Pac-10/West Coast notes for '09

[UoweDucks]

I have to say I'm a little curious to see how Alliotti fits into this new scheme of coaches. Of course you know my sentiments about him but maybe with a new look things will be different.

I thought that Allioti would be gone but that isn't happening. Apparently he and Kelly have formed a nice bond. I do think however that Kelly will have more input into the defense which is why I consider the 3-4 a possibility. Not commonly known but Kelly started out as a defensive coach and actually was a DC at Johns Hopkins prior to New Hampshire.

Problem with going to 3-4 is that you really have to have a run stopping lard ass at nose tackle. Ducks may not have that guy currently on the roster.

On another note I see that Sarkesian brings Cozetto in from ASU. I think he is a real dropoff from Michalzik but Erickson liked him. He is a known ball buster that had an unsuccesfull stint at UW with Gilby.

 

[Conan]

Here are some positives about what each Pac-10 team will have going for it in '09. I see that Miller agrees with my opinion of Cal being a threat to USC this season. Also about Jeremiah Masoli, the Duck's QB who may have a huge impact himself, possibly having BCS implications. Stanford will be much better, breaking into the upper 1/2 of the conference and USC's defense (though gutted) will still rate as one of the best in the country. I can also see the Beavers winning some critical grudge games that will boost their overall record and perhaps, if their defense gels soon enough, get them into the top 25 early into the new season.

I see both Washington teams, UCLA and perhaps a Zona team not making it into a bowl game at the end of the year. UCLA being barely left out of the bowl picture and same for one or both of the teams from Arizona. Both of the Zona schools will strugle with new QB's. That's what's behind my reasoning there... but we'll see what gives as the year progresses. All this is just a very early impression of where things stand today. Spring camp opens in about 4-5 weeks. Spring games shortly after.

There's still the question of where #1 recruit in the country, Bryce Brown, will attend school. Oregon might pull this one out. It's looking pretty good for the Ducks. He would add excellent depth where most needed in their backfield, even as a true freshman, (though the cupboard isn't exactly bare as it is.) It's just that there are no experienced starters other than RB Blount. So the field is wide open. The Ducks are looking for the other 1/2 of the thunder and lightning equation... I think in this case it would be the lightning.

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Arizona: Seven starters are back from the conference's No. 3 scoring defense and it won't matter who starts at quarterback as long as he throws it to Rob Gronkowski, the nation's best tight end.

Arizona State: Seven starters are back on each side of the ball and so is marquee kicker Thomas Weber. Sure, quarterback Rudy Carpenter is gone, but some inside the program whisper that's not the worst thing that could happen. The defense should be sneaky good and the offensive line has to improve (doesn't it?).

California: Seventeen starters are back, including both specialists: Not to pin a rose on the Bears nose or anything, but all the pieces are here for Cal to win the Pac-10 next year. Seriously.

Oregon: No one really thinks running back LeGarrette Blount's suspension will last into the fall, right? And let's do the QB equation: X is quarterback Jeremiah Masoli in September of 2008 and 3X is Masoli in November-December of 2008. That means Masoli, the Cowboy killa', is ... what multiple of X in 2009?

Oregon State: The Beavers have two quality quarterbacks among seven returning offensive starters, including running back Jacquizz Rodgers, and the defense is always good because coordinator Mark Banker is Oscar Goldman to his Steve Austin defense.

Stanford: Seventeen starters are back from a team that was "thisclose" to breaking through last fall, not to mention an incoming recruiting class that will immediately bolster the Cardinal's athleticism. Bowl team? Absolutely.

UCLA: There's no way the quarterback and offensive line play won't improve. It will. It will. It will. Toss an outstanding recruiting class on top of 16 returning starters and it's abundantly clear that the football monopoly in Los Angeles is, er, perhaps looking more like Standard Oil circa 1910.

USC: Sure, the defense lost a bevy of future NFL stars, but have you seen the depth chart? Please. This will be among the nation's best defenses again, and with eight returning starters on offense it won't matter which former prep All-American plays quarterback. All together now: National Title Contender.

