4-star DE/SLB Alex Cook commits from Texas

The Bears have added a huge commitment to the recruiting class on defense.

Alex Cook, a JC All-American defensive end from the junior college championship team Blinn College in Texas, has committed to Cal. Cook turned down offers from Arkansas, Arizona State, Louisville, Tennessee, and other schools in this decision. At 6’3″/225 with a 4.5 forty time, he is rated four stars by both Scout and Rivals.

The 6-3/225 Cook stood out as a difference-maker on Blinn’s 12-0 National Junior College Athletic Association championship squad –their first since 1996. Cook plays with a ferocity, coming off the edge or shooting gaps with cat-like speed. In Blinn’s championship game, the speedy Cook utilized his 4.5 forty speed with an amazing 5 sacks on the day as Blinn defeated the nations #2 ranked JC, Pearl River CC, 19-6. Cook also caused a fumble that was picked up by teammate Damien Reed and run back for a 67 yard td. Cook totaled 13 sacks and 68 tackles on the year.

While he previously played DE, Cook will be playing strong side linebacker for the Bears. He looks to make an immediate impact this upcoming year and he should be an excellent addition of speed and playmaking ability in the pass rush.

This also shows the further expansion of Cal’s sphere of recruiting with another commitment from deep within Texas.

Michalczik named Offensive Coordinator

Jim Michalczik, Cal’s offensive line coach of the previous five seasons, has been promoted to the role of offensive coordinator left open by the recent departure of Mike Dunbar for Minnesota. He shall also retain his duties as offensive line coach. With Michalczik as the offensive coordinator, Cal next season will most likely remain more geared towards a pro-style offense, centered upon the run game. Cal has produced a 1,000 yard rusher in each of Michalczik’s five seasons as offensive line coach, and look towards continuing the streak with Justin Forsett in the backfield. Kevin Daft, a graduate assistant, was also promoted to take over as the quarterbacks coach.

DE Cameron Jordan commits

Yesterday, defensive end Cameron Jordan committed to the 2007 recruiting class. Coming out of Chandler high school, Jordan is the 6th rated recruit in the state of Arizona. With Nu’u Tafisi, Abu Ma’Afala, and Steve Kelly graduating this year, defensive line coach Ken Delgado has several open spots on the D-line, which Jordan looks to compete for with fellow 2007 defensive-end recruits Scott Smith and Solomona Aigamaua. Jordan comes to Cal after earning all-state honors this past season:

Jordan’s size and production will be a valued commodity at Cal. The All-State DE racked up 17.5 sacks, 37 hurries and 85 tackles on the year in leading his Chandler squad to an impressive 11-2 record before falling in a tough loss to 5A state finalist Mountain View last month.

Charges not filed against Marshawn

As I speculated in my last post, the smoke has cleared about the accusations against Marshawn and the DA will not file charges. Thanks to the guys at TBIOOTF for posting about this right away. A new article in the SF Chronicle states:

Prosecutors said a lack of evidence — including no visible injuries or photographs of injuries, a witness’ statement contradicting the accuser and inconsistencies in the woman’s own story — meant the case couldn’t go forward. …

“We have an ethical obligation that we have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. And I don’t think we can,” said Alameda County senior deputy district attorney Kim Hunter.

And, in regard to the restraining order that Lynch was supposedly served:

According to court filings in the application for the restraining order, Lynch was served in mid-January at a gym on Cal’s campus with notice of Friday’s hearing. But Lynch’s lawyer said Lynch could never have received the notice because the star running back was out of the state training at the time.

So, that’s that. I’m glad these allegations were short-lived. Look for Marshawn high in the first round of the NFL draft.

Nothing to see here, move along

Yes, many are reporting that there are allegations and a restraining order out there against Marshawn Lynch. But these are exactly that — allegations. Is it suspiciously near Lynch’s NFL payday? Absolutely. So, I feel no need to give some ex-girlfriend’s accusations the exposure she wants before the facts are known. As serious as this is, I couldn’t help but have a song called “Gold Digger” stuck in my head since I’ve heard about this.

I think Lynch needs to respond to these claims quickly and get this all sorted out. If he really is guilty of these accusations, he deserves to be punished. But for now, he has the benefit of the doubt from me. Updates will be posted as more news is released.

Training Center construction put on hold

Earlier this morning, a Judge issued a preliminary injunction temporarily preventing the construction of the training center next to Memorial Stadium. While tree-sitters have been protesting mainly to save the oak trees in the area, the legal basis for their argument is violations of the Alquist-Priolo Act, a state law which prohibits new buildings on earthquake faults. Multiple fault tests had been taken, and while most of them came back as being safe, two of them were inconclusive.

This is a huge hit to Cal football, as construction will now have to be delayed a year, if not indefinitely, as the trial will not begin until this summer, and starting construction directly after then would interfere with the 2007 Football schedule. While an appeal to the injunction is being considered, school officials are confident that they will win out in court if the issue ever even makes it to trial. Let’s hope that the stadium plans eventually get approved, and does not have much affect on recruiting or even Tedford’s long-term plans on staying at Cal.

EDIT by STEVE: 1/30/2007- At least for now, it appears that we don’t have to worry about Tedford getting frustrated and leaving:

“Anybody who’s asking those questions is very uneducated to my feelings to Cal and this program,” Tedford said. “My commitment is unwavering. My commitment is 100 percent to Cal. I’m not panicking. I’m not fazed by this at all.

“I want those statements to be clear to our players, our recruits and anyone else who is wondering.”

