It’s still funny to me that people think that the offense they saw in 4 games last season with no spring and a shortened fall AND knowing Wilcox loves some gamesmanship that the offense and plays we saw last season is even close to the offense they want to run or even at 50% of what they want to run. Why would he give up plays and looks in a lost season that didn’t mean anything to anyone.
I think it meant something to a guy named Makai Polk. I guess it meant something to me, too, because I still have a bitter taste in my mouth about the Oregon State game. Okay, I am ready to shut up because I desperately want to believe all this optimism.
That’s speculation. Kids transfer for a whole variety of reasons. That’s unfair to the staff and to Makai to boil down to what your optics on the situation may be without ANY knowledge from either side.
Of course it's speculation. But usually when a talented player opts to transfer across the country to a program that features a wide open passing attack, it's because he feels he can better showcase his talents in that system. I keep thinking about the wide receiver screen that Polk caught in the 2019 game against WSU and made about 3 NFL quality jukes to the endzone. Surely Mike Leach was watching and taking mental notes.
Polk went to Mississippi State because the Pirate is there with his prolific passing offense. With Musgrave CAL will have a balanced attack in a pro style offense vs. a 60/40 pass first attack in a modified spread offense. It's simple. Losing Makai Polk is a bummer, but we have plenty of other guys to step up. I hope Kekoa Crawford comes back. We also have J.Michael Sturdivant and Mavin Anderson coming in at WR. Both are consensus 4 stars and have speed. Plus we have 4 star Jermaine Terry coming in at TE along with Keleki Latu. Supposedly Latu can play anywhere on the field and is 6'6". We lose one talented WR and pick up 2 with better speed and we pick up 2 TE, one of which can play WR. We're gonna be fine at WR. I like our running back stable but I wish we could have lured 4 star Byron Caldwell who went to Oregon.
While I agree that the WR & TE rooms look well stocked it still makes one pause when a local kid and arguably a rising player decides to transfer. There are multiple reasons for a kid to transfer and we likely will never know "the" reason but I can only hope that it wasn't due to an issue with the OC. That said, and keeping everything in perspective a lot of offensive players did opt to come back next year. So perhaps for Polk it was a uniquely personal reason for transferring. It sucks he left, I liked the kid a lot and we likely don't get his kid brother whom we are currently recruiting.
That's an interesting comment, but I have a tough time believing it. It's pretty rare to see a wide receiver come in an dominate in his true freshman season unless his name is DeSean Jackson or Keenan Allen, both consensus five star guys. I think Polk was more concerned about Bill Musgrave than he was about a new recruit.
Makai Polk was my pick for breakout star of 2020, and like everything about the team, was disappointing. But Sturdivant is a more talented version of Polk.
This is more an indictment of Chase Garbers than Bill Musgrave. That said, I question the move to Leach's system...he will struggle v. SEC CBs, and The Pirate's WRs rarely receive a ton of NFL accolades bc they go 4-5 wide, so Polk is looking at sharing targets with a whole WR room...
Glad Clark is coming back. But I am just not very optimistic about the team's prospects on offense after watching the shortened season. Remigio is a monster possession receiver, but really no one at any skill position that any defense will be truly fearing. When you add in Musgrave's pro set, grind it out offense and Wilcox' penchant to play defense on offense with his play calling to protect a small lead (See the Oregon and Oregon State games).......well.
I actually think some of our back-ups from this year are better than some of the previous starters. I think we'll be solid across the O-line one the season starts.
The team never had a Spring to install the new system Then they had a short Fall camp and a bunch of players that could not play because of Covid. When Garbers has mastery of the offense, which he will by next Fall, it should be fun to watch. Musgrave kept it real simple this year. Next year he'll open the play book.
While the COVID incarnation of the Cal O was rather anemic, especially combined with special teams snafu's and the accustomed Wilcox neutering, it was not really a true peak at what this O will look like. I wasn't a fan of the Musgrave hire, but don't think 4 games of pandemic affected nonsense without spring or a true fall camp, is enough to indict it.
I am intrigued to see if Terry can make an impact as a FR and give the TE position a primary weapon as opposed to inconsistent performances we've seen from Tonges/Reinwald/Moore...tall order, but he's got the measurable. Sturdivant as well - will fill Polk's shoes.
The team, specifically the offense, will go as the OL goes. And the OL needs to take a major step (leap) forward. I for one am not all that excited about the OLmen that decided to return for another year. Seems they've all hit their ceiling. It doesn't matter how skilled your RB's, WR's & TE's are if the OL can't block.
On the other hand, I'm excited about our DL. Some great recruiting and the guys returning are really good.
"The Bears should be just as strong as they’ve ever been in 2021." I heard this going into the 2020 season(in comparison to the rest of the Pac 12) lets not count our chickens before they hatch we should know better as Cal fans with our luck.
