Mailbag: Sonny Dykes - Savior or Failure?

Every so often I get some email, which I always appreciate. Sometimes they're rants, sometimes they're questions, sometimes they're pretty strange pictures of people in Cal clothing. Those I don't like so much.

Anyway, I received an email this weekend I thought I'd share.

Dan writes:

I am a Cal alum from the 70’s and a fan of your blog. My buddy and I attended a reception for Coach Dykes this week in Southern California. I enjoyed it very much and was impressed by Coach Dykes (I liked his insights on college football and found him to be an engaging speaker).

My friend, who will remain nameless, is also a Cal alum, but sadly he has a cynical streak in him, not a first among Cal fans. At any rate, he dashed off this email/rant after the reception which I thought you might find amusing. Go Bears.

(Dan's friend's email)
Good news! In the upcoming football season, Cal is going to focus on academics and grade point average. Cal is very proud of the fact that it is the top public school in academics and that their football student athletes have close to a 3.5 grade point average (in on camera interviews, the new JC transfers confirmed that they are taking classes like “sports psychology” and “philosophy of physics,” so query how valid that GPA stat is – but, still “yay!”). Fortunately, Cal has doubled the number of “study advisors/helpers” to help the players in the football program with their studies, and their offices are right next to the coaches’ offices, so academic progress (or lack of it) can be closely monitored.

Coach Dykes believes that the major reason for the lack of success under Tedford was the focus on “athletics” and not the “student” aspect of the athletes. In fact, he had to meet with several recruits this spring – all of whom were good athletes that had committed to Cal - telling them they should look elsewhere because, based on looking at their transcripts and talking to their high school coaches, he did not feel they did had the academic potential for success at Cal. Fortunately, they were all immediately able to get full scholarships at other schools, so we don’t need to feel bad about them.

We have three (3) quarterbacks, none of whom has ever thrown a down in college football at any level. One has a weak arm, but can run fairly well (maybe not well enough to draw up running plays for him, but good), while the other two performed better in spring ball than Coach Dykes expected. Our offensive strategy, in general, is to play quickly, since that will fool the defense, who will not be ready in time for the plays. His strategy for the offensive line is to “give ground” (i.e., be pushed back into the quarterback), because this is a more effective way to defeat tricky moves by the defensive line. After some training, our new recruits were able to get with this approach, rather than flattening their counterparts like they did in high school. We have one “beast” on the offensive line that is 6’8” and 340 pounds – our strategy is to have him come off the bus first to intimidate opponents. We are weak in the secondary.

I wish I were making this up, but each and every statement above is 100% true, straight from the source. It’s over. We are NEVER going to the Rose Bowl. NEVER. We might have several players who do well on “Jeopardy,” but that is about all we have to look forward to this season. My prediction for the Ohio State game (at home this year) is 68-7. You can bet Urban Meyer didn’t tell his best incoming athletes to go find another program…

Dan's Insights
My reaction to Coach Dykes’ presentation was far more positive than my friend’s. Yes, he did spend a lot of time talking about improving the academic standing of our football players, perhaps not what this older alum crowd was really interested in hearing if you put them under truth serum.

He made some interesting remarks about his football philosophy. He said that he was not really about explosive offenses, but about “scoring one more point than your opponent.” If the talent on his squad is conducive to a fast-paced, run/pass Oregon style offense, then so be it. But a team with strong defensive players may favor a different style of play. He was really about developing a strategy based on the team’s strength in any given year.

He also handicapped the three quarterback candidates. He made is seem that there really is an open competition for the spot, with each having his strength and weaknesses. I thought he was surprisingly candid in his assessment of each.

He also mentioned that he was interested in establishing links with former Cal players who are now playing in the NFL and that he had specifically reached out to Aaron Rodgers.

He had much more to say, but I was two vodka tonics into the evening when Coach Dykes took the lectern and I wasn’t taking notes. Everything mentioned in my friend’s email was said by Coach Dykes. That said, I liked Coach Dykes. He also said some good things about Tedford, which went over well with me given everything Tedford did for the Cal program.

All the best, and thanks for all the time you put in to your exceptional blog.


Thanks for the email Dan. A couple of quick thoughts:

Here's my take on the focus on academics. Whether fans want to hear about it or not, Cal's current APR scores were on a path to lead the Bears into sanction hell. We're talking bowl bans, scholarship reductions, etc. And yes, our APR scores are that bad. We needed a turnaround, and quickly. So the emphasis is very much needed at this point.

I'm not sure if I fully believe that the best students make the best athletes, but I do think there is something to be said about instilling a culture of discipline within a number of athletes. If the student-athlete is having to attend every class, you can bet that desire and discipline will carry over onto the field once they digest all it took for them to be there.

I think it's incredibly premature to say whether we're Rose Bowl bound, or poised to continue the drought for the duration of human existence. Do I have my question marks? Sure. I think the coaching hires as a whole have been underwhelming and a bit WAC-ish, and unimpressed by some of the late recruiting offers for 2012. With that said, I think Dykes and company have done some very good things, and I believe we're seeing some of the early signs.

I also don't think this season should be the barometer for evaluating Dykes either. Let's see how this plays out and try to enjoy it as much as we can in the process. Come year three and find that we're still battling for bowl eligibility and low APR scores, then you might find me next to the NegaBear punch. Until then, let's enjoy, I don't know...the MONTH OF APRIL.