Today: final spring practice

Today is the final practice of spring, open to the public at 2pm. I believe the first 1000 get burritos.

Again the practice will not be a scrimmage but it will feature some 11 on 11 drills. Here’s a video released by Cal about the event.

Rule changes

First of all, the two rule changes implemented last year that most coaches (including Coach Tedford) opposed are being eliminated.

• The clock will once again stop on possession changes
• The clock will no longer start when the ball touches the kicker’s foot, but when the receiving team touches the football on kickoffs

These 2006 changes were shortening games by about 14 plays on average, so this is good news. There’s also some new rules:

• Kickoffs will now be from the 30 yard (instead of the 35 yard line)
• Teams will get 10 seconds less after a TV time out
• The playclock may have less time following a stoppage of the game clock (pending)

This should increase the game-changing potency of kickoff returns. Think much fewer touchbacks and many more exciting returns. Here’s an article with more details about the changes.

Transportation for the Tennessee game

Just a heads-up about Bay Area transportation for the Tennessee game: the Bay Bridge will be closed in both directions all of Labor Day weekend (including game day on 9/1).

While this may be a big inconvenience for those planning to drive, they will run BART 24 hours a day for the weekend.

Saturday’s scrimmage and April 14

Cal has an official release about last Saturday’s scrimmage. It includes notes about quite a few of the up-and-coming players. For more details and analysis, Scout has a very nice write-up about the scrimmage as well. Take a look.

Meanwhile, the end of spring practice on April 14 is still open to the public but no longer scheduled as a scrimmage. While disappointing, my guess is that many of the players are worn out or injured.

SI/Rivals: Jackson the #1 WR in CFB

WR DeSean Jackson is on the cover of SI.com’s NCAA Football homepage, taking the #1 spot in their Wide Receiver Power Rankings. Michigan’s Mario Manningham (pictured left) is in the second place spot.

It’s good to see some national publicity for DeSean and the team overall. I think the yellow jerseys are growing on me too.

Details of Tedford’s new contract

While Coach Jeff Tedford‘s new contract has not been approved by the Regents or signed by anyone, its details have been released.

The Chronicle has a full article describing its ins and outs, and it appears that Tedford is up for a lot of money if he stays through the next five years. Meanwhile, he looks to be earning $2.8 million annually in the next two years. Take a look.

EDIT 3/16: The contract has been approved unanimously by the Regents according to the Chronicle.

Heater’s blog, with insider position info

EDIT: Jay’s done with all the positions, so check them out.

The Contra Costa Times’ Jay Heater is on a roll, with a special series on his blog detailing the situations of each of the team’s positions. It’s very informative stuff, so take a look:

• 2/28: Middle linebacker: Coach Kenwick Thompson, Zack Follett, Greg Van Hoesen, Matt Russi
• 3/01: Outside linebacker: Justin Moye, Anthony Felder, Eddie Young, Worrell Williams, Shea McIntyre, Mike Mohamed, Devin Bishop, Alex Cook, more
• 3/02: Cornerback: Syd’Quan Thompson, Darian Hagan, Charles Amadi, Brandon Jones
• 3/03: Offensive line: Alex Mack, Mike Gibson, Brian De La Puente, Noris Malele, Mike Tepper, Chris Guarnero, Chet Teofilo, Matt Laird
• 3/03: Safety: Thomas DeCoud, Bernard Hicks, Brandon Hampton, Robert Peele, Marcus Ezeff
• 3/05: Defensive line: Matt Malele, Mika Kane, Derrick Hill, Mike Costanzo, Cody Jones, Rulon Davis, Tad Smith, John Allen, Scott Smith, Phillip Mbakogu
• 3/06: Running back: Justin Forsett, James Montgomery, Tracy Slocum, Bryan Schutte, Jahvid Best, Shane Vareen
• 3/07: Fullback: Will Ta’ufo’ou, Brian Holley, RJ Garrett
• 3/08: Wideout: DeSean Jackson, Robert Jordan, Lavelle Hawkins, Sam DeSa, Sean Young, LaReylle Cunningham, Jeremy Ross, Daniel Lofton
• 3/09: Tight end: Craig Stevens, Cameron Morrah, Julian Arthur, Skylar Curran, Garry Graffort
• 3/09: Special teams: Tom Schneider, Andrew Larson, DeSean Jackson, Nick Sundberg, more
• 3/09: Quarterback: Nate Longshore, Kyle Reed, Kevin Riley

Enjoy.

Feldman: Cal has #7 top trio

ESPN’s Bruce Feldman has put together a list of what he believes are the top trios (QB, RB, WR) in the country. Cal takes the #7 spot:

7. Cal DeSean Jackson is the headliner. He’s the most explosive player in the Pac-10. I also like the improvement that QB Nate Longshore made last season. The Bears do lose TB Marshawn Lynch, but Justin Forsett is a pretty good replacement. Forsett ran for 999 yards in 2005 and did run for 124 yards in Cal’s bowl romp over Texas A&M in December.

Cal pro day: Hughes improves 40

Cal had its pro day today (March 6) for NFL teams and scouts interested in pro prospects on the team. According to NFL.com:

CALIFORNIA: MARCH 6
22 teams were there. Two NFL position coaches worked out RB Marshawn Lynch — Tom Rathman (Raiders) and James Saxon (Chiefs). DB Daymeion Hughes ran a better time than he did at the Combine, in the mid 4.5s.

This is great news for Hughes and it should keep his stock up for the draft.

EDIT: The SF Chronicle has a more in-depth article about pro day, mentioning the four NFL combine participants but also Marcus O’Keith, David Gray, Andrew Cameron, Mickey Pimentel, and more.

Pre-spring Q&A with Tedford

There’s a nice Q&A with Coach Jeff Tedford up at the official Calbears.com site to kick off the upcoming spring training. He talks mostly about personnel in various positions and how they are shaping up for next season. Take a look here.