Cal's recruiting class this year was very good and hopefully points to a strong nucleus for years to come, however, we (and most other teams in the Pac12) seem to be losing the talent arms race to both Oregon and USC. We had no RB commits and we can't get Caldwell. It makes you wonder whether all the rest of the teams in the PAC12 are playing for second place. I don't think anybody on this board believes that we have even a remote possibility of entering the college playoff picture. It seems college football is about several tiers of teams. Cal's coaching staff is good and we will continue to put players in the league but we can't get out recruited every year by the PAC12's elite teams and hope to reach the Rose Bowl. At this point, I would happy to get to the PAC12 conference championship. Rose Bowl is still a very distant pipe dream.
Here's the good news: I'll take Wilcox over Cristobal or Helton any day of the week. Cristobal took over a great program that recruits well in spite of itself, in great part because off their recent success and in part because of Phil Knight and the facilities. USC recruits well because its USC. Both of those coaches, even with all their talent, can't field powerhouse teams. Both end up losing games they should have won. CAL on the other hand, with Wilcox at the helm, is on the rise, winning games they should lose. CAL is building a PROGRAM. That takes time if you are USC or Oregon. The only metrics fans care about are WINS. To get those wins there are a zillion things that go into building a program. Right now the two best coaches in the PAC 12 at building successful programs are Herm Edwards and Justin Wilcox. Cristobal, Helton and Lake are just trying to keep at a level that the team was previous to them joining, and the first two are failing in my book. I see the incremental positive change in what is happening at CAL. Recruiting is one of the best indicators right now and I think there is no team in the PAC 12 that has made gains in their recruiting that has been as improved as CAL's. Btw, my vote for the other, third, really good PAC 12 Coach is Kyle Whittingham. He does so much with so little, but its because he has built a complete program that takes kids and develops them over the 4 or 5 years they are in the system. I think Lake will be a solid Coach, but he is not battle tested yet. And I also think Jonathan Smith at OSU is a good coach. He is taking that program from bottom dweller to being a mid PAC12 team that can beat any other PAC12 team on any given Saturday.
I agree with Rugbear on all points. While we had to avert out eyes last season when it came to offense, our defense was still pretty good and was able to get some key stops, especially in the Oregon game. Being able to recruit a talented class when the only tool to nail down recruits was the phone and zoom is pretty impressive.
It’s still funny to me that people think that the offense they saw in 4 games last season with no spring and a shortened fall AND knowing Wilcox loves some gamesmanship that the offense and plays we saw last season is even close to the offense they want to run or even at 50% of what they want to run. Why would he give up plays and looks in a lost season that didn’t mean anything to anyone.
I think it meant something to a guy named Makai Polk. I guess it meant something to me, too, because I still have a bitter taste in my mouth about the Oregon State game. Okay, I am ready to shut up because I desperately want to believe all this optimism.
That’s speculation. Kids transfer for a whole variety of reasons. That’s unfair to the staff and to Makai to boil down to what your optics on the situation may be without ANY knowledge from either side.
Of course it's speculation. But usually when a talented player opts to transfer across the country to a program that features a wide open passing attack, it's because he feels he can better showcase his talents in that system. I keep thinking about the wide receiver screen that Polk caught in the 2019 game against WSU and made about 3 NFL quality jukes to the endzone. Surely Mike Leach was watching and taking mental notes.
Polk went to Mississippi State because the Pirate is there with his prolific passing offense. With Musgrave CAL will have a balanced attack in a pro style offense vs. a 60/40 pass first attack in a modified spread offense. It's simple. Losing Makai Polk is a bummer, but we have plenty of other guys to step up. I hope Kekoa Crawford comes back. We also have J.Michael Sturdivant and Mavin Anderson coming in at WR. Both are consensus 4 stars and have speed. Plus we have 4 star Jermaine Terry coming in at TE along with Keleki Latu. Supposedly Latu can play anywhere on the field and is 6'6". We lose one talented WR and pick up 2 with better speed and we pick up 2 TE, one of which can play WR. We're gonna be fine at WR. I like our running back stable but I wish we could have lured 4 star Byron Caldwell who went to Oregon.
While I agree that the WR & TE rooms look well stocked it still makes one pause when a local kid and arguably a rising player decides to transfer. There are multiple reasons for a kid to transfer and we likely will never know "the" reason but I can only hope that it wasn't due to an issue with the OC. That said, and keeping everything in perspective a lot of offensive players did opt to come back next year. So perhaps for Polk it was a uniquely personal reason for transferring. It sucks he left, I liked the kid a lot and we likely don't get his kid brother whom we are currently recruiting.
Kekoa is coming back. It was confirmed on the recruit livestream a couple of days ago, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wOOpCc8pjU
I think J Michael Sturdivant meant something to Makai Polk too
That's an interesting comment, but I have a tough time believing it. It's pretty rare to see a wide receiver come in an dominate in his true freshman season unless his name is DeSean Jackson or Keenan Allen, both consensus five star guys. I think Polk was more concerned about Bill Musgrave than he was about a new recruit.
Makai Polk was my pick for breakout star of 2020, and like everything about the team, was disappointing. But Sturdivant is a more talented version of Polk.
