Combined feed (RSS)Bay Area media day
By Jonathan Okanes
Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 4:15 pm in off-season stuff.
The annual Bay Area college football media day was held today at the Hotel Nikko in downtown San Francisco. Cal coach Jeff Tedford, along with center Alex Mack and linebackers Zack Follett and Worrell Williams were in attendance, as well as the head coaches from Stanford and San Jose State and players from those schools.
There wasn’t a whole lot of breaking news from the event; just a chance to talk about different storylines for the upcoming season with training camp set to open one week from today. Here are some of the highlights from Tedford.
–Walk-on kicker David Seawright seems to be a strong candidate to handle kickoffs, but Tedford also hinted that he’s in the mix to kick field goals. The Bears have a returning starter in Jordan Kay, but he was inconsistent last season. “We’ll see how he progresses, both as a field goal kicker and as a kickoff guy,” Tedford said.
–Tedford said as many as three of his incoming freshman receviers may have to contribute right away. He singled out Marvin Jones, Jarrett Sparks and Charles Satchell as the top candidates to see playing time immediately. He also added that junior college transfer Verran Tucker is still in summer school and it is yet to be determined if he will have the necessary units to be eligible.
–Tedford said players will not wear their last name on their jersies this season, something they did in last year’s Armed Forces Bowl.
–As he did at Pac-10 media day, Tedford singled out Jahvid Best and Shane Vereen when discussing the explosiveness the team has at tailback. And once again, he said he didn’t intentionally fail to mention Tracy Slocum, who enters camp listed No. 2 on the depth chart behind Best. Tedford simply said he was talking about the position in terms of speed, and although Slocum is a good back, he isn’t in the same class as Best or Vereen in terms of pure speed.
“The point I was trying to make was the speed we have, and Jahvid and Shane are the ones with teh speed,” Tedford said. Tracy is a very good back, but he’s not in the same speed category as those other guys.”
–Tedford talked about his new blog on calbears.com. He’s still only done one installment, but said another one is coming soon. The blog was his idea.
“It’s just to be able to get our message out there,” he said. “There are so many people out there these days who have an opinion of what’s going on. I just want to give our side of it, whether people agree or disagree. It’s not about a debate. It’s just to give them an inside scoop on what we’re thinking. It gives them a little bit more to hang their hat on than the guy in his underwear in his garage putting a blog together.”
–For those interested in following the progress of former Cal quarterback Kyle Reed, San Jose State coach Dick Tomey said Myles Eden enters camp as the team’s starter. Reed suffered a stress fracture in his foot at the end of spring practice but should be ready to practice. Tomey said Eden was “significantly ahead” in the competition for the starting quarterback spot.
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July 28th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Great bloggin, J.O.
I look forward to Tedford doing the same this year.
Sad about Reed. It just goes to show that “top” high school talent doesn’t always translate to glory in college. Kids like Reed need to realize that a Cal diploma is a better backup plan than one from a State school like SJSU. Too bad, no one told him that, or he didn’t buy into it.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
It was really surprising to hear Coach Tedford talk about the possibilty of using all three of his freshman receivers this season. Behind probable starters Calvin, Boateng, and Ross, Cal had potential back-ups in seniors LaReylle Cunningham, Drew Glover, and Sean Young, who was granted an additional year of eligibility. Also junior Cameron Toler and RS freshman Alex Lagemann. Evidently the upper classmen really failed to impress Tedford during spring practice if he is seriously considering throwing the freshmen into the mix. It looks like our receiving corps is going to be both inexperienced and extremely young.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
No last names on the uniforms this year? Is this a move to promote team unity or just a ploy to raise revenue for the stadium renovation by making fans buy game day programs?
July 28th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I can certainly understand Tedford’s desire to keep his blog from turning into a debate forum, but couldn’t he answer a few selected questions from Cal fans each week. Otherwise we’re apt to seek out that basement guy blogging in his underwear. That is a very troubling thought.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
I like the no name on the jersey move. It worked for the Armed Forces Bowl, it can work the season.
As for Reed, I wish him luck. It’s always good to see a local kid do well no matter where.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
If I’m not mistaken, 2001 was the last time Cal did the no name thing, we all know how that turned out. I hope Tedford isn’t taking advice from Holmoe now.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:18 am
Remember that often coaches are sending a message to players through the media. I would interpret Tedford’s remarks about WRs as an effort to spur on the older guys and create an atmosphere of competition. Jones and Sparks look good on paper, but I would be surprised if all three end up with significant playing time this year.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Kensington is very wise… Gold out, Memorial!
July 29th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Do any of you know who Sherman Boyson is?
July 29th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
For the record, I don’t blog in my underwear in my garage. I prefer my study.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
It may well be that Coach Tedford was using the press to inpire some of the receivers, but unless he was asked a direct question about who the backup receivers would be it seems like a very public dis of the second string guys. I realize he didn’t call anyone out by name, but their team mates and a
lot of us fans know who Tedford was referring to. Just a little “tough love” from the coach I guess.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Taking the names off the jerseys isn’t that significant. The important change should be to update Cal’s numbering system to match the ’standard’ numbering. (e.g. QBs under 20, RBs in the 30s, LBs 50s, WR 80s.)
The current system creates “number envy” as well — one more factor that affects chemistry.
The duplication of numbers has become something done to appease an individual. If this season is about the team, then no one should get to be “the 1″ (especially when you end up with two “1″s).