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Gotta love these. With closed practices, we shall take whatever we can get, and even in the short 44 seconds, we get some nice clips.
All the players seem to be showing nice intensity and everyone seems to be getting at it. I'm continually impressed by the zip all the QBs are showing on their passes. Rose Bowl!
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We've got more goodies on Day 2, though as Coach Tedford mentioned, "day two was more of a typical day two."
We're fortunate to a number of sites reporting in on Fall Camp action, though yesterday's practice was closed to the media.
CalBears.com was able to witness some plays during 7-7s however, with a few notable plays being the following:
"• A pair of would-be long touchdown passes from Zach Kline to Chris Harper, one each in a team session and a one-on-one matchup
• A long hookup in the corner of the end zone from Zach Maynard to Maurice Harris, with the left-handed quarterback running to his right and finding his wide open cousin for the score
• A long touchdown pass from Allan Bridgford to Richard Rodgers
• A spectacular acrobatic catch by Nathan Phillip during 7-on-7 work
• Big plays by the defense, including interceptions from Willie Fletcher, Josh Hill and Joel Willis, and a fumble recovery by Mustafa Jalil."
I'm reading about a lot of would-be TD passes. Given that it's only the second day of practice, I'm not too concerned about our secondary, but...the Cal fan in me has me paranoid about the secondary.
After the jump, check out some more hits and quotes on yesterday's session.
The Bear Insider has a full breakdown of Coach Tedford's 20 minute interview with the media.
It seems people can't stop asking Coach Tedford about his visit to the New England Patriots to meet with Coach Belichick to better undertand their offense and how to utilize their tight ends.
"On his time in New England: Earlier this year Tedford travelled to visit the New England Patriots to study and observe many things, including how practices were run and professional drills were used, but specifically added that, " ... part of the reason to go there too was (to study) their ability to utilize tight end play, because they've done such a great job of that." In this context Tedford mentioned tight ends Richard Rodgers and Spencer Hagan as potential difference makers."
So it seems that Tedford was also able to glean more than just Tight End use and how the Patriots ran a team from an organizational standpoint. That's exciting news. I'm not sure how open the Patriots have been in allowing these opportunities to other collegiate coaches, but any time you can get a chance to witness the inner workings of one of the most successful professional football teams in the past decade, you got to think that's going to result in some good things.
Ryan Gorcey at BearTerritory.net has a nice writeup of new linebacker Khairi Fortt's first sitdown with the media.
In it, Fortt mentions how he had already been considering transferring out of Penn State prior to the breaking news of the Jerry Sandusky related sanctions. Says Fortt:
"Over these past couple weeks, it's been crazy. I felt, for me, that I needed a change," says Fortt. "I wasn't happy with my situation at Penn State, and it has nothing to do with the current coaches that are there right now, because they did a wonderful job of improving the program over these past seven months that they've been there. I just had to make a change for myself, and I felt like it was needed. It was on-the-field issues, but also off-the-field. Me and my family came to the consensus that this was the best fit for me."
In an interesting contradiction, Fortt states that he had initially be contacted by the coaching staff, but Tedford has told the media that Fortt had first reached out to the coaching after the sanctions came down at PSU. The order to which is fairly irrelevant, but somewhat interesting for those who have wondered whether the coaching staff was proactive about reaching out to Fortt.
Overall, the team isn't in pads yet, working only in helmets, though they'll be dressed in shells today and Tuesday, and will go full pads for the first time on Wednesday. Hoping for no injuries but some hard knocks then.
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Here's a look around at some of the different fall practice reports.
You know fall ball has started when Jim McGill over at the Bear Insider is bringing quality reports.
McGill spoke glowingly about the freshmen:
"Two of the most-anticipated freshman didn't disappoint with early entrant Zach Kline continuiing the promising development shown in spring practice and Bryce Treggs, who electrified the small crowd with speed, moves and hands reminiscent of, dare I say it, DeSean Jackson, who also wore #1 during is days in Berkeley.
