Cal named “title contender” by SI

SI.com‘s Stewart Mandel has put up an article, “Anybody’s ball game: With no clear-cut favorites, title race is wide open”, analyzing 16 teams with hopes for the national title. Mandel lists Cal as one of his selections, calling the Bears “dangerous” if Coach Jeff Tedford develops a quarterback. He also suggests that Cal “may have the best offense and defense in the Pac-10″, but emphasizes that the quarterback and offensive line must live up to their potential. Take a look at his analysis here.

Bears “smelling roses” – Oakland Tribune

The Oakland Tribune has put Marshawn Lynch on the front page of today’s sports section, giving high praise and hype for the team this season. The article describes this season as a “golden opportunity” to get back to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 48 years, the best chance since Chuck Muncie and the 1975 team. The article also goes over a few question marks, including the quarterback situation, hybrid offense, Lynch, pass rush, and shutdown corners. Take a look.

Levy rejoins team

Quarterback Steve Levy, who was recently suspended from the team for a bar brawl in San Francisco, has been reinstated and will be allowed to join the team for fall practice on August 6. Yesterday, Levy’s case was settled in court and the charges were reduced to a misdemeanor. However, he remains suspended for the Tennessee game on September 2.

Levy will compete to start at quarterback in fall camp, but he is not expected to take the first spot on the depth chart.

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.

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.

Ayoob challenging Longshore as starter

As reported yesterday, former starting quarterback Joe Ayoob appears to be doing increasingly well in spring practice. The SF Chronicle is reporting that he’s challenging Nate Longshore as front-runner for the starting spot.

Brace Adams says: Ayoob has been a surprise. He’s beginning to show the form that earned him junior college All-America honors at CCSF, where he led the Rams to a national championship as a freshman.

“He’s throwing the ball a lot sharper,” Tedford said.

Ayoob has been helped by changes in Cal’s offense, with Tedford incorporating elements of the spread-option, which Dunbar used at Northwestern in leading the nation’s No. 4-ranked offense last season. It is similar to the pure spread Ayoob ran at City College.

Read the whole article here. If he does take over the starting spot from Longshore, it’ll be a remarkable comeback after his meltdown of a season last year that ended with boos at home. I’d like to see Longshore take over after his nasty injury last season, but we’ll see who Tedford decides on.

More on QB progress and interview with Tedford

There’s a new interview video with head coach Jeff Tedford and some analysis from The Bear Insider about the progress of our quarterbacks. Between the four of them, it seems that: Nate Longshore understands the offense best and makes the better reads; Kyle Reed is throwing well but can’t handle the defense; Steve Levy is good with decisions but doesn’t have a good arm; surprisingly, Joe Ayoob is looking particularly good with passes and runs in the spread (this article in the Contra Costa Times also points this out). Take a look.

Two spread/QB articles with quotes

There’s two new articles out with great quotes from head coach Jeff Tedford and the battling QBs.

Former SF Chronicle writer Glenn Dickey discusses the spread with Tedford and also the QB situation. One important quote:

Glenn Dickey says: Who’s No. 1? “If we had to play a game tomorrow, it would be Nate,” Tedford said, “with the other three pretty much bunched behind him. But that’s not to say that Nate has the No. 1 spot cinched.”

The Oakland Tribune details the QB situation again, with a lot of quotes from Longshore, Levy, Ayoob, and Reed. See this article here.

Coaching, QB, etc.

An article in The Contra Costa Times has some news tidbits to check out:

Coach Jeff Tedford is keeping busy this spring break. He’s visiting Florida and West Virginia to observe their practices – both programs that implement the spread offense. It looks like he is serious about putting together some form of the spread. Also, Tedford is interviewing candidates for a new defensive backs coach (former DB coach J.D. Williams left to Washington).

Starting QB Nate Longshore is reported to still have “a little bit of a limp”, although it seems more habitual than indicative of pain. He’s looking more confident than ever in practice.

Also, OT Mike Tepper is back as first-string on the depth chart. He was the guy who missed all of last season after getting run over by a car. EDIT 4/7/2006: Read an article on him here.