Washington: In 2008, the Huskies were the most talented 0-12 team in the history of college football. In 2009, 17 returning starters will play with more fire and more heart and more intelligence and that will translate to a far more competitive team. And there isn't a defensive coordinator in the conference who doesn't get nervous knowing Jake Locker has the ball in his hands.

Washington State: Fact is, the Cougars played much better over the final third of the 2008 season, and with 16 returning starters with experience under second-year coach Paul Wulff and a solid incoming recruiting class, this squad will play much better this fall.

 

[SunDodger]

The problem is if the returning starters suck to begin with, it doesn't matter how much experience they have. The senior offensive line last year for the Huskies is a good example of that. They still sucked.

Also, I have no idea why they scheduled a game with LSU for this year when they already have to go to Notre Dame. Until the team gets better, Washington needs to stop scheduling two top 25 type opponents for the same year. They were originally set to play Nevada before they backed out. That is the level of opponent they should've added. Too bad the Univ. of the Pacific doesn't have a team anymore.:>Grin>

 

[Conan]

Too bad the Univ. of the Pacific doesn't have a team anymore.:>Grin>

I say Sacramento St. would be a safer cupcake than University of the Pacific would have been. Definitely not UC Davis because they might lose to them like Stanford did a few years ago.

Cupcake OOC games are an art form to be taken seriously and best understood by many SEC teams... That is undoubtedly why UW is on LSU's schedule this year. The Huskies have been down plenty long for them to have been targeted for that very reason. The weakest members in a herd are usually the ones that get picked off by the predators who couldn't otherwise kill a healthy beast. There's certainly a lesson to be learned from that.

However, if Udub's new OL coach is as tough as they say, those doublecheeburger guts may be transformed into some body core muscle and the Huskies might surprise... but I won't hold my breath. I'd have to see it first to believe it.

Shades of Tim Tebow!
Jake Locker, where are you?

 

[Conan]

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I just got the time to sit through that 7 1/2 min. clip of LaMichael James. I had no problem watching the whole thing. He seems to do everything well, including finishing off plays with a punishing hit when a defender has position on him (rare.) For a little guy he packs twice the power for his size. I wonder how these guys escape from Texas without one of the Texas teams snagging them, or perhaps Oklahoma or OK St. Maybe it's because they are not the quintessential body types.

I'm not sure that he knows all the same tricks as Quizz, who has learned to hide behind the big bodies and runs more north/south. He changes direction without losing a step and his speed may even be better than Quizz. They both may excell at their positions, and due to their size they are probably not going to start any new trends like the spread or the running QB has in CFB, but they are very dangerous anyway. Both of them have incredible lower body strength. It wouldn't surprise me to see other teams play little guys like them, and we'll probably see more of their kind around CFB because of their striking success.

 

[SunDodger]

Conan, I noticed the civil war is being played on Thursday night 12/03. That should be a good game with a possible Pac-10 title on the line.

Also, I thought that week 1 of the season would be on Sat. 08/29, a 15 week season like last year, and the Huskies would move the Idaho game to opening weekend. But, after looking over a lot of the 2009 schedules, it looks like week 1 is on 09/05, a 14 week season.

So, unless the Big 10 schools move games back at a later date, they will be playing 12 straight games with no bye week and finish the season before Thanksgiving on 11/21. Having no rest the whole season could hurt them late in the year. And, the long layoff before the Bowls doesn't seem to help either.

 

[Conan]

Conan, I noticed the civil war is being played on Thursday night 12/03. That should be a good game with a possible Pac-10 title on the line.

People are not happy about it but it's what ESPN made them do. How are people that went to either school and who live in Bend, Klamath Falls or Pendleton, Oregon supposed to leave early from their jobs, drive 3-4 hours there and make it to work the next day too? It's a 2 hr drive from where I live and it's over an hour and a half from Portland to Eugene (without traffic.) With a 6:00 starting time that won't be easy unless people can leave work early (if it's not snowing.) I understand what all the bitching and complaining is about... aside from that nobody cares except the producers at ESPN and they are probably quite happy about it.

