Thanks, Troy. Just listened to your interview with Coach Shaw. It was interesting that he said the turning point of last season was the ASU game. I believe you felt it was the winnable games versus the Washington schools. I think it was not naming Tanner McKee the starter in the summer and giving him full #1 reps before the season started, although CDS insisted (again) that Jack West had a great training camp and McKee didn't earn the starting job until after the first game versus Kansas State. But even if he had named McKee the starter, that would not have completely overcome the deficiencies on the O-line and defense in general.
I have to say that I was disappointed that CDS didn't say anything about the lack of changes on his coaching staff. Not that he's obligated to do so--you ask the questions that you want, and he gives the answers that he wants--but his discussion of last year sounded to me like it was mostly more of the we-were-so-close-but-we-just-had-some-injuries-and-bad-breaks excuse. He said that he's treating this year like he's a first-year head coach, back to fundamentals. Well, new head coaches usually clean house, especially with a team that just finished in last place two of the past three seasons, but CDS isn't doing that.
I suppose the bottom line is that it's the results that matter. We'll just have to wait until September 10 to learn if CDS has figured out how to better utilize the coaches and players that he has.
But thanks again for the interview.
I have to say that I was disappointed that CDS didn't say anything about the lack of changes on his coaching staff. Not that he's obligated to do so--you ask the questions that you want, and he gives the answers that he wants--but his discussion of last year sounded to me like it was mostly more of the we-were-so-close-but-we-just-had-some-injuries-and-bad-breaks excuse. He said that he's treating this year like he's a first-year head coach, back to fundamentals. Well, new head coaches usually clean house, especially with a team that just finished in last place two of the past three seasons, but CDS isn't doing that.
I suppose the bottom line is that it's the results that matter. We'll just have to wait until September 10 to learn if CDS has figured out how to better utilize the coaches and players that he has.
But thanks again for the interview.
If there's one thing people have learned in Berkeley, it's that you can't put "Cal football" and "Rose Bowl" in the same sentence. The words just don't fit. You'd be better off linking "covered wagons" with "Mars travel." (Bruce Jenkins, Cal '70, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2017)