BearTalk

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.

Before we get to Bay Area college football media day, which was held today in San Francisco, here is some more material from Thursday’s Pac-10 media in Los Angeles.

–A lot of the buzz around Washington involves quarterback Jake Locker, last season’s Pac-10 Freshman of the Year who is expected to do even better things this year. Some publications have picked Locker as the preseason offensive Player of the Year in the conference.

Washington coach Tyrone Willingham on Locker: “The thing I value the most about Jake is the person rather than the athlete, because it’s the person that creates the athlete that he is. He is a solid young man. He is a leader. There is nobody on the team that works harder and prepares better. He’s very humble, yet at the ame time he is hungry to be the best at what he does. When you have that combination, you have the potential to be someone very special.”

Willingham was asked about his team’s ability to stay competitive with some top teams, yet not get over the top and turn them into wins.

“Obviously, we haven’t been successful enough,” he said. “Our guys kind of get up and get themselves in the right mental position for that football game. We’ve been able to do some things right at the right timeand able to hang in there. Hopefully we can continue in that vain and figure out how to get across that finish line; not just to paly them close but to actually get the win.”

The Huskies will have plenty of opportunity to prove they can beat a top team. Washington once again has one of the toughest schedules in the counrty. The Huskies’ three nonconference games are against Oklahoma, BYU and Notre Dame.

–Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, on the offensive line being one of the strengths of the team: “We’re probably the only football team in America that has two offensive lineman on the cover of the media guide (Alex Fletcher and Chris Marinelli).

–Harbaugh on last year’s upset over USC, and if it has had any carry-over effect: “It was a great thrill winning down at in the Coliseum last year. That being said, that’s water under the bridge. This 2008 season is a whole new dynamic. It’s a new culture, a new camraderie, a new team of guys.”

Fletcher, who is moving from guard to center this season, was asked about playing in a conference that has so many high-level centers, including Cal’s Alex Mack.

“I like to watch a lot of guys. I like to watch Alex Mack, (Oregon’s) Max Unger, (Washington’s) Juan Garcia. I have tremendous respect for all of those players.”

–The last couple of years, it seems Arizona always is a team some believe is on the cusp of moving up the conference ladder. Last season, the Wildcats once again teased their fans with some promise but ultimately failed to qualify for a bowl game yet again.

“We’re on the threshold. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said that,” Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. “We understand this is a new year and we’re a drastically different team. We’re very focused on what our task is at hand. We’re very optimistic about our chances.”

Apparently, more optimistic than those who make predictions. The Pac-10 preseason media poll has the Wildcats finishing seventh.

–Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said projected starting tail back Jeremiah Johnson, who is recovering from major reconstructive knee surgery, ran a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash six weeks ago. “We had to slow him down. He’s totally healthy. He can handle the lion’s share of the carries.”

Bellotti, on opening the season against Washington: “We’ll have three weeks to prepare for Jake Locker, who is probably one of the most difficult athletes in college football to defend.”

Bellotti said quarterback Nate Costa, who also is coming back from a major knee injury and enters fall camp as the front-runner to replace Dennis Dixon, commands respect in the locker room. “When he hurt his knee in practice, he walked off the field. He’s a quarterback who acts like a middle linebacker.”

–UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel had a lot to say Thursday. Here are some highlights:

On returning to his alma mater to coach: “It’s a thrill to be back in college football. It’s a thrill to be back at my alma mater. UCLA is a great place. It has been great to me and I’m looking forward to helping rekindle what I think can be a rich college football tradition, and getting us back to a place where we can play for big prizes.”

Neuheisel recapped the day at spring practice where he lost his top two quarterbacks, Patrick Cowan and Ben Olson, to injuries. “No pads. We’re out there going through some drills. Ben handed it off and then carried out a fake to the left, and I thought he stpped on something because he was hopping around. I was kind of giggling at him. The next play, Pat went back and shuffled up in the pocket and went right down in a heap. Ben went back in the huddle and couldn’t take two steps away from center. So I have these two senior quarterbacks who I am counting on and they are both in heaps ont he ground getting administered to by our training staff. We moved the drill up 15 yards and I’m thinking, ‘what just happened?’ Neither one was touched.”

Cowan is out for the year with an ACL tear. Olson is expected back sometime during camp after suffering a breaking foot.

Neuheisel said he welcomed competing with powerhouse USC. “I think you have to embrace it. It’s the big elephant in the living room. They’ve earned it. They’ve done an unbelievable job. Pete is really to be commended for what has taken place the last six or seven years. It’s been a really remarkable transformation from middle of the Pac-10 to leader in the country. You can’t be the head football coach at UCLA and not find a way to compete successfully with USC. It’s just part of the deal.

“The good news about that is when we catch them — and I say ‘when’ — is that we’ll have caught not only the leader of the Pac-10 but hopefully it will put us amongst those programs that can rightfully challenge for the big prize. That’s where we want to go.

“We’re going to fight them on every corner. It will be exciting to take the field against them. As I said when I called Pete when I first got the job, hopefully we won’t be playing for just first place in L.A., but for first place in the country.”

Neuheisel on the influence of hiring Norm Chow as offensive coordinator: “The biggest influence is eery quarterback in the country calls us wondering if they can come.”

–Oregon State coach Mike Riley said Lyle Moevao will enter fall camp as the starting quarterback over Sean Canfield. Moevao took over at the end of last seaon after an injury to Canfield and led the Beavers to a 4-0 record.

“He’ll basically be the starter going in, but there will obviously be competition,” Riley said. “He’ll take the nod, but we’re glad we have both of those guys.”

–Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson had a priceless line after lauding the accomplishments of his kicker, Thomas Weber, who won the Lou Groza Award last season as a freshman after making 24 of 25 field goals.