This is more an indictment of Chase Garbers than Bill Musgrave. That said, I question the move to Leach's system...he will struggle v. SEC CBs, and The Pirate's WRs rarely receive a ton of NFL accolades bc they go 4-5 wide, so Polk is looking at sharing targets with a whole WR room...
Welcome back Trevon! Go Bears!
Glad Clark is coming back. But I am just not very optimistic about the team's prospects on offense after watching the shortened season. Remigio is a monster possession receiver, but really no one at any skill position that any defense will be truly fearing. When you add in Musgrave's pro set, grind it out offense and Wilcox' penchant to play defense on offense with his play calling to protect a small lead (See the Oregon and Oregon State games).......well.
I'm becoming more heartened with more OLine returnees. THIS could help us immensely!
I actually think some of our back-ups from this year are better than some of the previous starters. I think we'll be solid across the O-line one the season starts.
The team never had a Spring to install the new system Then they had a short Fall camp and a bunch of players that could not play because of Covid. When Garbers has mastery of the offense, which he will by next Fall, it should be fun to watch. Musgrave kept it real simple this year. Next year he'll open the play book.
Rugbear right on, per usual.
While the COVID incarnation of the Cal O was rather anemic, especially combined with special teams snafu's and the accustomed Wilcox neutering, it was not really a true peak at what this O will look like. I wasn't a fan of the Musgrave hire, but don't think 4 games of pandemic affected nonsense without spring or a true fall camp, is enough to indict it.
I am intrigued to see if Terry can make an impact as a FR and give the TE position a primary weapon as opposed to inconsistent performances we've seen from Tonges/Reinwald/Moore...tall order, but he's got the measurable. Sturdivant as well - will fill Polk's shoes.
The team, specifically the offense, will go as the OL goes. And the OL needs to take a major step (leap) forward. I for one am not all that excited about the OLmen that decided to return for another year. Seems they've all hit their ceiling. It doesn't matter how skilled your RB's, WR's & TE's are if the OL can't block.
On the other hand, I'm excited about our DL. Some great recruiting and the guys returning are really good.
Tall order.....HAHA!!! Yeah, he looks like a go-to target already. He's just got to protect the ball once it's in his hands!!!!
The need is for speed. I guess Nikko is the fastest receiver we have and he's not that fast.
I think he was the possession guy at the same high school that produced Amen-Ra St. Brown and Osiris his brother. OK, Egyptian god time.
We got Clark from JC.
Glad he's back and ready to go. Maybe we'll be able to get back to memorial come september
"The Bears should be just as strong as they’ve ever been in 2021." I heard this going into the 2020 season(in comparison to the rest of the Pac 12) lets not count our chickens before they hatch we should know better as Cal fans with our luck.
Cal's recruiting class this year was very good and hopefully points to a strong nucleus for years to come, however, we (and most other teams in the Pac12) seem to be losing the talent arms race to both Oregon and USC. We had no RB commits and we can't get Caldwell. It makes you wonder whether all the rest of the teams in the PAC12 are playing for second place. I don't think anybody on this board believes that we have even a remote possibility of entering the college playoff picture. It seems college football is about several tiers of teams. Cal's coaching staff is good and we will continue to put players in the league but we can't get out recruited every year by the PAC12's elite teams and hope to reach the Rose Bowl. At this point, I would happy to get to the PAC12 conference championship. Rose Bowl is still a very distant pipe dream.
Here's the good news: I'll take Wilcox over Cristobal or Helton any day of the week. Cristobal took over a great program that recruits well in spite of itself, in great part because off their recent success and in part because of Phil Knight and the facilities. USC recruits well because its USC. Both of those coaches, even with all their talent, can't field powerhouse teams. Both end up losing games they should have won. CAL on the other hand, with Wilcox at the helm, is on the rise, winning games they should lose. CAL is building a PROGRAM. That takes time if you are USC or Oregon. The only metrics fans care about are WINS. To get those wins there are a zillion things that go into building a program. Right now the two best coaches in the PAC 12 at building successful programs are Herm Edwards and Justin Wilcox. Cristobal, Helton and Lake are just trying to keep at a level that the team was previous to them joining, and the first two are failing in my book. I see the incremental positive change in what is happening at CAL. Recruiting is one of the best indicators right now and I think there is no team in the PAC 12 that has made gains in their recruiting that has been as improved as CAL's. Btw, my vote for the other, third, really good PAC 12 Coach is Kyle Whittingham. He does so much with so little, but its because he has built a complete program that takes kids and develops them over the 4 or 5 years they are in the system. I think Lake will be a solid Coach, but he is not battle tested yet. And I also think Jonathan Smith at OSU is a good coach. He is taking that program from bottom dweller to being a mid PAC12 team that can beat any other PAC12 team on any given Saturday.
I agree with Rugbear on all points. While we had to avert out eyes last season when it came to offense, our defense was still pretty good and was able to get some key stops, especially in the Oregon game. Being able to recruit a talented class when the only tool to nail down recruits was the phone and zoom is pretty impressive.
Next year in Pasadena...