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Football: Getting competitive
By Jonathan Okanes
Thursday, April 1st, 2010 at 10:35 pm in Football, off-season stuff.
Jeff Tedford’s focus on competition this spring is making for some lively practices. At the end of practice tonight, Tedford told the team that they wouldn’t have to run three 100-yard sprints if long snapper Matt Rios could hit the base of the goal post with a snap. When he missed, the team went double or nothing. Rios squarely hit the base, setting off a wild celebration among the Bears.
That followed Tuesday’s practice, when kickers Giorgio Tavecchio and Vince D’Amato eliminated several gassers from post-practice conditioning by successfully reaching a box formed by the players on kickoffs.
“There was a lot of pressure on Rios. He came through,” Tedford said. “We’re trying to be competitive with a lot of situations.”
One development of note so far this spring is what seems to be an increasingly competitive situation at nose tackle. It doesn’t appear Derrick Hill has a lock on the position. In fact, in the situations I’ve seen, Kendrick Payne has been getting most of the run with the first unit. This is spring and there is a lot of mixing and matching, so it’s hard to draw any concrete conclusions. But Tedford acknowledged after practice tonight that nose tackle is one of the positions that is open.
“It’s a good competition,” he said. “We’re pretty deep there. It’s quality depth.”
Saw a little 11-on-11 action at the end of practice tonight. Nothing too notable to report from the limited snaps I saw. Beau Sweeney made on ill-advised pass with the first group that was easily intercepted by safety Chris Conte.
Tedford is perenially asked during the spring about players that are sticking out. Today, he singled out safety Alex Logan, tight end Spencer Ladner, tailbacks Dasarte Yarnway and Isi Sofele and defensive backs Chris Moncrease, Steve Williams and Vachel Samuels.
“Certain people are stepping up,” Tedford said. “The secondary is going to be pretty deep with some of our young guys stepping in, as well as some of the guys who have played before. There is some depth on the offensive line, as we continue to work through it. There are certain positions we still need to look at. Tailback is a big one, to find the top four guys there.”
It’s clear Tedford is especially interested in the backup tailback spot. He wants to make sure the No. 2 back is someone he can count on after Shane Vereen’s 42-carry workload in the Big Game last season.
“I think we know going in that we can’t wear Shane out,” Tedford said. “When we handed him the ball 42 times last year in the Big Game, that wore him out. He wasn’t the same the last two games. That’s why we have to make sure that we are creating some depth at that position.”
The Bears will next practice on Saturday afternoon. Usually in the spring, Saturday practices are controlled scrimmages — not games, but putting the team in certain situations and then playing them out as though it’s a game. But Tedford said this Saturday will be a normal practice, other than the fact that an officiating crew will be brought in to officiate those situations in practice that are 11-on-11.
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April 1st, 2010 at 10:44 pm
pleasantly surprised to see ‘secondary’ and ‘pretty deep’ in the same sentence. with Syd gone, Ezeff gone, Brett gone, Hagan being his usual disappointing self (once again missing the entire spring due to academic reasons) the secondary would probably be the last position in the entire team where i would expect there to be ‘pretty good’ depth. this is certainly a welcome news.
April 2nd, 2010 at 6:00 am
This whole after-the-fact discussion of wearing Shane out is really concerning. It seems like this is one area where Tedford continues to make the same error year after year. Getting reps for his back up QBs was a problem a couple of years ago. And again was an issue for RBs last year. Why can’t Tedford make a more concerted effort to get the 2nd/3rd string players some time on the field? Depth in talent is only so good. The talent has to be game ready on moments notice.
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:48 am
Shane wearing out is a “concern?” Man, if there’s one area I’m NOT concerned about with the Bears, it’s running back. The track record at RB is too good during Tedford’s tenure, Vereen was awesome and while he may have been tired, who wouldn’t be after 42 carries?
The QB situation is so different. ARodg leaving (same time as Reggie Robertson) left a gap and we had to use Ayoob after Longshore got hurt. Ayoob just wasn’t Rodgers. Then Longshore had a decent 2006, but struggled at the end and they brought the 3rd stringer Levy in (so I guess Tedford does have them ready). In 2007, Longshore was vastly improved and playing fine until he hurt his ankle. Not much you can do there, Riley was as ready as he could be since he was a frosh…even the vaunted Matt Barkley struggled last year. In 2008, Longshore/Riley split time and and I’m assuming that last season there’s no way Mansion and Sweeney were ready or they’d have been out there.
Overall, depth is often more an issue of recruiting and coaching. It’s who you have and how you coach them that determines if they get out there. I saw numerous examples of 2nd stringers working there way up last year, so I’m fairly certain Tedford knows how to get the 2nd and 3rd stringers on the field during games and practice.
April 2nd, 2010 at 9:54 am
i like the approach tedford’s taking. he’s helping bring these guys together in the spirit of competition, and he’s making it fun. it’s clever. it’s new, and different, and overall, a good idea. pretty happy with things so far. next year, expectations will be low. i still expect to win the pac10, but am more prepared for disappointment this year, than in the past. feeling great about hoops. starting to feel better about football. hopefully, we surprise a few folks next year. go bears.
April 2nd, 2010 at 10:05 am
I’m glad he ran it 42 times at the Big Game. Otherwise, it would be the fans that would have been “worn out”
April 2nd, 2010 at 10:35 am
Expectations are going to be low next year, but for some reason I have have this strange feeling that the team is going to be much better this year than last. With a solid RB and lots of depth, a veteran QB, healthy O-line, “deep” secondary, and a top recruiting class coming in with some impact players….. It all just sounds positive to me. Right? Or is this just another case of Old Blue blind optimism?