On one play in particular, Treggs put a move on safety Michael Coley, who's back and healthy, leaving Coley in the dust after biting on a fake before Treggs hauled in a pass from Bridgford."
McGill also mentioned freshman tackle Freddie Tagaloa's massive frame, Matt Cochran's improved frame as well as Kline staying behind after practice with the other freshmen wide receivers to practice some routes. All exciting news, especially in regards to Bryce Treggs, as he continues to exceed every expectation placed on him so far from his recruiting process to offseason workouts. It's obviously very early on, but again, I'd be shocked if Treggs isn't in the top three receivers to start by the end of camp.
Nam Le, a contributor for the Bear Insider also has a report up with a few more details.
Penn State transfer Khairi Fortt will probably attend Sunday's practice. Tedford reported that he would arrive into the Bay Area late Saturday. Whether he would immediately slip into a starting position was much less clear: "We'll see. We'll see how it goes. He still has to learn the defense. I think the speed of the game, and all that kind of thing, we don't really have to worry about, since [Fortt's] played in some big time games already, so you don't worry about the 'big eyes' at all. It's just a matter of understanding what we're trying to do here."
It's looking more and more like there's a fair chance that Fortt might redshirt this year. He's still recovering from his knee injury that sidelined him through spring practice, plus the entire matter of him needing to learn Clancy Pendergast's 3-4 scheme at Cal. Given that he has three years to play two for the Bears, it would be a bit of waste of a year of eligibility to try and rush him along and risk further injury.
Some more bits, particularly about special teams after the jump.
Jeff Faraudo of BearTalk includes some bits of info including the Bears' starting five offensive linemen, at least for the rest round of 7 on 7s.
Tedford reiterated that the offensive line will be a work in progress, with lots of interchangeable parts early in fall camp. But here’s the group that lined up with the first team on Saturday: LT Tyler Rigsbee, LG Jordan Rigsbee, C Brian Schwenke, RG Geoffrey Gibson, RT Matt Summers-Gavin.
I completely believe when I hear about that starting offensive line being fluid, but don't be surprised at all to see that be your top five for the opener. A lot of it will depend on the development of some younger players. I continue to hear good things about Chris Adcock, who could potentially slide in at guard or center, and the big wild cards might the development of freshman tackle Freddie Tagaloa and center Matt Cochran. But physically fit the mold, but will need to show a lot of poise and understanding if they look to make an impact as true frosh, something pretty rare for offensive linemen at the collegiate level.
If you're a subscriber to BearTerritory.net, Ryan Gorcey looks to have tons of material and video footage up. Gorcey is honestly one of the hardest working Cal reporters out there, so BearTerritory is certainly worth a look.
Even if you aren't he has a nice writeup about Special Teams and Defense which includes the following nuggets about true freshman punter Cole Leininger:
Leininger regularly boomed drives up into the mist, nearly disappearing.
"Sigh of relief," Tedford laughed. "Through the summer, I've asked some of the snappers, 'Hey, how's the punter doing?' 'Well, coach, he hits them so high.' That was the first kick I saw him kick today. There's no doubt. Day One, no rush, no nothing, not 70,000 fans screaming at him with the clock running down and all the stuff that goes with it, but he's a pretty cool customer. I've really been pleased through the recruiting process, knowing what type of kid he is and how he handles himself and things like that. I was pleased to see that he really has ability."
Special Teams has actually been my biggest concern about this team heading into fall ball, given the Bears have the daunting task of replacing two very good kicking specialists in kicker Giorgio Tavecchio and NFL draftee (3rd round bitches!) punter Bryan Anger. I'm nearly as relieved as Tedford in hearing about Leininger's leg. It seems like it was only yesterday that those taking in spring practice all oohed and aahed when witnessing Bryan Anger's punts for the first time. Here's hoping Leininger can do the same.
Cal Athletics has continued their nice spring tradition of creating a quick video recap of the practice that you can watch below. You can actually see the move Treggs makes on Lowe!
