QB commit Mansion selected in the Elite 11

Brock Mansion, the quarterback out of Texas who verbally committed to Cal’s 2007 recruiting class, has been invited to the Elite 11 camp. This is the fourth straight year for Cal to land an Elite 11 quarterback, with Nate Longshore (2004), Kyle Reed (2005), and Kevin Riley (2006) on the roster already.

If you are unfamiliar with what the Elite 11 camp is, this site gives a brief description of it. Also, this article reports on Mansion’s selection (Rivals subscription required).

The team will be stacked with four Elite 11 quarterbacks in the near future. That’s a lot of talent, and a great showing of the regard for Tedford‘s coaching.

UPDATE: QB Steve Levy arrested in SF, suspended

Unfortunately, there’s some bad news amidst all the pre-season hype. Quarterback Steve Levy, who started the last two games of the season (at Stanford, Las Vegas Bowl vs. BYU) in place of Joe Ayoob, was arrested and jailed last night under alleged charges of felony assault. For details, see this SF Chronicle article.

Hopefully the charges are reduced and Levy gets cleared. However, Coach Jeff Tedford acted immediately and suspended Levy until the facts get sorted out.

Levy is projected as a backup quarterback for the upcoming 2007 season.

Update: it appears that the argument was over a girl, and a bouncer splashed water on Levy. According to Levy, he meant to splash water back but the glass slipped out of his hand. See a followup article here.

Nationally ranked QB out of Texas commits to Cal

Cal has landed quarterback Brock Mansion out of Episcopal School of Dallas for the 2007 recruiting class. He’s a four-star QB, 6’5″/225 who looks to have some great playmaking ability. See an article about his commitment here, his profile here, and a highlight video here.

It’s great to see Cal’s recruiting clout extending out of California and into America’s heartland. Coach Jeff Tedford is really building a program here in Berkeley.

Lynch not injured in Oakland Tech shooting

Marshawn Lynch was mistakenly targeted in a shooting outside Oakland Tech (his alma mater) when attending the graduation of his sister. Five or six shots were fired at a car he was sitting in, but thankfully he was not hurt. Read the article and watch the news report here.

D gets love in Kiper’s top seniors list

Looks like Cal’s defense is getting some more recognition. The defense has taken spots in three defensive positions on Mel Kiper Jr.’s “Top 5 seniors by position” list. Brandon Mebane is 4th in defensive tackles, Desmond Bishop is 4th in inside linebackers, and Daymeion Hughes is 4th in cornerbacks.

We’re not listed on any other positions, but it’s likely due to the team being very young (and without many established seniors).

Take a look at the article here.

Cal games mentioned on CFB

College Football News has named the two Cal games in “three games no one is thinking about much, but will end up being a really big deal” for different writers. They write:

California at Tennessee, Sept. 2
This is the opening week game I really want to see. Is California really going to be good enough to challenge for the Pac 10 title and a shot at the BCS championship? It should be explosive enough on offense and decent enough on D, but it needs the first really, really big non-conference win in the Jeff Tedford era to make believers out of the Right Coast types. Imagine the fire alarms that will go off in Knoxville if the Vols, coming off last year’s disaster, blow the home opener. These are two top ten-caliber teams that should play a heck of a game.

And also,

Cal at USC � this should be for the Pac-10 championship and if Nate Longshore is even half the man that Aaron Rodgers was, this one could really be exciting.

Take a look at the article here.

Lynch #5 in ESPN preseason RB rankings

Marshawn Lynch has taken the fifth spot in Todd McShay‘s top preseason RB rankings on ESPN. He placed behind Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma), Michael Bush (Louisville), Jamaal Charles (Texas), and Steve Slaton (West Virginia). McShay writes:

5. Marshawn Lynch, Cal, JR, 5-11, 206
Lynch rushed for 1,246 yards as a first-year starter last season despite missing two games due to injury. He will still share some carries with Justin Forsett, who impressed with an average of 7.6 yards per carry as Lynch’s backup and injury replacement. But as long as Lynch stays healthy and continues to progress, he should see twice as many carries this season, which could equate to 2,000-plus rushing yards.

