Jeff Tedford

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Jeff Tedford
Tedford in May 2009
College	University of California
Sport	Football
Team record	59–30
Born	November 2, 1961 (1961-11-02) (age 47)
Place of birth	Lynwood, CA
Career highlights
Overall	59–30
Bowls	5–1
Coaching stats
College Football DataWarehouse
Championships
2006 Pac-10 Co-Championship
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)
1992 1993-1997 1998-2001 2002-present	Fresno State (QB coach) Fresno State (OC) Oregon (OC) California

Jeff Tedford (born November 2, 1961 in Lynwood, California) is an American football coach and the current head coach of the California Golden Bears football team, a position he has held since 2002. As a first-time head coach, Tedford has won wide acclaim for revitalizing the Cal football program.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Tedford was born in Lynwood, California the youngest of five children to Joe and Betty Tedford. Tedford's parents divorced before he turned 10. His brother Dennis, 10 years his senior, helped raise Tedford, taking him on camping trips and driving him to football practice and games.^[1] Tedford attended Warren High School in Downey, California, where he was a letterman in football, playing quarterback and earning an All-League selection. Tedford graduated from Warren High School in 1979.

[edit] College

After high school, Tedford enrolled at Cerritos College, becoming the first member of his family to attend college.^[1] He spent two years playing quarterback at Cerritos 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). As a senior, Tedford led the Bulldogs to a Pacific Coast Athletic Association conference championship and a last-second, 29-28 come-from-behind victory in the 1982 California Bowl.^[2]

After graduating with a Bachelors of Science degree in physical education in 1983, Tedford played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for six seasons with Hamilton, Calgary, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg.

[edit] Coaching career

[edit] Early coaching career

After retiring as a player, Tedford became a volunteer assistant coach at Fresno State (1987–1988) under his former coach Jim Sweeney. He then coached as an offensive assistant for the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL (1989–1991); returned to Fresno State as quarterback coach (1992); was promoted to offensive coordinator at Fresno State (1993–1997); 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). ^[3]

[edit] Cal

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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 2003 Insight Bowl. The Bears won 5 of their last 6 games.

Tedford accepts the 2006 Holiday Bowl trophy

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. It was Cal's first 10-win regular season since 1949. 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.^[7]

Tedford (center) at the 2008 Big Game

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. ^[8]

The 2007 campaign saw the Bears jump out to a 5–0 start and a No. 2 national ranking, Cal's highest since 1951.^[9] 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.^[10][11] Nevertheless, Cal was invited to a fifth straight bowl game for the first time in program history. Cal defeated Air Force 42-36 in the Armed Forces Bowl, giving Tedford and Cal a sixth-straight winning season.

Tedford declared there would be open competition for all positions on the team in 2008.^[12] 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.^[13] He named Kevin Riley his starter for the opening game of the 2008 season, but inconsistent play and injury to Riley led him to vacillate between Riley and Nate Longshore as the starter for parts of the season. However, with a much improved defense in place, Tedford led the Bears to a 9-4 overall record and a perfect 7-0 record at home. Cal accepted an invitation to play in the Emerald Bowl, the program's sixth-straight bowl appearance, where they defeated the University of Miami, 24-17. After the season, Tedford agreed to a two-year contract extension through 2015.^[14]

For the 2009 season, Tedford declared that the starting quarterback position would be decided by competition between Riley and redshirt freshman Brock Mansion.^[15]

[edit] Tedford's quarterbacks

Tedford is known as a groomer of NFL quarterbacks. Some of his prospects have achieved major success in the NFL, notably Super Bowl winner Trent Dilfer and also the Green Bay Packers' successor to Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, who passed for over 4,000 yards in his first full-time season at Green Bay.

Admittedly, there were some disappointments, such as Joey Harrington, who was unable to mimic his NCAA success, but there has been speculation as to whether or not Harrington's success has been related to his early start in a very poorly-rated organization at the Detroit Lions. Harrington, was the best quarterback at Detroit during his stint, despite criticism, and he was even voted best team player during that time.

Tedford 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.

[edit] Tedford's running backs

Ron Gould, the sole assistant coach to stay from previous head coach Tom Holmoe, in October 2008

Though known primarily for his quarterbacks, Tedford, along with running backs coach Ron Gould, has produced seven consecutive 1000-yard rushers during his tenure at Cal.^[16]

• 2002: Joe Igber (1,130 yards)
• 2003: Adimchinobi Echemandu (1,195 yards)
• 2004: J. J. Arrington (2,018 yards)
• 2005: Marshawn Lynch (1,246 yards)
• 2006: Marshawn Lynch (1,356 yards)
• 2007: Justin Forsett (1,546 yards)
• 2008: Jahvid Best (1,580 yards)

[edit] Personal

Tedford lives with his wife Donna in Danville, California. They have two sons, Taylor and Quinn.^[17]

[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. After the 2008 season, he holds a 6-1 record in the Big Game.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jeff Tedford

• Tedford Bio at Calbears.com