Eric- ignore the few haters on here. Very few make intelligent, fact based arguments. Your posts are solid, intelligent, fact based- and you’re always classy when responding to those questioning your point of view. Don’t let the haters, most of always have to bring up Holmoe and how great 7-5 for Cal is, get you down. Keep up the good, passionate posts.

Clearly, what is now being viewed by some as an extravagant and perhaps unnecessary expenditure on a coach’s salary was looked upon as necessary and justified at the time the decision was made. It just goes to show that issues of this nature have to be evaluated in a broader context than simply the here and now. Cal could probably have hired a football coach at a much smaller salary, but with the horrid memories of the Holmoe/ Gilbertson era fresh in people’s minds, I am sure the people involved in the decision at the time thought it was the right thing and best for moving the program forward.

Hindsight is a lot easier than having a clear vision of the future.

Your post misses the point of whether to blame Tedford for other sports being cut. Of course not – that is a strawman argument. But the university has decided to cut several sports (including a sport a 100+ years old from which the Axe originated) while continuing to pay its football coach nearly $3 million a year. Is he worth it? If yes, fine. If not, then it is the University’s fault for being economically stupid. If Tedford got a penny more than he is worth, more power to him for negotiating with a sucker. Doesn’t mean it is right for Cal.

As for stats on the coaches, at one point do you acknowledge that Tedford is overpaid if you don’t think he is overpaid now (since the article you linked clearly establishes that he is overpaid as of 2009)? How about checking out Pac-10 records over the last 5 years (2005-2009) since that is the period where Cal has (in my view) at best plateaued and more likely has declined. If that 5-year trend were to continue, but he continues to be the second highest paid coach in the Pac-10, is he overpaid? If Cal finishes only 6-6 this year, and in the bottom half of the Pac-10, is Tedford overpaid?

Could we have saved a sport by hiring a coach at a fraction of the cost to produce 7-5 and 8-4 seasons?

Wulff is the lowest paid at $601K, Riley (and this is a shame) is next a little below 1MM.

Stoops, Neuheisal, Kelly, Harbaugh and Erickson are in the 1.25-1.5MM range.

Sarkisian 1.8MM

Except for Riley and Kelly, NONE of the others above have the same winning percentage as JT. Stanford could turn that around with a big winning season – say 12-1, but frankly – almost all of them STILL are below .500 for their Pac-10 career.

As for ‘saving’ another sport – every other sport besides football and basketball (both men and women) loses money. Are we really going to blame JT for the fact these sports lose money and thus are the ones that NEED the subsidy?

Difficult decisions to cut sports were made because of ongoing deficits exacerbated by tough economic times – maybe that is JT’s fault too?

Not 100% sure JT can take us to the next level of consistent BCS Bowl contender – but its definitely not easy just going out there and finding someone to win 2 out of 3 and take teams to bowl games every season we’ve been eligible.

None of this means Tedford should be immune from criticism, and there is certainly plenty of ammo after the play-calling last Saturday, but those sports are getting cut for reasons that go well beyond the head football coach’s salary.

One of the wonderful things about Cal athletics was the commitment to sports other than Football and Basketball. If Cal were a country, its Summer Olympic medal count would be in the top 20. The baseball team cut? There are six currently in the Major Leagues. If Cal is going to put all of its eggs into the football and basketball baskets, they better produce. It took 4 years too long to rid ourselves of Braun…

I simply can’t get the bad memories of how last season ended out of my head and Cal is doing the exact same thing all over again this year. Sure, we’ll go to a bowl game (because 70 of the 120 teams that participate are eligible) but we’ll see how everyone feels after Cal loses to Dixon State at the eatmyshorts.com Bowl in Sandusky, Ohio.