I am just amazed by some of the comments here, like hire Jack Clark as our head football coach. Not to take anything away from Jack because he is an amazing rugby coach, a truly inspiring leader and was a phenomenal athlete. I played football with him so I know. But he’s never coached football in his life. Having coach football as an assistant, I can tell you that the P4 level someone with no head coaching experience in football would fail no matter what kind of leader they are.
Jack has done amazing things expanding the game of rugby across America. He’s built a legendary program at Cal. We should all be grateful for what he’s done. But to ask him to be a head football coach of a P4 program would be like asking a veterinarian to be a neurosurgeon. They are two completely different games. I’m not worried about the budgets or that type of thing. I am cognizant that understanding and mastering offenses and defenses and responses to both with the other takes years and years of experience. Just like a head football coach could not walk into Jack’s rugby program and succeed because they have no understanding of the game of rugby.
What people do not realize is the nuanced level of the chess game that is always under discussion in the coaches office. As D1 a player, I thought I knew a lot. I realize now that I didn’t know ann until I started coaching, and even now I realize how little I know, but I know a lot more than I used to.
All the fans think football is a real simple game. I can tell you it’s not. It’s 5D chess. And as a coach, I never enjoyed the game more because of this.
Part of my job working with an offensive line, was to look at each different player and understand their strengths and limits and utilize those scheme. Many coaches demand from players that they do everything, but that’s not possible. Great coaches understand the talent. They have how to use it and design the system around it. Protect your weaknesses and use your strengths. It’s always been that way. Unless you’ve coached the game you would never understand the level of detail and the amount of work it takes to win.
I have to agree - taking nothing away from Clark, but Rugby is fundamentally different from American football, especially at this level. I love the Ted Lasso idea but it doesn't work in real life.
I think you make the point of fundamental skills, blocking and tackling. Leadership and organization. A core belief and ability to execute. Jack has all those abilities and would be a great head football coach.
Maybe RR should go over to Jack Clark's office (rugby head coach) and have a chat about how to build a long lasting winning program. Year after year the Cal rugby team is at the top of the collegiate rankings-and playing for the national championship in a few weeks!
Lots of respect for Coach Clark and what he has done. I go to several matches every year. But overseeing a rugby program that competes in such a small pool of competition and has greater resources than the limited competition is not really equivalent. RR has better experience working for a couple of truly dysfunctional orgs led by highly unpopular and destructive leaders.
Jack Clark has the ability to lead. He knows how to inspire. You can't fake that. He would be a great hire for Ron Rivera to lead Cal Football in this new era of transfer portal and NIL.
Sure, but could hire a special teams coach. You could put him in charge of current staff and get a better result. The tone, commitment, decision making atmosphere are all instilled and nurtured by the head coach. Those intangible qualities is what Jack can bring to Football as he has with rugby. People skills and the ability to motivate and getting a group of individuals to work together for a great result.
I see I'm not the only fan of Coach Clark. :-) He has built the program over the long haul to be a powerhouse in spite of all the turmoil at Berkeley over the years!
I like the chat idea. Trying to bring him over to football is a bad idea, how many inspirational leaders do we need? At most, have him give occasional pep talks.
Once again, everything SOUNDS good and I don't doubt that Rivera has the right intentions. Until the reporting structure is changed, though, and everything around football (including strength/conditioning, marketing, etc.) rolls up to the GM then I am skeptical that real changes will happen.
I regret that I only have 1 like to give for this observation. From the perspective of organizational structure, it remains to be seen what the effect of the GM position will be on the football program.
As long as Knowlton remains the immediate supervisor of Justin Wilcox, I fully expect that Wilcox will remain as head coach.
I truly hope that Rivera's position will yield fruit in advancing the football program. How he accomplishes that while directly reporting to Chancellor Lyons with no apparent ability to dismiss Wilcox or otherwise overrule Knowlton on football staffing issues will be telling.
