Jeff Tedford

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Jeff Tedford
College	University of California
Sport	Football
Team record	50–26
Born	November 2, 1961 (1961-11-02) (age 46)
Place of birth	Lynwood, CA
Career highlights
Overall	50–26
Coaching stats
College Football DataWarehouse
Awards
2002 Pac-10 Coach of the Year 2004 Pac-10 Coach of the Year
Playing career
1981-82	Fresno State
Position	QB
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2002-present	California

Jeff Tedford (born November 2, 1961 in Lynwood, California) is the current head coach of the University of California Golden Bears college football program, a position he has held since 2002. A first-time head coach, Tedford has won wide acclaim for turning the once-downtrodden Cal football program into a national power. He lives with his wife Donna and their two sons in Danville, California.

[edit] Early History

Tedford grew up in Downey, California where he attended Warren High School, graduating in 1979. After high school, he spent two years playing quarterback at Cerritos College followed by two years at Fresno State, where he established several passing records, including career marks for passing yardage (4,872) and touchdown passes (35). After graduating with a B.S. degree in physical education in 1983, Tedford played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for six seasons with Hamilton, Calgary, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg.

After retiring as a player, Tedford became a volunteer assistant coach at Fresno State (1987-1988). He then coached as an offensive assistant for the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL (1989-1991); returned to Fresno State as quarterback coach (1992-1997); and worked as offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon (1998-2001). During his time at Oregon, the Ducks notched a Pac-10-best record of 38-10 while finishing progressively better each year (8-4 in 1998, 9-3 in 1999, 10-2 in 2000 and 11-1 in 2001). ^[1]

[edit] Cal Head Coach

After previous Cal coach Tom Holmoe resigned from his post amid a 1-10 season in 2001, worst in Cal's history, athletic director Steve Gladstone hired Tedford to become Cal's 32nd head football coach. During his time at Cal, Tedford has become known for his work ethic, often working late hours in his office and sleeping on an air mattress.^[2] In evidence of his turnaround of the Cal program, season ticket sales jumped from 16,200 in 2002 to 41,336 in 2007, setting new records each year from 2004 through 2007.^[3]

In Tedford's first season (2002), he led the Golden Bears to a 7-5 record, their first winning football season since 1993, the nation's biggest turnaround of the year, and was named Pac-10 coach of the year. The Bears ended a 19-game losing streak to Washington and a seven-game losing streak to Stanford in the Big Game. After the season, Tedford signed a five-year contract through 2007 to replace his original four-year contract, which ran through 2005.^[4]

In the 2003 season, Tedford's record of 8-6 included the upset of eventual national co-champion University of Southern California in triple overtime, as well as a 52-49 shootout victory against Virginia Tech in the Insight Bowl. The Bears won 5 of their last 6 games. Inspired by the dramatic turnaround in the team's fortunes, t-shirt vendors outside Memorial Stadium began offering "Tedford is God" shirts during the 2003 season.

2006 Holiday Bowl

In the 2004 football season, the Bears finished with a No. 9 national ranking in both the AP Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll with a 10-2 record. Tedford was named Pac-10 coach of the year for a second time. The team was undefeated at home, and was ranked as high as No. 4 before losing to Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl. Following the regular season, Tedford signed an extension of his contract through 2009, which nearly doubled his base salary to $1.5 million per year; in the deal he also had the pay of his assistant coaches raised significantly.^[5]

In 2005, the Bears finished with a No. 25 national ranking in both the AP Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll with an 8-4 record. Cal rose as high as No. 10 in the AP Poll and No. 9 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll in week 6 before losing to UCLA 47-40. They beat BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl, 35-28.

In 2006, the Bears recorded an eight-game win-streak, including five straight games scoring 40 or more points, rising as high as No. 8 in the AP poll, and remaining undefeated at home. The Bears finished the season with a 45-10 Holiday Bowl victory over Texas A&M, a No. 14 ranking, and an overall 10-3 record. The Bears were also co-champions of the Pac-10 for the first time since 1975. Following the season, Tedford signed a contract extension through 2013, which raised his base salary to $1.8 million per year and included significant performance and retention bonuses. ^[6]

The 2007 campaign saw the Bears jump out to a 5-0 start and a No. 2 national ranking, Cal's highest since 1951.^[7] However, this was followed by losses in six of the seven final regular season games, including Tedford's first losses as head coach to Washington and Stanford to end the regular season. During the losing streak, Tedford's play-calling was the subject of criticism.^[8][9] Nevertheless, Cal was invited to a fifth straight bowl game for the first time in program history, the Armed Forces Bowl, a 42-36 victory over Air Force, giving Tedford and Cal a sixth-straight winning season. On the day preceding the Armed Forces Bowl, Tedford declared there would be open competition for all positions on the team in 2008.^[10] In early January, Tedford reorganized his coaching staff, most notably hiring Frank Cignetti as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Tedford said he would give some of the play calling responsibility to Cignetti so he could spend more time with on special teams and defensive players.^[11] Tedford also hired Al Simmons as defensive backs coach. Tedford said he would reevaluate every aspect of Cal's football program and would make changes after Cal's disappointing season.^[12]

[edit] NFL Quarterbacks

Tedford is known as a groomer of NFL quarterbacks. He coached each of the following first round NFL draft picks at the quarterback position:

• Fresno State
  • Trent Dilfer 6th overall 1994, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Oregon
  • Akili Smith 3rd overall 1999, Cincinnati Bengals
  • Joey Harrington 3rd overall 2002, Detroit Lions
• California
  • Kyle Boller 19th overall 2003, Baltimore Ravens
  • Aaron Rodgers 24th overall 2005, Green Bay Packers

Tedford also coached Billy Volek, a backup quarterback for the San Diego Chargers, and A.J. Feeley, a backup quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Dilfer won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, but the fact that neither he nor any other Tedford-coached quarterback drafted into the NFL has yet become a star seems to demonstrate that Tedford has a talent for bringing out the best in quarterbacks working directly under his guidance and that he is ideally suited to coach college football.

[edit] Head coaching record

Before his arrival, Cal had not possessed the Stanford Axe in 7 years but he won it back for the Golden Bears in his first attempt and his teams have won 5 out of 6 since. After the 2007 season, he holds a 5-1 record in the Big Game.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Tedford Bio at Calbears.com