This should have been written after the UCLA game, as a number of us saw that the team was beyond woefully ill-prepared, JKS was completely lost, the wide receivers were terrible, the o-line was terrible, special teams were terrible, and the defense was going to be run down even if it played ok, in one of the most consequential season openers ever. But at minimum after Syracuse, a "win" that was not remotely a win but just one team doing a face-plant even worse than us.
Each week I would read articles and comments of sincerely held beliefs that we just needed to give Tosh a chance, in Ron we trust, and that there was no way we could fire a coach after one season, or mid-season. Each week the WFC writers do their predictions and still some continue to think this team is capable of winning. But even those have dwindled as less fans engage and more jump on the fire Tosh now bandwagon.
Cal should have fired this dumbass meathead by no later than the UNLV game but instead had to suffer through more and more truly embarrassing losses that each week are more head-in-hands level of stupid than possible. Now, while he should have been left in the locker room at UVA along with RR and made to figure out how to get home and Cal should be prepared to litigate the breach of contract claim, it doesn't change the fact the program has been severely damaged. Maybe permanently damaged.
Thanks for nothing. Actually, not nothing. It is a taking by these jokers.
Excellent write up Avi. You did a great job of pointing out the issues and verbalizing how we all feel. The big question on my mind is: why are we waiting to pull the plug? Does anyone in a senior administration position think that that our play will somehow magically improve or that Tosh will suddenly find out how to be an effective HC? Someone in W4C said in a post in another article that the cost to keep Tosh at this point far outweighs the cost to get rid of him. The long term damage he is doing to our program is hard to measure. Without executing a UCLA-esque turnaround by hiring a solid coach, we are in deep doo doo. Top talent in our recruiting class is sure to bail (a number already have). JKS is as good as gone and I feel so bad for him. He's a great kid with great talent and was thoroughly wasted this season. Who is the next Kalen DeBoer, Curt Cignetti or Bob Chesney? That's who we need to find.
I don’t know how much trust there is in Ron at this point, but if there is an active move to fire Lupoi there would be some work Ron is doing in parallel. Also I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of firing at the right moment to maximize donor support. That time is usually Big Game. If it doesn’t happen next week, it’s not happening at all n
That fake field goal play is called “The Tosh”, and it sums up Cal football in 2026. Change is needed from to to bottom. Thx Avi for you Raw but True evaluation of this horrible football program. I'm even embarrassed to wear my Cal swag… so sad…
I’m with you Avinash. After being in the stands in Raleigh, I am all the way done with this team. I don’t say this lightly… my grandmother was a secretary in the athletic department at Cal a century ago, and I BLEED blue and gold. This is not worthy of the #1 public school in the nation.
The new Pac-12 is still in need of a couple more teams.... That would be a nice fit as teams like Boise and Oregon State would present a more reasonable challenge (and simplify travel immensely). Is this the time?
In the end, the only comfort (and it's VERY, very cold comfort) to be gleaned from any of this is that there's... well, barely anything to be hopeful about. Hope hurts, kids.
The Bears are stuck in a position that all but assures a position of mediocrity (or worse) for years to come. Buying Tosh out? Cal probably can't afford it. Roster? The team is going to be gutted in the transfer portal. I see no reason why our burned NIL donors are going to rally again any time soon; expect the war chest to dry up.
Really, there's no way out. Probably. So relax.
Like severe alcoholics, healing is a long-term affair that will rely on hitting rock bottom first. Frankly, we're just about there. The bad blood and disappointment will simmer; infection will set in. Eventually, the animosity will die down. Tosh will return to a coordinator position somewhere and do fine. Seasons pass.
The ACC better watch out: Cal is going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2038. Mark it, kids. 2038 is our big rebuild year!
Because I'm old, and still have memories of once seeing Rich Campbell adorn the cover of Street & Smith's College Football annual, shortly before Cal began a 3-8 season, I’ve seen some pretty bad Cal teams going back to those Roger Theder years. And while the Holmoecaust team and the 2013 squad gets mostly mentioned here, this team is almost as clueless as the ‘86 team that got Joe Kapp fired right before Big Game. I mean, I’ve never seen a time since that team which did not have any cohesive idea as to what they wanted to do on either side of the ball. (At least the 2013 team had a fun offense...) And JKS is absolutely the wrong QB for an O-line that can’t protect anyone in the pocket.
But here was the thing about that 1986 team. Kapp's schtick had finally run its course, and a rudderless team careened between Brian Bedford and Kevin Brown at QB, before Kapp, desperate to save his job, burned Troy Taylor's redshirt season right before Cal was massacred 49-0 against ASU. Losing to USC the following week made a 28-3 loss actually seem like an improvement. But by then, Taylor was out for the season, having broken his jaw against the Trojans. In addition, he also sustained a mild concussion, and lost two of his teeth, which he tried to find shortly after he was hit. It was embarrassing, and Kapp got the news that he was gone after Big Game the following week.