Ron certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt and I'm not surprised that he cannot share details about "having a plan" as you don't want to give away publicly what you are going to do in what has become a very fluid market for coaching and player talent. As for marketing or game day experience, perhaps details on changes might be something that should be shared by this summer as he's finished reviewing the situation and potential changes. But the one aspect that I did find a bit troubling was more a description about the state of competitive college football, basically that it's about the Cal team as a whole and not individual players. What troubles me is my interest and support is about seeing student-athletes develop and grow in skills AND in leadership over three to five years. If players are just becoming widgets you replace after one or two years, that goes out the window and you basically have a pro team for your starters. And in terms of NIL and/or class action lawsuit revenue sharing, I just do not see how you retain any concept of student athletes. If you are able to command $250k a year, for example, let alone $1+ million, exactly how much interest do you have in UGBA 101A or History 2 or whatever your stated major is as a 19 year old when improving your athletic skill set is paying off big?
And that's why I've sailed too! I retired to Lisbon Portugal and love it. I will only spend the money to come back now for some WBB games when they have two weekends in a row at home. So many other places to spend money flying to see. While there's movement in portal too for WBB, you still have a chance of seeing players develop over three and even four years and even portal transfer into Cal WBB are often in for two and three years.
So far it's all just words. Of course he has to be upbeat and "have a plan", and RR might kill it, might turn us into a powerhouse. However, the odds are against as our NIL bank account and academic requirements shrink the pool of players we can attract. And without talent, it ain't happening. I wish our circumstances were otherwise.
Oski: NIL and academic standards are not impossible barriers. Texas, Michigan, Duke, the 'Furd, FUCLA and others (Vandy, UVA, Northwestern) all have high academic standards but varying levels of NIL commitment. Cal can match or even exceed NIL contributions IF we put together football and basketball programs that are competitive and worth watching. I have a sneaking suspicion that RR is going to replace "Know-Nothing" Knowlton. The only outreach I have ever seen from our current AD are his stupid "Knowlton Notes" that I receive once a month. He is clearly overmatched to meet the current moment in college athletics and he needs to be shown the door.
Interesting press conference. Ron seems to be acting in a grander role than just football GM. Either he is the AD in waiting or he simply wants to work on bigger picture issues for Cal Athletics (with a focus on football). Either way, I'm good with it.
I thought that he came out strong. If his actions are like that, he will hopefuly turn the ship around. What really interested me is that he mentioned Knowlton by name only once, just after the 13 minute mark. Wilcox and Lyons were mentioned often, but Knowlton was barely acknowledged.
Where he would undoubtedly rob donations earmarked for ultimate and divert to the fledgling Full-Contact Muppet Juggling program scheduled to debut next fall.
The RB group on their own wasn't the problem. Ott got his degree and wanted to improve his draft stock -- great. We had two guys with 1 year left who are transferring to get some playing time after spending their years buried in our depth chart. Jet is a bit more concerning, but we can't force him to stay through a RB coaching change.
What's concerning is everything else. Losing Mendoza in the way that we did, losing Endries, the RB group, all of this after constantly losing our offensive stars year-after-year.
They didn't really need to answer the RB questions specifically, but more on how they're incapable of maintaining an offensive roster any given season. We don't have these issues on defense, so it seems like a lack of focus or priority. They didn't answer these questions, but I think we all know what the answers are. And it's why we're all waiting for Wilcox to be fired.
Is losing Endries really that surprising? Texas offered him stacks to play on a championship caliber team with the highest profile QB in the game, cheered on by a corral of blonde girls in skirts and cowboy boots. Sound enticing to you?
I hate to say this, and I want Rivera to succeed, but Monday’s presser did not give me confidence that he’s the guy for this position. He has zero prior experience as an administrator, and it sounded like it. He’d be more appropriate as a coach.
I'm not sure that you read comments from Write for Cal, but just in case.
A leader, a motivator, a Steward who can bring people together for a common goal. A person that can cultivate loyalty and competitive spirit.