 

[SunDodger]

Never thought about it that way. I'm sure the schools are getting paid a lot more than Fox Sports would pay for a Saturday night game.

 

[UoweDucks]

Never thought about it that way. I'm sure the schools are getting paid a lot more than Fox Sports would pay for a Saturday night game.

The decision is purely financial based. I am bummed by it honestly. Oregon is trying to increase national exposure as well, this will get a lot of eyeballs.

 

[UoweDucks]

Thought that I would share some early work that I have put in.

These are my projections at qb ranked:

Masoli (OR)- Cannon arm, devastating runner, needs to develop touch pass.
Riley (CAL)-Must improve happy feet and decision making.
Moevo (OSU)-Not a great thrower but a capable experienced leader.
Locker (UW) -Will slide lower if they decide to take his legs away as I am hearing.
Corp/Mustain (USC)- My gut says Corp but he'll have to earn it.
Pritchard/Lucky(STA)-Harbaugh wants Lucky but again, he'll have to beat out a capable experienced starter.
Kraft (UCLA)- Terrible with bursts of exceptional, Maybe Briehart (FR) takes over, wouldn't be surprised.
Sullivan (ASU)- Has shown a decent arm but not impressed in limited reps that I have seen.
Loebestaal (WSU)- Impressive in limited play last year, needs time, won't get it with that line
Matt Scott (AZ)- Nice athlete going to be thrown to the wolves without top wr, left tackle or a running game to help.


I know there is some optimism here on AZ. I flat out don't see it. They are a farily complex pass first offense and this guy has zero experience. AZ has not shown the capacity to develop their qb's. They will struggle offensively early on IMO.

 

[Conan]

Thought that I would share some early work that I have put in.

These are my projections at qb ranked:

Masoli (OR)- Cannon arm, devastating runner, needs to develop touch pass.
Riley (CAL)-Must improve happy feet and decision making.
Moevo (OSU)-Not a great thrower but a capable experienced leader.
Locker (UW) -Will slide lower if they decide to take his legs away as I am hearing.
Corp/Mustain (USC)- My gut says Corp but he'll have to earn it.
Pritchard/Lucky(STA)-Harbaugh wants Lucky but again, he'll have to beat out a capable experienced starter.
Kraft (UCLA)- Terrible with bursts of exceptional, Maybe Briehart (FR) takes over, wouldn't be surprised.
Sullivan (ASU)- Has shown a decent arm but not impressed in limited reps that I have seen.
Loebestaal (WSU)- Impressive in limited play last year, needs time, won't get it with that line
Matt Scott (AZ)- Nice athlete going to be thrown to the wolves without top wr, left tackle or a running game to help.


I know there is some optimism here on AZ. I flat out don't see it. They are a farily complex pass first offense and this guy has zero experience. AZ has not shown the capacity to develop their qb's. They will struggle offensively early on IMO.

I dunno about Riley UoDucks. He still tries to make something out of nothing too often and it gets him into a lot of trouble. Other times he's shown better command of Cal's offense on a good day than Longshore ever did by example. But Riley went into a funk on more than one occasion last season, to the point of Tedford benching him for Longshore. Correct me if I have a wrong impression here but that seems pretty bad, being that Longshore was a huge disappointment on the playng field himself. Yet Tedford thought more of Nate Longshore than he did of Kevin Riley when they played Maryland in the Emerald Bowl. Now the all important question.... why?

I mentioned in the other post here about Tedford's waning reputation as a QB guru. How can so many Cal QB's be so bad since Aaron Rogers was drafted by Green Bay after the '04 season. Is it all just some poor recruiting and misjudgment of the players? Some weird coincidence? I think not. That's a longshot to say that it's anything other than Tedford's rapport with his players and his private demeanor for the last several years. I'm thinking maybe he's lost something... perhaps stress related. Maybe Ayoob was once a good QB but something unnerved him to the point of losing all confidence in himself. Maybe not. Just speculation, but what's up with all these QBs in a funk so often on that team? It seems more often than not someone has been making mental mistakes and throwing untimely picks. Cal's QB's have been missing their receivers a little too often to drive the team downfield consistently. Last season Longshore and Riley were swapping starting roles due to ineffective or downright poor play. They took turns blowing it.