But then this clueless, mismatched team coaslesced behind the previously demoted Kevin Brown, and came back to upset Stanfurd in the Big Game. There was no rational reason for a broken Cal team to hope to win, yet somehow it managed to pull off a win that I personally remember more fondly than The Play.
This year's team so reminds me of that ordeal 40 years ago. Yet, sadly, I don't get the same sense that this team can pull itself together to rise up like the 1986 team managed to do. But maybe it was the news of Kapp's firing that week that brought the team together. (And yes, announcing Tosh's firing would bring about a symmetry that would be ironic...)
Enough of us know the clichés about rivalry games and whatnot, but there is very little to hang any optimism on for what should be the best week of the season. I'll be wearing my Cal colors in my classroom all week, because that's what I do, and I'll watch the game on Saturday, but this has easily been the most demoralizing season I've ever experienced as a Cal fan going back to 1980.
With the advent of the Portal and NIL, I don't think many of our players actually understand, in their gut, what the CAL/Stanfurd rivalry really is all about. I think Wilcox understood that last year when our team just gave up and he was fired for it. It's hard to go out and practice hard and play hard when your season is over and your coach is a moron.
The weird, unexpected thing: it's much, MUCH easier to adopt an optimistic position when you've trudged your way to sub-mediocrity over time. The Holmoe years? I don't recall any excitement over that hire, frankly. No one was energized over it. The poor performance during his tenure felt more or less like a continuation of Cal's limp trajectory, and it created an energized sense that maybe - maybe - there was a way to turn this program around.
This, of course, is that situation's perverse opposite: Tosh WAS the energized turnaround hire.
Nothing, turns out, is more demoralizing than a Big Solution which backfires. What do you follow it with, for instance? ANOTHER Big Solution? Another inspired hire? Another influx of donor cash and NIL money, as though financial lightning in a bottle is so easy to capture at Cal?
Holmoe felt like the kind of bad coach that sparks a rebirth - Tosh, sadly, feels more like a stake in the heart.
The thing about Tommy Holmoe is that I directly connect him to Steve Mariucci and his star-crossed 1996 season, the one where Cal started 5-0 behind the historically underappreciated Pat Barnes at QB, before herp-derping to a 1-6 finish and an embarrassing Aloha Bowl performance against Navy.
The Niners then hire Maricucci away after one season, and Cal, for whatever reason, acceded to Mooch's recommendation to hire Holmoe. And we know what happens afterwards. FWIW, Mooch's departure permanently turned me off of NFL football for a very long time, and even now, having returned to somewhat follow pro football again, thanks to Jared Goff, I truly continue to dislike the 49ers for creating the circumstances that cratered Cal football in the manner that it did. (Well, that, and the existence of Christian McCaffery, but I digress...)
Don’t be hard on yourself, a lot of Cal fans (myself included) got sucked into the vortex of hype after initially being skeptical of Tosh. We wanted so hard to believe that this was going to be a great hire that we lost our natural, Cal, analytical pessimism.
I can’t even imagine how worse this will get next year if he’s back, now that we’ve all been through the Tosh experience.
I think most of us are in this camp. Once the decision was made, what value was there in being pessimistic? And it was easy to rationalize being hopeful, given the potential of new energy and talent acquisition.
What most of us didn't see coming, or at least I can speak for myself, was just how truly incompetent he would actually be as a head coach… and also how much coaching has and always will actually matter, and that no reasonable amount of player talent can overcome incompetent coaching and leadership.
Shortly before leaving our hotel to head over the BART shuttle to CMS for the season opener, I finally saw that Cal football hype video on IG, the one where Tosh is grabbing a football and lightning and stuff was coming out or something.
I turned to my wife, and said out loud, "Uh oh". I began to think we may have jumped the shark right there. Turns out, we did.
I was of the opinion that even if there were financial resources to fire Lupoi in the first season, it would be difficult to find a quality replacement if the program is perceived by the coaching talent pool as trigger happy. After this game and this play in particular, I don’t have that concern any longer. This is so deeply embarrassing.
I support a boycott. Don’t spend your money on this team until Tosh is gone. Support all the other great sports we have
This should have been written after the UCLA game, as a number of us saw that the team was beyond woefully ill-prepared, JKS was completely lost, the wide receivers were terrible, the o-line was terrible, special teams were terrible, and the defense was going to be run down even if it played ok, in one of the most consequential season openers ever. But at minimum after Syracuse, a "win" that was not remotely a win but just one team doing a face-plant even worse than us.