April 2nd, 2010 at 10:42 am
I feel the same way BearFan…I can give a million reasons why we will come out on top.
But I have felt that way for several years now…so I think I’m just an optimist.
April 2nd, 2010 at 12:35 pm
i dont see why we’ll be better. look at these adjectives you are using:
1. veteran 2. healthy 3. deep 4. top recruiting class 5. solid
no. 5 is the only one that is truly positive. i support riley and have since his first year, but i don’t see why the label “veteran” will suddenly make him change. a lot of players are healthy and don’t play out the way they should (and the o-line, which you’re calling healthy, can turn unhealthy in a single practice). deep is nice, as long as the stringers are skilled (which would be nice since i have low confidence in the presumed starters).
i think the loss of key players is going to hurt. the loss of key coaches will be good (maybe not this coming year, but in future years should they stick).
i like that jeff tedford is making some kind of competition, but he seems to be doing it wrong. i’d like players to be conditioned and the long-snapper to be able to hit the pole. the trade-offs don’t seem to match. perhaps the long-snapper should have to do 20 long-snaps for every one he misses. that way it improves where he lacks. if he hits, he doesn’t need to do 20 more. i don’t get why his accuracy should affect conditioning. it’s dumb in my book.
April 2nd, 2010 at 1:09 pm
“it’s dumb in my book.”
Noduck –
every coach in the history of sports has used this strategy – a player must perform with running as a motivational tool.
it builds teamwork and simulates game pressure in practice.
the long snapper probably did hundreds already and this was his chance to step up when something was on the line.
this in no way indicates Tedford is doing anything wrong.
when he decides to punt on 4th and 1 from the 50 in the 4th quarter while losing, i’ll jump to support you saying he’s doing it wrong.
and while i agree with you that we won’t necessarily be better this year, the adjectives Bearfan used are better than
1. inexperienced
2. unhealthy
3. no backups
4. worthless recruiting class
5. liquid?
April 2nd, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Noduck – you, like the rest of us who are not paid to coach the team, must trust the coaching staff and their assessment of the teams’ conditioning levels. If the players don’t run the gassers, it should still mean that are and will be in good enough shape to play and compete. If these last gassers were necessary for winning the pac 10, do you really think that Tedford would let them out of it. Do you think the players would not want to run them?
Perhaps this is why coverage of practice is limited. We’re way over-analyzing. Save it for 3rd down “centering”.
Go Bears!
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:05 pm
watched a replay of the 2007 game at oregon. i had forgotten how ridiculous tedfords strategy got, from the point longshore got hurt. leave him in there, and calling run after run. then playing prevent D and watching our lead whither away. classic tedford. so sad. it took a miracle to win that game. had they not fumbled through the end zone, they’d have gone for 2 and caught us on our heels, again. just sad.
play to win, tedhead! maybe we’ll see it this year. hope so.
April 2nd, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Noduck, you are right on the mark. Standing around and watching special teamers do their thing is NOT competition. Additionally, conditioning should not be looked at as something to “get out of”. If Tedford really wanted to have competition he’d let the players (and fans) have a real spring game. There is no substitute for game action and he’s missing a golden opportunity to create real competition.
Tedford continues to show that he’s clueless, but hopefully the team can win in spite of him with guys like Lupoi and Pendergast taking up the slack.
April 2nd, 2010 at 5:04 pm
This team needs to condition more, not less. Too many 2nd half meltdowns under this Coach when better conditioning could have meant more wins and better bowls.
April 2nd, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Where do you guys coach again?
April 2nd, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Armchair University
April 2nd, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Wow, I think Cal85 got this one right… You guys are way over-analyzing this… Tedford knows what he is doing… He said he’d analyze every aspect of the team and it looks like implementing these types of changes are helping make the team a more cohesive unit… Thats what competition does guys… calm down and get off your “fire tedford” high horses…
April 2nd, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Cal football generally sucked prior to Tedford (except in 1993-96).
We are lucky to consider an 8 win season a failure/or think the program is in disarray because of it.
The only thing Tedford has done “wrong” is to set up the program to disspoint its fans with anything less than a 10 win season.
p.s. I can’t wait what Tedford can do with a full deck (i.e. facilities that aren’t 50+ years old).
Go Bears!!!
April 2nd, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Some people would find something to criticize no matter what information J.O. provided. Just the way it goes.
April 2nd, 2010 at 10:05 pm
i went to Bovine University
April 2nd, 2010 at 10:26 pm
Media is allowed in to see the last 20 minutes of practice – so to make broad, program wide assumptions based upon a reporter sharing something new he saw (did I mention in the last 20 minutes of practice?) is pretty silly.
It’s not like the team sat around for 2 hours and THEN stood up to see if Rios could hit the goal post so they could get away from any activity that would break a sweat.
April 3rd, 2010 at 9:20 am
PC would do this every practise. What’s the big deal?
April 3rd, 2010 at 1:08 pm
When did Christopher do that? Pretty cool.
April 6th, 2010 at 9:40 am
MoreNCsarecoming Says:
April 3rd, 2010 at 9:20 am
PC would do this every practise. What’s the big deal?
Oddly, enough I think this may help provide a proof point for why Tedford is doing it… PC was undoubtably successful at having his kids be extremely competitive while having a good time at practice… So although there are few things from U$C I’d like to see implemented at Cal, a more competitive nature on the field while building a cohesive unit is definitely one of them…