These qualities are not exclusive to one sport. They are the essence of team sports and you have a Coach at Berkeley who exemplifies these intangible qualities.
The locker room is lost with coach Wilcox. The players have voted with their transfer portal feet and have moved on. The time has come for new football leadership
Jack Clark can rebuild the program because he has the stature and leadership. He is as he says,"One of Ours.". No hesitation in acclimating to Berkeley. He is Cal personified and it's time to recognize that.
One left to give his pro aspirations a better chance for success (Ott) at a SEC school. I’m not sure why Jett left, but maybe when he became #1 maybe he wanted more money and was using the portal to leverage a better deal. Ron Rivera discussed this in his presser but did not name Jett. The other three were not starters ant CAL and never were going to be starters at CAL and so I’m sure they were looking for opportunities to start elsewhere.
Absolutely….that too. Hoping Famika coaches up the OL into at least a passable unit. If he can’t, it doesn’t really matter much anyways I suppose. Even average OL play and we should win 8 with this schedule.
I am just amazed by some of the comments here, like hire Jack Clark as our head football coach. Not to take anything away from Jack because he is an amazing rugby coach, a truly inspiring leader and was a phenomenal athlete. I played football with him so I know. But he’s never coached football in his life. Having coach football as an assistant, I can tell you that the P4 level someone with no head coaching experience in football would fail no matter what kind of leader they are.
Jack has done amazing things expanding the game of rugby across America. He’s built a legendary program at Cal. We should all be grateful for what he’s done. But to ask him to be a head football coach of a P4 program would be like asking a veterinarian to be a neurosurgeon. They are two completely different games. I’m not worried about the budgets or that type of thing. I am cognizant that understanding and mastering offenses and defenses and responses to both with the other takes years and years of experience. Just like a head football coach could not walk into Jack’s rugby program and succeed because they have no understanding of the game of rugby.
What people do not realize is the nuanced level of the chess game that is always under discussion in the coaches office. As D1 a player, I thought I knew a lot. I realize now that I didn’t know ann until I started coaching, and even now I realize how little I know, but I know a lot more than I used to.
All the fans think football is a real simple game. I can tell you it’s not. It’s 5D chess. And as a coach, I never enjoyed the game more because of this.
Part of my job working with an offensive line, was to look at each different player and understand their strengths and limits and utilize those scheme. Many coaches demand from players that they do everything, but that’s not possible. Great coaches understand the talent. They have how to use it and design the system around it. Protect your weaknesses and use your strengths. It’s always been that way. Unless you’ve coached the game you would never understand the level of detail and the amount of work it takes to win.
10-4
Some good points but I don’t know anybody who thinks football is a simple game.
In fact American football global reach is limited in part because it’s notorious for how complex the game is.
I have to agree - taking nothing away from Clark, but Rugby is fundamentally different from American football, especially at this level. I love the Ted Lasso idea but it doesn't work in real life.
I think you make the point of fundamental skills, blocking and tackling. Leadership and organization. A core belief and ability to execute. Jack has all those abilities and would be a great head football coach.
I guess if Clark isn't interested, we should try Tony Robbins next.
Or Jaime Dimon
Maybe RR should go over to Jack Clark's office (rugby head coach) and have a chat about how to build a long lasting winning program. Year after year the Cal rugby team is at the top of the collegiate rankings-and playing for the national championship in a few weeks!
Lots of respect for Coach Clark and what he has done. I go to several matches every year. But overseeing a rugby program that competes in such a small pool of competition and has greater resources than the limited competition is not really equivalent. RR has better experience working for a couple of truly dysfunctional orgs led by highly unpopular and destructive leaders.
Jack Clark has the ability to lead. He knows how to inspire. You can't fake that. He would be a great hire for Ron Rivera to lead Cal Football in this new era of transfer portal and NIL.
He is "one of our own"! You can't replace that.
Bob, can he coach special teams?
