#5 Biggest OffSeason Story - Coaching Carousel

No, I'm not talking about Monty, because that story alone would probably have trumped everything else on this list, especially if one is left to wonder whether Monty would have considered the Stanford Job now that Trent Johnson bolted for LSU.

No, instead I'm referring to the biggest coaching staff shakeups to happen in the Jeff Tedford Era at Cal. After last year's "Callapse," Coach Tedford promised changes for the upcoming year, and those changes came quickly, beginning with the coaching staff.

Cal's official press release.

In one of the more interesting and surprising moves, Ken Delgado left Cal to take the same position as Defensive Line Coach at Louisville. I say it's a bit surprising simply because Delgado had been with Tedford since the beginning of his regime, and wasn't really accepting a higher position at a more established program. Louisville is coming off an equally disappointing year with a much worse performing defense last year than Cal's. That led to Coach Tedford promoting graduate assistant and former Cal player Tosh Lupoi to the D-line coach position. While I liked Delgado, I think it's an exciting move, because of the passion and excitement that Lupoi reportedly brings to the table. And considering the zero pass rush we had last year, any change to our D-line, the better.

Some of the smaller changes include QB Coach Kevin Daft replacing Dan Ferrigno as the new wide receiver coach. It's a bit interesting to see a QB coach move to coaching Wide receivers, but it may be beneficial to have them understand route running from a QB's perspective. Ferrigno had "left Cal to pursue other opportunities." While it may not be fair to read too much into that, anyone who has read that same line in a work email from a manager knows that the person isn't always skipping with glee on their way out.

Al Simmons replaces R. Todd Littlejohn as Defensive Back coach in the quietest change. I honestly don't expect much too change here, but I've read that many attribute the low number of interceptions last year more with the lack of defensive back coaching, rather than Bob Gregory's defensive scheme. Okay…Either way, some of us remember what Simmons was able to do with Deltha O'Neal in his first stint with Cal (helping him be the first DB taken in the 2000 NFL Draft), so hopefully he can do the same with Syd'Quan, Conte, or perhaps Darian Hagan if the guy ever fully gets his act together.

The most glaring change is the hiring of Frank Cignetti as the new offensive coordinator. The Jeff Tedford era has seen its own share of turnover with the offensive coordinator position, but there's a lot of good reason to be excited about this one. Yeah I know Cignetti was the QB coach for the Niners last year, but anyone short of Jesus last year could have worked miracles offensively last year. (That includes you Moses). Cignetti appears to be on the same page with Tedford in terms of offensive philosophy, which bodes well for a bright future. Unlike Mike Dunbar, former Cal offensive coordinator, Cignetti favors Tedford's philosophy of multiple offensive sets, including extensive use of a tight end. He also appears to be more likely to take some risks, which a number of Cal fans are likely to rejoice about considering some of the anguish that came from Tedford's tendency to dink and dunk last year.

But more importantly, I'm willing to believe that this means that Tedford has matured as a head coach and is willing to let go of the reigns on play calling and embrace all of the responsibilities as a head coach and not be stretched as a head coach/offensive coordinator. Tedford said it himself, "The main reason for all this is so I can be more efficient with my head coaching duties. [After being] the play-caller and the guy buried in deep with the offense, I want to be able to have a chance to do things with the defensive players and the special teams." (ESPN)

Amen. Like Mark Richt at Georgia did a few years back, I'm relieved and hopeful at what this might mean for Cal's long term future. Some tend to forget that Tedford, as godlike as some make him to be, is still in his first and hopefully only head coaching gig. The guy is still learning on how to effectively be the head coach, and I'm glad that he'll be able to have his hand involved in everything else. And hopefully he'll learn that he doesn't have to only get two hours of sleep every night on his air mattress in his office to effectively plan for a game.

In the end, I'm seeing more youth at each coaching position without sacrificing too much experience. Coaching cornerstones Jim Michalczik and Bob Gregory are still there, along with Peter Alamar manning Special Teams. All in all, we should get more passion from our coaching staff while giving a chance for Tedford to being a head coach again, or quite possibly, really for the first time ever.