I swear I could count on my fingers the number of games in the last 3-4 years when I could say "Joe X" (Cal QB) had himself a pretty good day. And all of this is on coach Tedford. This isn't exactly how I have considered him a decent QB coach since Joey Harrington and before, at a time in his career when he was turning out future NFL starters on a regular basis. I think somethings changed. It's not all just coincidence because it's gone on for too long. If Kevin Riley can't turn the ship about and play some consistently good QB, Cal is doomed and Tedford will be throwing more tantrums and having more fits on the sidelines for all to see. I would even go as far as to say that Riley will not be among the conference leaders this season. That's my best guess and it's based on everything I've seen on the playing field from Cal's QB's for quite a while. Remember Kevin Riley went into a funk a few times last year too. Maybe he's outgrown it but has he outgrown Tedford too? I have my doubts.

 

[Conan]

Oh and by the way, that idea about Cal's QB's and QB guru Jeff Tedford's fall from grace is based strictly my own observations watching Cal QB's over the last few years. Nobody's been talking about it in the blogs or anywhere because... well you just don't talk about a storied QB coach like Jeff Tedford that way.... but I bet everyone will be talking if Riley continues to fall into his "funks" and especially if Tedford marches out another young QB with high expectations and potential but he doesn't cut it either.

This situation calls for keeping a close watch on things. I have a feeling there's something going on behind closed doors that remains unspoken. Maybe the comaraderie isn't what it should be. Whatever it is seems to be along the same lines as Cal's implosion the year before last... Tedford's "soul searching" expedition... laying the play calling responsibilities off on his OC so he could focus on the greater picture, but then taking them back again this year. A changing of the guard on offense with a new OC... and is that all it was? I'd say there's something a little shakey or uneasy about Cal for Cal to deal with. Maybe they'll do allright this year... until they don't.

I question their heart if the going gets a little too rough. Perhaps lack of leadership at QB has been a big part of their problem. I really don't know if Riley is the answer or not. I know Longshore wasn't the most popular guy which must have made things kida hairy in the locker room at times. But regardless, Tedford saw something in him that he preferred over Kevin Riley. I suspect that it was Riley's lack of sound judgment, as in that famous play at the end of the Oregon St. game in '07 with Cal just a chip shot FG away from being the #1 BCS team. (Riley blew it with time running out failing to run out of bounds or otherwise stop the clock, tossing the ball out of bounds to set up a FG, anything but scramble around with 10 seconds left to play in the game... Tedford blew it and so went Cal's season.)

Perhaps Riley continued to show a tendency to make poor judgment calls which might explain Tedford's hesitation to play him, opting instead for Longshore who's skills are less than Riley's. Now all eyes are on Kevin Riley because he is Cal's starting QB. He either steps up and takes his turn or Cal may have to win some games real uglylike to stay at or near the top of the Pac-10 pecking order. And I don't think that will prove to be enough. He's a year older and a year wiser now... but will that prove to be enough? It's a fair question to ask considering Cal's QB dilema for the last 4 years.

 

[Pickle787]

Blount's suspension ended up being because of missed workouts. See here: http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/sports/7746986-41/story.csp

Arguably the #1 runner this year in college will easily be cleared to play for spring practices...hints why this suspension happed in February.

 

[UoweDucks]

He's a year older and a year wiser now... but will that prove to be enough? It's a fair question to ask considering Cal's QB dilema for the last 4 years.

Tedford chose Longshore because he represented a lower risk as riley was forcing the issue to often (interceptions). But Riley has excellent skills, I believe that another year in the system and his decision making can be improved on.

I think you could swap Moevo and Riley but in the end Riley has way more upside.

 

[UoweDucks]

CAL we have a problem.

People will debate whether this is addition by subtraction but to me it isn't good to lose this guy and Michalzik. Tedford may have a very difficult time finding quality coaches to replace.

Cignetti is hired


The deal is now officially done and Pitt's search for a new offensive coordinator is over.
California offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. will be named the Panthers offensive coordinator at a news conference at 3:45 at the SouthSide complex.

