Goodbye Jeff Tedford

The Athletic Department has announced that Jeff Tedford will not return as the coach of the California Golden Bears next year. You can read the official press conference here.

I've had a lot of different thoughts this impending move, and have refrained from throwing them out on this blog until I knew for certain whether Tedford would be here next year.

Now that it's certain that Cal will be moving on without Coach Tedford, I must say that it's a combination of both sadness and relief.

First and foremost, I feel it necessary to say thank you to Coach Tedford for everything that he's done for this program. I became a diehard Cal football fan largely because of what Tedford did to rebuild this program from the mess it was when he got there. And yes, I was around for the Holmoe years as well. I mean, Tedford made Cal football relevant, he made it exciting, and he made me a fan.

On top of all that, he did it with class and he did things the right way. You talk to anyone who's been in the business and they have nothing but good things to say about Tedford as a person and as a coach. And in this day and age, that's still fairly rare to see. It goes quietly unnoticed, but I've always appreciated that Tedford ran a program that generally didn't embarrass itself off the field.

It also has to be a bitter pill for Tedford that he doesn't get to fully enjoy the facilities that he helped build. He's endured a whole lot of patience in dealing with the extensive process and number of roadbumps in getting this new stadium done along with the SAHPC, and for him to have to leave after one year is rough.

So it's not with a whole lot of joy that I say "Goodbye" to Coach Tedford. He's been inextricably linked with this program's identity for more than a decade now and I attribute so much of my love of Cal football to his efforts. And though the last few years haven't panned out the way anyone wanted, he had been wildly successful here. I might be in the minority, but I really wanted to see him take the Bears to the Rose Bowl, and it really wasn't even until just a few years ago that there was ever any doubt in my mind that he would.

But I also knew in my mind that Cal was ready to begin moving forward when my wife asked me earlier this season, "Do you want Tedford to stay?"

I waited a second before I responded, "I want Cal to win."

And for whatever reason (and there are a lot), the Bears have fallen back into obscurity under Tedford and didn't seem to show any answers about how to get back out of it.

It would be unfair to this university, its fanbase and its players if any allegiance to Jeff Tedford inhibited it from seeing that the program has stalled and seemingly run out of moves under the current regime.

Since that fateful night in which Cal lost to Oregon State in 2007, the Bears are 34-36. They haven't finished a season ranked in the AP Polls in over five years. They haven't won a postseason bowl since 2008. And they haven't been close to competing for a conference title since 2006.

On top of that, graduation rates have dropped to a conference worst 40%, and the APR numbers are actually worse.

And I don't buy for a second the notion that Tedford was phoning it in or had somehow lost passion for his job. I think he continues to work as hard as he did when he first got here. I just think it's simply not working right now, and hasn't been for a while, and no level of adjustments, or tinkering, or replacing of individual parts will cut it anymore. There comes a point where you simply need to replace the engine.

All signs clearly point to a program that isn't anywhere near where it needs to be, especially with the heightened financial pressures of the new facilities. In short, it became absolutely necessary to go in a new direction.

So I must say that for as sad as I am that Coach Tedford will be leaving, I am as excited about the future as I have ever been. I think the resources and foundation is there for a very strong football program. All it takes is the right person to guide the ship, and for the first in a while we have options to consider. With Tedford's departure I suddenly a great level of hope that Cal football can again be relevant to even greater heights than they were under Tedford.

Regardless of how we're feeling now, I know for sure that we're saying goodbye to a good coach and really, a good guy. I hope everyone has a level of appreciation for what he's done, and I personally have little doubt that he'll continue to succeed in whatever else he does should he decide he wants to continue coaching.

So thank you Jeff for everything you've done and thanks for the memories. I wish you the very best in what you do moving forward.