The California Golden Bears and head coach Jeff Tedford will part ways after a 3-8 showing so far this year, according to the Sacramento Bee, Bruce Feldman and other outlets. The era ends with two straight helpless blowout losses, a third-straight loss to Stanford, only two FBS wins and general uninspired play on both sides of the ball.
Jeff Tedford fired: Next Cal coach must prize discipline above all else, say Bears fans
Cal football and Jeff Tedford have split after 11 years together, and the Pac-12 has its first job opening of the season. Follow @SBNationCFB
Harry How
He’ll go out with a 82-56 record with the Bears, with experience as offensive coordinator at Oregon and Fresno State to fall back on.
His achievements at Berkeley included two 10-win seasons, a seven-year bowl streak and four-year bowl winning streak, a 7-4 record against rival Stanford (after a seven-year Cardinal winning streak in the Big Game) and a line of NFL talent that includes Aaron Rodgers, all at a program that was in the pits of the Pac-10 when he arrived.
But all that doesn’t mean much now for a program undeniably in decline both on the field and off, posting .500 or worse regular seasons three years in a row while dealing with academic woes, a major no-no for a school like Cal.
And based on one of many conversations at Pacific Takes on the impending split between Cal and Tedford, we have a very clear picture of what Cal fans are looking for in their next coach:
NorCalNick, California Golden Blogs: My ideal candidate would have two key traits above all others: Successful experience as a head coach (preferably at a school in a major conference) and a keen offensive mind that would allow him to immediately revive Cal’s lackluster offense.
Simply put, there aren’t a ton of people like that available, for obvious reasons. Guys like that have their choice of jobs and get paid. If this was 2011 I would be driving the Rich Rodriguez bandwagon.
Berkelium97, California Golden Blogs: Discipline. Once one of the most pronounced characteristics of Tedford’s teams, discipline has been sorely lacking over the past few years. Boneheaded penalties, bizarre decisions (among players and coaches), lack of attention to detail, and countless turnovers have plagued this team for the past several years. If we get these issues mostly sorted out, we’re an 8 win team this year, easily. I want the new coach to restore discipline and accountability to the team, first and foremost.
So probably not, like, Ed Orgeron then?
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