 

[GoSooners]

CAL we have a problem.

People will debate whether this is addition by subtraction but to me it isn't good to lose this guy and Michalzik. Tedford may have a very difficult time finding quality coaches to replace.

Cignetti is hired


The deal is now officially done and Pitt's search for a new offensive coordinator is over.
California offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. will be named the Panthers offensive coordinator at a news conference at 3:45 at the SouthSide complex.

This will be a pretty big loss if Tedford didn't have any direct influence in running the offense. I know last season Okie State lost their OC Fedora, but they really didn't miss a beat because HC Gundy, who was an offensive coordinator before he took over the head coaching job, took over the duties full time. I don't know Cal's situation, but if there isn't a good secondary coordinator to run the show next season, then they could get derailed by hiring a new one. I'm curious to see who Tedofrd brings in. Also on another subject, the more I look at it I don't like the fact that Cal loses their 3 starting linebackers. I saw Cal play in 3 games last year. And those players were a HUGE part of their defense in those games.. They'll be missed because they were all 3 year starters.

 

[GoSooners]

Ducks...Something that I've been hearing this week is there is a chance that Mike Leach could get fired from TT. And he's a west coast kind of guy having gone to school at Pepperdine. With all of the head coaching jobs taken, wouldn't it be something if Tedford hired him as offensive coordinator at Cal. Could happen. I've been hearing that the TT faculty are pretty much fed up with Leach. He never has had a great relationship with them. And with all of the problems that they're having trying to iron out his new contract, they might just say see ya, don't let the door hit you in the ass.

 

[russ1945]

You know guys Leach is a coach but first and foremost he is a lawyer. Whatever he decides to do he has thought out long and hard. I don't think he is about the money and he may see that he had quite a run but it may not be sustainable. If they fire him he would not "have" to work and he could take his time making a decision. If he was to take something like the OC job at Cal it would probably be short term and Cal has to think long term. There may be some very good jobs coming up in 2010 and he may already have some thing on fire. I think last years team was his last hoorah at TT and when they interviewed him at half time of the OU game he had the deer in the head lights look for the first time in a long time. I think he wants out of the Big 12 and having to play in the south he just cannot compete in the recruiting wars. I think the only reason he stayed LY was that he knew it was his best shot, if not his last shot at TT.

 

[GoSooners]

You know guys Leach is a coach but first and foremost he is a lawyer. Whatever he decides to do he has thought out long and hard. I don't think he is about the money and he may see that he had quite a run but it may not be sustainable. If they fire him he would not "have" to work and he could take his time making a decision. If he was to take something like the OC job at Cal it would probably be short term and Cal has to think long term. There may be some very good jobs coming up in 2010 and he may already have some thing on fire. I think last years team was his last hoorah at TT and when they interviewed him at half time of the OU game he had the deer in the head lights look for the first time in a long time. I think he wants out of the Big 12 and having to play in the south he just cannot compete in the recruiting wars. I think the only reason he stayed LY was that he knew it was his best shot, if not his last shot at TT.

Russ...My gut feeling tells me that Leach is holding out for something bigger. And there is a couple clauses in his contract he didn't like. I know there was one clause that said he only got 12% of his contract pay if he was fired. Unlike a Mack Brown or Bob Stoops who get 100%. But at any rate, I do think money could be part of the issue. Afterall the guy has four kids to feed. But anyway from a university persepctive, this would be the worst possible time to let him go. Especially after he just signed all of these new recruits. And all of the prime coaches have moved into new HC jobs. So my guess is the school will suck it up and sign him. But I bet it won't be a long term contract. I don't know the specfics, but I bet it won't be for more than two years.

 

[russ1945]

Why would a lawyer sign a contract limiting himself to 12% if he got fired? I am aghast. He could make more than that just being the agent for his departing seniors (especially Crabtree). Maybe he is going to become an agent instead of a coach and be rid of the bullshit of hving to kiss the faculties asses. I hear he is not popular with the faculty which I am sure probably is by his choice. I say we may have a budding agent who makes 12% on his way out the door.