Each week I would read articles and comments of sincerely held beliefs that we just needed to give Tosh a chance, in Ron we trust, and that there was no way we could fire a coach after one season, or mid-season. Each week the WFC writers do their predictions and still some continue to think this team is capable of winning. But even those have dwindled as less fans engage and more jump on the fire Tosh now bandwagon.
Cal should have fired this dumbass meathead by no later than the UNLV game but instead had to suffer through more and more truly embarrassing losses that each week are more head-in-hands level of stupid than possible. Now, while he should have been left in the locker room at UVA along with RR and made to figure out how to get home and Cal should be prepared to litigate the breach of contract claim, it doesn't change the fact the program has been severely damaged. Maybe permanently damaged.
Thanks for nothing. Actually, not nothing. It is a taking by these jokers.
Excellent write up Avi. You did a great job of pointing out the issues and verbalizing how we all feel. The big question on my mind is: why are we waiting to pull the plug? Does anyone in a senior administration position think that that our play will somehow magically improve or that Tosh will suddenly find out how to be an effective HC? Someone in W4C said in a post in another article that the cost to keep Tosh at this point far outweighs the cost to get rid of him. The long term damage he is doing to our program is hard to measure. Without executing a UCLA-esque turnaround by hiring a solid coach, we are in deep doo doo. Top talent in our recruiting class is sure to bail (a number already have). JKS is as good as gone and I feel so bad for him. He's a great kid with great talent and was thoroughly wasted this season. Who is the next Kalen DeBoer, Curt Cignetti or Bob Chesney? That's who we need to find.
I don’t know how much trust there is in Ron at this point, but if there is an active move to fire Lupoi there would be some work Ron is doing in parallel. Also I wouldn’t underestimate the importance of firing at the right moment to maximize donor support. That time is usually Big Game. If it doesn’t happen next week, it’s not happening at all n
That fake field goal play is called “The Tosh”, and it sums up Cal football in 2026. Change is needed from to to bottom. Thx Avi for you Raw but True evaluation of this horrible football program. I'm even embarrassed to wear my Cal swag… so sad…
I’m with you Avinash. After being in the stands in Raleigh, I am all the way done with this team. I don’t say this lightly… my grandmother was a secretary in the athletic department at Cal a century ago, and I BLEED blue and gold. This is not worthy of the #1 public school in the nation.
The new Pac-12 is still in need of a couple more teams.... That would be a nice fit as teams like Boise and Oregon State would present a more reasonable challenge (and simplify travel immensely). Is this the time?
Only way to go is up after hitting rock bottom? Right??? I’m glad I didn’t trek to UVA for Philly and waste my time and $ on this debacle
In the end, the only comfort (and it's VERY, very cold comfort) to be gleaned from any of this is that there's... well, barely anything to be hopeful about. Hope hurts, kids.
The Bears are stuck in a position that all but assures a position of mediocrity (or worse) for years to come. Buying Tosh out? Cal probably can't afford it. Roster? The team is going to be gutted in the transfer portal. I see no reason why our burned NIL donors are going to rally again any time soon; expect the war chest to dry up.
Really, there's no way out. Probably. So relax.
Like severe alcoholics, healing is a long-term affair that will rely on hitting rock bottom first. Frankly, we're just about there. The bad blood and disappointment will simmer; infection will set in. Eventually, the animosity will die down. Tosh will return to a coordinator position somewhere and do fine. Seasons pass.
The ACC better watch out: Cal is going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2038. Mark it, kids. 2038 is our big rebuild year!
Because I'm old, and still have memories of once seeing Rich Campbell adorn the cover of Street & Smith's College Football annual, shortly before Cal began a 3-8 season, I’ve seen some pretty bad Cal teams going back to those Roger Theder years. And while the Holmoecaust team and the 2013 squad gets mostly mentioned here, this team is almost as clueless as the ‘86 team that got Joe Kapp fired right before Big Game. I mean, I’ve never seen a time since that team which did not have any cohesive idea as to what they wanted to do on either side of the ball. (At least the 2013 team had a fun offense...) And JKS is absolutely the wrong QB for an O-line that can’t protect anyone in the pocket.
But here was the thing about that 1986 team. Kapp's schtick had finally run its course, and a rudderless team careened between Brian Bedford and Kevin Brown at QB, before Kapp, desperate to save his job, burned Troy Taylor's redshirt season right before Cal was massacred 49-0 against ASU. Losing to USC the following week made a 28-3 loss actually seem like an improvement. But by then, Taylor was out for the season, having broken his jaw against the Trojans. In addition, he also sustained a mild concussion, and lost two of his teeth, which he tried to find shortly after he was hit. It was embarrassing, and Kapp got the news that he was gone after Big Game the following week.