Finally, Doug Drabik at Cal Bears Blog has some video footage of post practice interviews with Coach Tedford and starting QB Zach Maynard.
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I wanted to wait on this until after we all got some official word, but it looks like it's pretty final at this point.
Penn State Linebacker Khairi Fortt has decided that he will transfer from Penn State and join the Bears immediately.
In the wake of the horrific Jerry Sandusky scandal and the ensuing coverup by the coaches and administration, Penn State was hit by massive NCAA sanctions which include: a $60 million sanction, a four-year football postseason ban and a vacation of all wins dating to 1998, and a reduction of 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period.
Players were then given the option by the NCAA to leave the school while still maintaining eligibility for the 2012 season.
Khairi Fortt, a starting middle linebacker for the Nittany Lions has decided to take advantage of the opportunity by joining the Golden Bears. This is not the first time Fortt has interacted with the Bears, with Cal having been one of Fortt's finalists for colleges during his All-American high school recruiting season.
Fortt was considered the 5th best linebacker in the nation by Rivals, and the 2nd best linebacker in the nation by ESPN. As a true freshman, Fortt made 17 tackles, including one for loss, recording the most hits among true freshmen. Fortt made his first career start and responded with a season-high 11 tackles, including one for a loss.
During his sophomore campaign, Fortt played in every game and recorded 6.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks among his 33 tackles.
Needless to say, Fortt should contend for immediate playing time. Fortt is still recovering from a knee injury and could redshirt, but otherwise he could contribute right away. The inside linebacking corps has now suddenly been bolstered with the presence of four prep All-Americans (Dave Wilkerson, Nick Forbes, Jason Gibson, Khairi Fortt) and some veteran players in Robert Mullins and JP Hurrell.
This is a huge get for the Bears, and suddenly the Bears' linebacking corps is looking very, very interesting.
The Bears' outside linebacking corps was got a big time boost yesterday with the news that Cecil Whiteside had been reinstated to the team. Whiteside had been dismissed for undisclosed reasons but had apparently done enough during the summer to show that he was ready to make things right and turn things around.
Whiteside joins a bevy of other former All-Americans in Chris McCain and Brennan Scarlett. While Whiteside is unlikely to unseat McCain for a starting spot, he'll get plenty of opportunity to show off his playmaking abilities. In his limited time last year, Whiteside registered 17 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, one pass breakup and a team-high-tying two forced fumbles.
After a number of question marks, the Bears have suddenly emerged with the talent to have one of the most dominant linebacking corps in the conference.
Yesterday, the bay area media gathered to glean what they could from coaches and players representing Cal and Stanford. Oh, and San Jose State, forgot about them. Sorry.
Nothing real big came out of the remarks or Q and As other than the big news from CBS Sports' John Breech that outside linebacker Cecil Whiteside had been reinstated. I'll have more on that in my other post assuming the possible news story that Penn State linebacker Khairi Fortt will be joining the Bears in the wake of the Penn State scandal. Stay tuned for that one.
In the meanwhile, check out a few videos from Cal Athletics featuring behind the scenes footage of Cal safety Josh Hill and star wide receiver Keenan Allen.
After the jump, another video of Tedford addressing the media and some highlights from yesterday.
Below, Tedford speaks.
Other than the Whiteside news, there wasn't anything too big. With guard Dominic Galas likely lost for the year due to a torn pectoral injury, the Bears are looking at Chris Adcock filling in at the right guard spot. Bigman Geoffrey Gibson may also get a look there, or at right tackle, and the Bears are excited to see what incoming freshmen Matt Cochran, Freddie Tagaloa and Matt Cochran can do.
The emphasis in spring ball offensively will be to get the wide receivers up to speed. Tedford stated that at the very least, three, if not all five incoming freshman wide receivers will be expected to contribute. The Bears currently have just one scholarship wide receiver other than Keenan Allen, cousin Maurice Harris.
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