Sure, but could hire a special teams coach. You could put him in charge of current staff and get a better result. The tone, commitment, decision making atmosphere are all instilled and nurtured by the head coach. Those intangible qualities is what Jack can bring to Football as he has with rugby. People skills and the ability to motivate and getting a group of individuals to work together for a great result.
I see I'm not the only fan of Coach Clark. :-) He has built the program over the long haul to be a powerhouse in spite of all the turmoil at Berkeley over the years!
I like the chat idea. Trying to bring him over to football is a bad idea, how many inspirational leaders do we need? At most, have him give occasional pep talks.
And maybe try to poach a few rugby players.
Lyons needs to grow a pair and fire James Arthur Knowlton.
Once again, everything SOUNDS good and I don't doubt that Rivera has the right intentions. Until the reporting structure is changed, though, and everything around football (including strength/conditioning, marketing, etc.) rolls up to the GM then I am skeptical that real changes will happen.
I regret that I only have 1 like to give for this observation. From the perspective of organizational structure, it remains to be seen what the effect of the GM position will be on the football program.
As long as Knowlton remains the immediate supervisor of Justin Wilcox, I fully expect that Wilcox will remain as head coach.
I truly hope that Rivera's position will yield fruit in advancing the football program. How he accomplishes that while directly reporting to Chancellor Lyons with no apparent ability to dismiss Wilcox or otherwise overrule Knowlton on football staffing issues will be telling.
The BearInsider guys have posted some stuff recently that suggests they think those concrete changes are coming soon. So let's see if it happens.
Ron certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt and I'm not surprised that he cannot share details about "having a plan" as you don't want to give away publicly what you are going to do in what has become a very fluid market for coaching and player talent. As for marketing or game day experience, perhaps details on changes might be something that should be shared by this summer as he's finished reviewing the situation and potential changes. But the one aspect that I did find a bit troubling was more a description about the state of competitive college football, basically that it's about the Cal team as a whole and not individual players. What troubles me is my interest and support is about seeing student-athletes develop and grow in skills AND in leadership over three to five years. If players are just becoming widgets you replace after one or two years, that goes out the window and you basically have a pro team for your starters. And in terms of NIL and/or class action lawsuit revenue sharing, I just do not see how you retain any concept of student athletes. If you are able to command $250k a year, for example, let alone $1+ million, exactly how much interest do you have in UGBA 101A or History 2 or whatever your stated major is as a 19 year old when improving your athletic skill set is paying off big?
But that ship has already sailed.
Agreed.
Well put. This is where we're at.
And that's why I've sailed too! I retired to Lisbon Portugal and love it. I will only spend the money to come back now for some WBB games when they have two weekends in a row at home. So many other places to spend money flying to see. While there's movement in portal too for WBB, you still have a chance of seeing players develop over three and even four years and even portal transfer into Cal WBB are often in for two and three years.
So far it's all just words. Of course he has to be upbeat and "have a plan", and RR might kill it, might turn us into a powerhouse. However, the odds are against as our NIL bank account and academic requirements shrink the pool of players we can attract. And without talent, it ain't happening. I wish our circumstances were otherwise.
Oski: NIL and academic standards are not impossible barriers. Texas, Michigan, Duke, the 'Furd, FUCLA and others (Vandy, UVA, Northwestern) all have high academic standards but varying levels of NIL commitment. Cal can match or even exceed NIL contributions IF we put together football and basketball programs that are competitive and worth watching. I have a sneaking suspicion that RR is going to replace "Know-Nothing" Knowlton. The only outreach I have ever seen from our current AD are his stupid "Knowlton Notes" that I receive once a month. He is clearly overmatched to meet the current moment in college athletics and he needs to be shown the door.
Interesting press conference. Ron seems to be acting in a grander role than just football GM. Either he is the AD in waiting or he simply wants to work on bigger picture issues for Cal Athletics (with a focus on football). Either way, I'm good with it.
The former would be fantastic….latter too but this gets him some exposure to major college athletics admin.
