Jeff Tedford Continues to Sing Riley's Praises

(source: Bipolarbear)

As reported by Jim McGill at the BearInsider, Tedford continued to sing Riley's praises at today's press conference.

"I love Kevin," said Cal head coach Jeff Tedford. "Kevin has really done a nice job of developing this year as a person, as a player and as a leader. It's awesome. Being the quarterback with the most active touchdowns and wins in the Pac 10 -I think his experience is going to really pay dividends for us."

Tedford continued to provide some pretty interesting comments about what he looks for QB development, as well as the ways in which Riley has progressed in those areas. Specifically, he mentions eye discipline, feet, and his new throwing fundamentals.

"Boy, he's really improved with his feet and his throwing fundamentals," said Tedford. "He keeps light feet all the time. Part of the problem with Kevin before was his sequential movement from feet all the way up. If his feet weren't light enough, his arm could be off. So he shortened his throwing motion and that goes together with his feet being quick. His release is much quicker now and he's got much more zip on the ball. His ball finishes now. He's really done a nice job of working on all those things.

"He won't be perfect. No quarterback is perfect. But he's doing a great job and I have a lot of trust and confidence in him."

You can check out the rest of the article and actually see clips from the press conference itself.

This continues in the streamline of praises Tedford has had for Riley in recently. During last week's March to Victory luncheon Tedford stated that, "Kevin Riley has had a phenomenal camp. I've never seen him play as well as he's been playing consistently all through camp."


Tedford later added that he has as "much confidence in him (Riley) right now as any quarterback I have ever had."

Well gee, how's the fan supposed to take all this? I understand that Tedford is likely building Riley's confidence and reminding him that the starting job is unequivocally his. I'm sure there's also a certain level of marketing at work to build interest for this season, one in which expectations are at an all time low.

I must say I'm sure Tedford is fully aware of the level of praise he's publicly expressed for Riley. At the same time, I actually think Tedford really believes it, which makes it increasingly difficult for me to not drink the koolaid.

At this point, the story has been the same broken record for Kevin Riley. An athletic, competitive QB who has shown flashes of brilliance and has also struggled to complete routine passes in some of Cal's losses over the years. Everything we've read this offseason shows that we should expect Riley to take the next step. Also, it's no secret that senior seasons have been kind to most veteran quarterbacks.

Of course, we won't know anything for certain until some games are actually played, and even, won't know too much until after Cal's s season opener against Arizona. One thing is for certain though, Tedford has us believing that we should be as confident in Riley as we have been in any other QB under Tedford other than Aaron Rodgers. Which is kind of saying a lot, I guess.

And your level of confidence in Tedford will probably determine how much that will really be the case.

[Edit: Be sure to check out a very good read by Fernando Gallo of BearTerritory.net. One of the more extensive looks into Riley that I've come across.]