I think he should have ranked higher. He’s definitely a better running back than some of the players that placed ahead of him. We’ll leave it up to the season to determine where they really are. Take a look at the article here.

Season opener against Tennessee on ESPN

ESPN has picked up our season opener at the Tennessee Volunteers. This game is going to be big. The kickoff’s at 2:30 on September 2, and will now be getting national coverage.

In addition to this game, ABC has picked up 3 games (Oregon, UCLA, @USC), TBS 1 (Minnesota), and FSN 1 also (Stanford). More televised games are likely to be scheduled as the season approaches.

ESPN radio: Tedford is “too good for his own good”

Colin Cowherd spoke yesterday on podcast pretty extensively about what he thought about Coach Jeff Tedford. I wouldn’t advise actually listening to it, but here’s a summary of comments:

“A coach too good for his own good”

Tennessee traded Steve McNair to Baltimore – to make Baltimore “less terrible”. This means: the Kyle Boller (former Cal QB) experiment is pretty much over. By taking McNair, Baltimore is saying they don’t think Boller can take them to the next level.

This is Tedford’s 3rd bust in the NFL (Akili Smith, Joey Harrington). Does this mean Tedford is a bad coach? NO! He’s the best QB coach, college or pro. He can take any marginal QB and make him a star. The longer and farther the get away from him, the worse they get. That’s why in last year’s draft, he screamed “do not draft Aaron Rodgers 1st round”. Remember speculation that Rodgers would be #1 pick, and the shock when he dropped to 24th. He ended up in Green Bay, where reports show he has been underwhelming as Favre’s backup. Truth is: Rodgers was a solid college QB who Tedford coached nearly into the #1 pick/Heisman.

Talked to Charlie Weis (head coach at Notre Dame) recently. Asked him, is there one coach that impresses him; without hesitation, Weis said: Tedford at Cal, he’s an NFL coach; so brilliant. Unbelievable offensive mind, unbelievable QB coaching. “Takes strip steak and makes it filet mignon” – even jaded, cynical NFL people buy it. Once you draft his QBs, each year that goes by away from him they get worse. Joey Harrington was smooth, smart, leader, great QB – has eroded every year in NFL. Same with Smith, Rodgers, Boller.

Tedford listens, gives QB max protection (RBs stay in backfield, TEs stick around). Keeps QB comfortable, gives QB two choices, first down. Best offensive coordinator ever seen, anywhere, any level. Kyle Boller – another brilliant college QB coached by Tedford, who can’t get it done in NFL. See Boller’s stats before Tedford. 1 amazing year, the year Tedford coached him. Boller had 6 bad years in the last 7.

If you can win at Cal… it’s basically the West Coast equivalent of Virginia, except worse, worse facilities…

My comments: if Tedford was able to get so much done without much recruiting clout, think about what he can do with the high-end recruits he’s getting now. Also, why is Aaron Rodgers getting blasted before even given a chance at Green Bay? Finally, the facilities won’t be an issue shortly, when the stadium renovation project gets underway.

While I’m glad our head coach is getting praise, I’m a little irritated about the the disrespect our team and alumni are getting.

Coach Tedford on KNBR

Coach Jeff Tedford was interviewed this morning on KNBR radio. Here’s a summary of his comments:

Tennessee:
Very anxious to go to Tennessee, great program
Tennessee recruits well, has good facilities and tremendous athletes

High expectations:
Cal isn’t sneaking up on anyone (preseason rank, etc.)
Competing for Pac-10 championship on a national level
Scheduling tough opponents necessary for national recognition

Nate Longshore:
Fully healed, but not 100%
Knows he will work very hard to get back this summer to be ready for season

Spread offense:
Just another thing that opponents will have to prepare for
Who opponent is determines how much spread will utilized
Another weapon in arsenal

Aaron Rodgers:
Great for Rodgers to have opportunity to sit and watch Favre
His time is coming up this year or next
Tremendous future; very smart, quick release, very tough, great guy

Offensive line:
Lost 3 guys of high quality (NFL draft) and leadership – hard to replace
Current OL talented but haven’t played together
Andrew Cameron returning will provide leadership experience and depth
Mike Tepper will be a main contributor