That said, we already saw a guy with actual AD experience fail as colossally as one can….;-)
This is reassuring!
I thought that he came out strong. If his actions are like that, he will hopefuly turn the ship around. What really interested me is that he mentioned Knowlton by name only once, just after the 13 minute mark. Wilcox and Lyons were mentioned often, but Knowlton was barely acknowledged.
and thank Oski for that. I don’t want
Knowlton anywhere near athletics, let alone football.
Stick Knowlton with the Olympic sports where his spot in the hierarchy is low and leave the revenue ones to the professionals.
Intramural ultimate frisbee would be a fit.
Where he would undoubtedly rob donations earmarked for ultimate and divert to the fledgling Full-Contact Muppet Juggling program scheduled to debut next fall.
‘Tis again the season of “Fight! for Cal- meh -fornia!”
I certainly hope he straightens out the reason for the losing almost the entire running back group.
The RB group on their own wasn't the problem. Ott got his degree and wanted to improve his draft stock -- great. We had two guys with 1 year left who are transferring to get some playing time after spending their years buried in our depth chart. Jet is a bit more concerning, but we can't force him to stay through a RB coaching change.
What's concerning is everything else. Losing Mendoza in the way that we did, losing Endries, the RB group, all of this after constantly losing our offensive stars year-after-year.
They didn't really need to answer the RB questions specifically, but more on how they're incapable of maintaining an offensive roster any given season. We don't have these issues on defense, so it seems like a lack of focus or priority. They didn't answer these questions, but I think we all know what the answers are. And it's why we're all waiting for Wilcox to be fired.
Is losing Endries really that surprising? Texas offered him stacks to play on a championship caliber team with the highest profile QB in the game, cheered on by a corral of blonde girls in skirts and cowboy boots. Sound enticing to you?
Sturdivant to sit on the bench at UCLA? Like I said. I'm including the bleeding over the last five years.
David Pollack cals Cal an absolute disaster
https://athlonsports.com/college/california-golden-bears/david-pollack-believes-the-california-golden-bears-are-an-absolute-disaster
David Pollack's opinion on Cal is worth the same amount as a poacher's opinion on a bear.
So there is an east coast event. Anything you want me to ask Ron or Justin?
I hate to say this, and I want Rivera to succeed, but Monday’s presser did not give me confidence that he’s the guy for this position. He has zero prior experience as an administrator, and it sounded like it. He’d be more appropriate as a coach.
Dear Ron,
I'm not sure that you read comments from Write for Cal, but just in case.
A leader, a motivator, a Steward who can bring people together for a common goal. A person that can cultivate loyalty and competitive spirit.
These qualities are not exclusive to one sport. They are the essence of team sports and you have a Coach at Berkeley who exemplifies these intangible qualities.
The locker room is lost with coach Wilcox. The players have voted with their transfer portal feet and have moved on. The time has come for new football leadership
Jack Clark can rebuild the program because he has the stature and leadership. He is as he says,"One of Ours.". No hesitation in acclimating to Berkeley. He is Cal personified and it's time to recognize that.
Why did five running backs leave in one week ????
One left to give his pro aspirations a better chance for success (Ott) at a SEC school. I’m not sure why Jett left, but maybe when he became #1 maybe he wanted more money and was using the portal to leverage a better deal. Ron Rivera discussed this in his presser but did not name Jett. The other three were not starters ant CAL and never were going to be starters at CAL and so I’m sure they were looking for opportunities to start elsewhere.
Give Ott, Endries, Jet NIL $$$ to CharMar Brown and you’ve arguably upgraded the RB room.
I am down with CharMar Brown - make it so! :-)
I would rather use it on more hogs for the OL that will create holes that a newbie RB can find.
Absolutely….that too. Hoping Famika coaches up the OL into at least a passable unit. If he can’t, it doesn’t really matter much anyways I suppose. Even average OL play and we should win 8 with this schedule.
Seems like the major catalyst was the RB coach being replaced.
Now we know how the A's feel.