“I don’t usually coach the kickers, but I coached them last year,” he said.

He added, “When you have a weapon like that, a lot of things can happen. We’re very, very fortunate to have a guy like Thomas.”

–USC Pete Carroll, comparing outgoing QB John David Booty to new starter Mark Sanchez: “John Davis was more quiet and just did things right. Mark has more energy to him. He’s more outgoing and he’s a more mobile guy. He creates opportunities for himself to make plays in addtion to normal plays in the offense.

More on Sanchez from Carroll: “He’s a fantastic prospect. The players respond to him. They know what a terrific athlete he is so they have confidence in him. We’re thrilled Mark has th is opportunity. He’s grown up to be a USC quarterback. Here is his chance.”

The Berkeley City Council did not come up with enough votes to appeal Judge Barbara Miller’s ruling that Cal can begin construction on its proposed athletic facility on Tuesday. The other parties involved still say they are going to appeal, but that was before they failed to get the backing of the city. It still doesn’t appear it’s a done deal quite yet, but the city council’s decision undeniably moves Cal one giant step closer to making the project a reality.

Our news reporter, Kristin Bender, has the latest.

Here is more of what we heard from Jeff Tedford at the podium today:

“I feel like we’re in a great situation with our quaterback position. Obviously Nate has played a lot of games for us and won a lot of games for us. He’s a very talented guy. Kevin Riley is a guy who came in last season and had a couple of opportunities and showed very well. We have very good depth there. It’s going to be a very competitive fall camp. We’ll pick a starter the week of the first game. It may take both of them to achieve our goals this season.”

Asked to clarify that last remark later, Tedford said: “Both guys are going to get some game time. That’s one thing we need to do a better job of is make sure we create depth and give people the opportunity to have game situations.”

More:

“Jahvid Best’s health is good. He’s very explosive. He’s one hundred percent healthy.”

On the depth at tailback: “I’m very, very anxious to see these guys perform. We’ve had some very good running backs at Cal in our tenure there. This is the most explosive combination in the backfield since I’ve been here.”

As mentioned earlier, Tedford cited Best and Shane Vereen as his explosive backs. I asked him later about Tracy Slocum, and Tedford said he wasn’t intentionally leaving Slocum out; just that he didn’t want to name every player. He said Slocum is “doing well.”

On the ruling in the student-athlete center case: “It’s very exciting news. I’m really, really happy it’s moving in the right direction and we’ll be getting rid of some of the distraction that has been there for the last year and a half. I’m very happy for our student-athletes and coaches, and not just our football players but the whole athletic department in general that we are moving forward with this.”

“There’s been a changing of the guard with some of the leadership. Some strong leadership has really surfaced inside the locker room.”

Let’s catch up on Pac-10 media day.

New UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel was a big hit with the press. He kept everyone entertained throughout most of his 15 minutes at the podium along with defensive tackle Brigham Harwell. When the first question was prefaced by a comparsion to USC, Neuheisel said “First question: USC.”

When asked about his quarterback situation, in which Patrick Cowan is out for the season and Ben Olson is recovering from a broken foot, Neuheisel responded: “Do you have any eligibility?”

And when Harwell said some glowing things about Neuheisel, Neuheisel said: “He said that just the way I wrote it.”

Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson poked fun at his team’s light schedule last season while pointing out that this season’s, which includes a game against highly regarded Georgia, is much tougher.

“When I signed the contract, they didn’t show me this year’s schedule,” Erickson said. “It’s a little different than last year’s.”

Those are some of the highlights from the rest of the sessions at the podium. I’ll be going more in depth with material from each team in the immediate days to come.

One note before I rush off to catch a flight back home: Jeff Tedford said redshirt freshman defensive end Scott Smith is transferring. Tedford granted Smith the release from his scholarship last week.

I’ll have much more from Pac-10 media day later.

The formal interviews at the podium are wrapping up with USC. Next comes informal interviews so I won’t be posting for awhile. I will come back with more when I can late.r

It was a poignant moment when Oregon took the stage as coach Mike Bellotti recognized the tragic drowning death of defensive back Todd Doxey earlier this month.

“As a team and a family we mourn the loss of Todd Doxey,” Bellotti said. “You don’t realize how great some young poeple are until you see the lives that they’ve touched and the effect they’ve had on your team. Todd will be forever with us in our hearts. Oure players are dedicated to honoring his memory.”

Oregon all-conference defensive back Patrick Chung said: “We’re working for Todd. It’s hard to talk about it. It’s a tragic thing that happened. We’re working for him. It’s going to make our team stronger.”

Bellotti also said that all of the notable players who are recovering from injuries are all completely healed and cleared to practice 100 percent once camp begins. He also said that Nate Costa is the leader in the quarteback competition with Justin Roper.

I’ll have much more when there’s time, but a couple of highlights from Cal’s time at the podium:

–Jeff Tedford addressed the quarterback situation and said he likely will name the starter during the first week of the season. At other times, Tedford has said he may keep evaluating the situation into the first game. But Tedford did say he expects both quarterbacks to get playing time this season.

–Tedford said Jahvid Best is 100 percent healthy

–Tedford called his combination of running backs the most explosive he’s had at Cal. Interestingly, he mentioned Best and Shane Vereen but not Tracy Slocum. Don’t know if that was an oversight or not.

–Tedford also said it was “very exciting news”, referring to the judge’s decision regarding the student-athlete center.

More to come

As usual, a couple of gems from Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh:

–When asked by a reporter if he was going to give the press more bulletin board material this year: “Bulletin board? I didn’t know I was a bulletin board guy.”

–When asked if he had been following the transition going on at Michigan, Harbaugh hemmed and hawed for a few minutes and finally said “I’m sure Michigan will be fine.”

Cal just got off the podium and I will recap that segment in a little bit.