But then this clueless, mismatched team coaslesced behind the previously demoted Kevin Brown, and came back to upset Stanfurd in the Big Game. There was no rational reason for a broken Cal team to hope to win, yet somehow it managed to pull off a win that I personally remember more fondly than The Play.
This year's team so reminds me of that ordeal 40 years ago. Yet, sadly, I don't get the same sense that this team can pull itself together to rise up like the 1986 team managed to do. But maybe it was the news of Kapp's firing that week that brought the team together. (And yes, announcing Tosh's firing would bring about a symmetry that would be ironic...)
Enough of us know the clichés about rivalry games and whatnot, but there is very little to hang any optimism on for what should be the best week of the season. I'll be wearing my Cal colors in my classroom all week, because that's what I do, and I'll watch the game on Saturday, but this has easily been the most demoralizing season I've ever experienced as a Cal fan going back to 1980.
With the advent of the Portal and NIL, I don't think many of our players actually understand, in their gut, what the CAL/Stanfurd rivalry really is all about. I think Wilcox understood that last year when our team just gave up and he was fired for it. It's hard to go out and practice hard and play hard when your season is over and your coach is a moron.
The weird, unexpected thing: it's much, MUCH easier to adopt an optimistic position when you've trudged your way to sub-mediocrity over time. The Holmoe years? I don't recall any excitement over that hire, frankly. No one was energized over it. The poor performance during his tenure felt more or less like a continuation of Cal's limp trajectory, and it created an energized sense that maybe - maybe - there was a way to turn this program around.
This, of course, is that situation's perverse opposite: Tosh WAS the energized turnaround hire.
Nothing, turns out, is more demoralizing than a Big Solution which backfires. What do you follow it with, for instance? ANOTHER Big Solution? Another inspired hire? Another influx of donor cash and NIL money, as though financial lightning in a bottle is so easy to capture at Cal?
Holmoe felt like the kind of bad coach that sparks a rebirth - Tosh, sadly, feels more like a stake in the heart.
The thing about Tommy Holmoe is that I directly connect him to Steve Mariucci and his star-crossed 1996 season, the one where Cal started 5-0 behind the historically underappreciated Pat Barnes at QB, before herp-derping to a 1-6 finish and an embarrassing Aloha Bowl performance against Navy.
The Niners then hire Maricucci away after one season, and Cal, for whatever reason, acceded to Mooch's recommendation to hire Holmoe. And we know what happens afterwards. FWIW, Mooch's departure permanently turned me off of NFL football for a very long time, and even now, having returned to somewhat follow pro football again, thanks to Jared Goff, I truly continue to dislike the 49ers for creating the circumstances that cratered Cal football in the manner that it did. (Well, that, and the existence of Christian McCaffery, but I digress...)
Did Ron throw down the headset a la Tedford? Because that play definitely deserved it. That's the stuff that can get him fired too.
Don’t be hard on yourself, a lot of Cal fans (myself included) got sucked into the vortex of hype after initially being skeptical of Tosh. We wanted so hard to believe that this was going to be a great hire that we lost our natural, Cal, analytical pessimism.
I can’t even imagine how worse this will get next year if he’s back, now that we’ve all been through the Tosh experience.
I think most of us are in this camp. Once the decision was made, what value was there in being pessimistic? And it was easy to rationalize being hopeful, given the potential of new energy and talent acquisition.
What most of us didn't see coming, or at least I can speak for myself, was just how truly incompetent he would actually be as a head coach… and also how much coaching has and always will actually matter, and that no reasonable amount of player talent can overcome incompetent coaching and leadership.
It still doesn't feel possible we are this bad.
Shortly before leaving our hotel to head over the BART shuttle to CMS for the season opener, I finally saw that Cal football hype video on IG, the one where Tosh is grabbing a football and lightning and stuff was coming out or something.
I turned to my wife, and said out loud, "Uh oh". I began to think we may have jumped the shark right there. Turns out, we did.
There are many great coaches that are out there that would relish the opportunity
You said it perfectly. Nothing to add other than. This is an early term ABORTION.
I was of the opinion that even if there were financial resources to fire Lupoi in the first season, it would be difficult to find a quality replacement if the program is perceived by the coaching talent pool as trigger happy. After this game and this play in particular, I don’t have that concern any longer. This is so deeply embarrassing.
What’s stunning to me is that a new hire would probably inherent less talent than what Lupoi started off with.
Agree - no person / coach would look at Tosh’s performance and blame Cal for moving on this fast. It’s that bad and that obvious.