : )
Whatta' mean "hard to recruit to"? Our recruiters can boast of the fabulous beaches; temperate, warm climate; beautiful people; and exposure to Hollywood agents looking for new talent... oh, wait, that's UCLA and USC... okay, never mind.
But, truthfully, Northern California is more of a "real California" experience. We have everything from agriculture, the Sierras, the Bay, diverse cultures, and a far less phony, fashion show, environment.
Then there's that ageless, pun-based Cal promo we all love. "You see..." Wait, maybe that should be left out of the recruiting pitch.
Question: Where the Hell was this defense when Sonny was at Cal? Did he get run off, then started looking elsewhere? Gotta' wonder what might have been has he had the support he needed, here.
Why did I read this. I was having such a nice post-Christmas week.
Alas, when visiting any Cal sports site there's always the risk of massive, crippling disappointment
It's hard to escape the conclusion that was also my sense at the time that while Sonny ball, the Cal version, was fundamentally flawed, the biggest issue was wild inconsistencies, which are often in turn a product of a lack of depth and breadth of talent that set up for wild swings and disasters whenever things didn't go better than could be expected.
While the locations of the problems are different in the Wilcox era, the problem persists, which suggests problems that are bigger and outside the control of Sonny or Justin that prevents assembling or maintaining an adequate staff or roster.
It would take some considerable research to confirm a similar situation exists that accounts for basketball and baseball mediocrity, but it seems entirely likely that's the case, and accounts for why what looks like aggregate talent that bounces between the middle of the Mt West and the middle of the Big West levels produces results that match.
^^This
Administratively planned mediocrity.
No shade on Oski or Sonny, but the cover photo looks like one of those awkward moments when the conversation dies and you realize you may not have that much in common.
Love Michigan, especially as an example of both academic and football excellence, but I gotta' root for Sonny. Go TCU!
Sonny was probably distracted because he saw a Texas-shaped cloud in the sky
Admittedly, he seemed homesick and the Bay Area is an acquired taste.
Reminds me of the ending scene of The Graduate on the back of the bus. Cue The Sound of Silence.
LOL.
You just reminded me of the scene as they walk past the pastry shop on lower Telegraph.
They have or had the best eclairs.
I think that place closed. I used to get day old pastries there for cheap.
Have to give Sonny a lot of credit for washing out of Cal and then wandering in the coaching wilderness for awhile as a consultant (sort of a bounce back thing for fired coaches) before getting the SMU gig and then making the move to TCU. There may be a lesson here for Cal - maybe it's just hard to win here and there are too many administrative obstacles. But Buh and Kaufman as DC's was a disaster. I hope Justin can successfully navigate the waters in Berkeley and also be a winner ultimately.
I still STRUGGLE to figure out why we could have had SUCH a prolific offense and bad defense, when we could CLEARLY recruit and coach a good defense after Sonny left. These things should NOT be mutually exclusive, even at Cal, as it's not a zero-sum equation and we CAN recruit good players on both sides of the ball. This will haunt me until we win a.......well, probably the rest of my life.....
Keep up the analysis! I'm sure it's awesome though I also am not able to digest it at this time....
Part of it is a numbers crunch. I recall the number of scholarship players Sonny allocated to offense was at times much higher than the number on defense. As a result, the normal spread of talent across the unit meant running out of top tier defensive players, and that's before any attrition hit. It takes deft roster management to keep both talent and experience spread evenly and still have any positions that are elite. Combine that with the fact that Cal is a hard place to recruit to, and a harder one to retain at, and problems can arise quickly that are slow to be addressed.
Wilcox’s best defense was largely comprised of Sonny’s recruits.
Wilcox/deruyter were just better coaches than Kaufman. I will wonder, until the day I die, whether or not Sonny left because he wanted to upgrade from Kaufman and was turned down.
We've recruited a damn good defense since then, so why couldn't we then? I get there are challenges, but not so much that we can say that's why we had an outstanding O and a dismal D (see what I did there???). : )
Whatta' mean "hard to recruit to"? Our recruiters can boast of the fabulous beaches; temperate, warm climate; beautiful people; and exposure to Hollywood agents looking for new talent... oh, wait, that's UCLA and USC... okay, never mind.
But, truthfully, Northern California is more of a "real California" experience. We have everything from agriculture, the Sierras, the Bay, diverse cultures, and a far less phony, fashion show, environment.
Then there's that ageless, pun-based Cal promo we all love. "You see..." Wait, maybe that should be left out of the recruiting pitch.
Coaching matters. Wilcox and TDR were a massive improvement over Buh and Kaufman.
Just like Dykes and Franklin/Spav were a massive improvement over Baldwin and Musgrave.
Question: Where the Hell was this defense when Sonny was at Cal? Did he get run off, then started looking elsewhere? Gotta' wonder what might have been has he had the support he needed, here.
If getting to a bowl game doesn’t mean you have a good team, what does it mean for a team that has now missed a bowl game two seasons in a row?
Almost 74, Sorry can’t follow your analysis. Many Thanks for your efforts.
MPChecca
Are you saying TCU is not a good team?