In Tedford’s new contract, however, there have been no changes from the previous one regarding the stadium plans. The UC, confident that the stadium plans will eventually be approved, are moving ahead with the bidding process and any site preparation that the injunction may allow. With signing day only a week away, hopefully this confidence will be enough to sway any borderline recruits that may have been put off by the injunction and current state of the training facilities.

Hughes, Mebane standouts in Senior Bowl

Cal seniors Daymeion Hughes (cornerback) and Brandon Mebane (defensive tackle) are getting noticed in the Senior Bowl. Scouts, Inc/ESPN’s Todd McShay has a lot of good things to say in “Monday’s Buzz”:

The defensive player that impressed us the most was Cal cornerback Daymeion Hughes. The 5-10, 192 pounder displayed outstanding agility and instincts throughout practice. There wasn’t a receiver on the team, including standouts such as Jason Hill (Washington State), Rhema McKnight (Notre Dame) and David Clowney (Virginia Tech), who could shake Hughes in one-on-one drills. While it’s important to put everything into perspective this week, I think it’s safe to say that Hughes showed better man-to-man cover skills this afternoon than Michigan’s Leon Hall, who is widely considered the top cornerback prospect and a potential top-15 pick in this year’s class.

There’s more about Hughes and Mebane in the Tuesday article:

Cal CB Daymeion Hughes continues to stand out in practice. He has good size with wide shoulders and a natural feel for making plays and getting his hands on the football. He is fluid and closes suddenly. His lack of pure speed is a clear drawback, however, and he will not be able to keep up with the faster receivers in the NFL if left alone deep downfield in man-to-man coverage. Therefore, we think Hughes has the looks of a starting Cover 2 cornerback to best use his skill set — which is impressive if utilized correctly. …

Cal’s Brandon Mebane and Louisville’s Amobi Okoye aren’t doing a great job of holding their ground when they get reached. However, both defensive tackles are showing good quickness and getting into the backfield.

McShay also talks highly of Hughes in a TV segment on SportsCenter. You can watch the video segment here. Meanwihle, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also have an article expressing how impressed they are with Mebane:

Cal DT Brandon Mebane (left) surprised Bucs coaches with his quickness off the ball …

California’s Brandon Mebane, a 6-1, 304-pound defensive tackle who might measure out as a bit undersized but who showed off impressive power during a lengthy one-on-one session with the North’s offensive linemen. … At one point, Mebane went head-to-head with the left guard and left him on the ground as he simply bulled over him.

“[He has] a bunch of power,” said the coach, who was essentially in his first day on the job with Tampa Bay. “He’s got a great center of gravity, gets his hips under him and he understands pass rushing. He understands how to use his hips. I’m shocked by him and how quick he is off the ball. He showed great intensity.”

It’s great to see our Cal players raise their draft status and get noticed for the next level of play. I think we’ll be seeing both Hughes and Mebane taken high in the upcoming NFL draft.

OC Dunbar leaves for Minnesota

Offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar is leaving Cal to take the same position at Minnesota after spending one year in Berkeley. This is not an entirely surprising move, as he contributed some spread elements to Cal’s offensive scheme but Cal never adopted the spread completely.

The Contra Costa Times’ Jay Heater has an article about the move to shine some light on the situation.

“Mike was more comfortable running the spread solely,” Tedford said from Dallas on Wednesday. “There were professional opportunities for him in Minnesota, and I think he is going to be more comfortable there.”

Tedford was asked if it was a mistake to bring Dunbar to Cal. “No,” he said. “He brought some new ideas and concepts. Our goal was to meld those together. It’s not that it didn’t work. We were fine.

“But our goal was to meld the two concepts and not to be solely a spread team. I think he is of the mind to be 100 percent in the spread. He has had a lot of success doing that.”

The article goes on to state that Cal will continue to use some spread elements but never use it completely. It also mentions that Coach Jeff Tedford will “take his time” in choosing a replacement.

2007 season schedule released

The final schedule for the 2007 season was released Friday. The Bears will host 6 home games next season, including games against Tennessee, Oregon State, and USC, all expected to be in the top 25 in the preseason national rankings.

2007 California Football Schedule
Sept. 1	Tennessee
Sept. 8	at Colorado State
Sept. 15 Louisiana Tech
Sept. 22 Arizona
Sept. 29 at Oregon
Oct. 6	BYE
Oct. 13	Oregon State
Oct. 20	at UCLA
Oct. 27	at Arizona State
Nov. 3	Washington State
Nov. 10	USC
Nov. 17	at Washington
Nov. 24	BYE
Dec. 1	at Stanford

Also, Spring practice begins on March 12, while the Spring Game is scheduled for April 14.

Recruiting news: good and bad

First, the good: wide receiver Nyan Boateng has transferred to Cal from Florida to have 2 years of eligibility starting in the 2008 season (transfers must sit out one season according to NCAA rules). Boateng was rated as a 5-star prospect in high school, and was selected for the Army All-American Bowl along with our own DeSean Jackson. However, injuries prevented him from making an impact at Florida. Boateng is a tall and athletic receiver listed at 6″2’/205 lbs/4.45 forty and a 42″ vertical. He is definitely a welcome addition since the receiver core will lose Lavelle Hawkins, Robert Jordan, and possibly Jackson to the NFL after the 2007 season.

The bad news: safety Terry Mixon (brother of Tim Mixon) who previously made a verbal commitment to the Bears as a junior college transfer, has changed his commitment to Washington State. While he would have been an excellent addition to this class, we wish him the best of luck up in Pullman. In related news, there is still no decision about Tim’s petition for a sixth year of eligibility.