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Friday, December 13, 2002
No California dreaming for Tedford
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
PHOENIX -- When speaking about his Duck players, you'd hardly know that Oregon's offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford will trade in his green and yellow warmups for the less-prestigious blue and gold colors that reign in Berkeley following Tuesday's Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
|  | | Jeff Tedford says he's not concentrating on his new job at Cal yet. |
During Saturday morning's news conference, Tedford spoke like a confident coach ready to start planning his 2002 campaign on January 3rd or 4th -- regardless of what happens at Sun Devil Stadium -- rather than one who'll be off on a wild recruiting chase trying to convince anyone who will listen that Cal is going to be competitive again in the Pac-10, even though the Bears had the exact opposite of the Ducks' 10-1 record in 2001.
This happens all the time. The most recent example came a year ago when longtime Florida State offensive whiz Mark Richt presided over Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke and the potent Seminoles' unit for the national championship against Oklahoma in the FedEx Orange Bowl after accepting the head job at Georgia. The talented ex-quarterback didn't appear to have one foot out the door in preparation for such a battle, but critics had several questions for him when his usually prolific offense failed to score a point against the Sooners.
So it was fair to ask how much Tedford is thinking about Cal and the enormous task at hand these days even while preparing to face the Buffs.
"I have really tried not to think about that at all," said Tedford, who kept a straight face amid the smirks his comments caused. "After I got the job and organized the staff -- I went down one day and organized the staff -- and what direction we wanted to go with recruiting. I've tried not to even think about that. I've tried to stay focused with what's going on here. After this game, I'll just kind of change hats and go the other direction.
"But I'm not trying to juggle that at all right now. This is all about Colorado and that's all I'm focused on."
When the fourth-year assistant with the Ducks was asked about what drew him to the conference's cellar dweller, his eyes did seem to light up.
"It's a Pac-10 job," he said matter-of-factly. "It's a situation where you can recruit to. It is a challenge, though."
That's quite an understatement. Yet, as a Northern California guy who played and coached for several years at Fresno State, he knows the lay of the land and has connections within the wildly talented high school leagues out there. Even though he says that "Cal has always been on the edge" of being a major factor, it'll take quite a dog and pony show to convince local talent such as Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey to stay close to home. Tedford will be able to stand behind his record of having guided Akili Smith and A.J. Feeley -- both NFL draft picks -- as well as a sure-fire top pick this spring in Pac-10 Player of the Year Joey Harrington.
Tedford is confident that can happen because people are starting to get serious at Cal's athletic department.
"They have a commitment to football," he said, noting Cal has a new administration and has several plans in place to upgrade its facilities right away, starting with the press box and weight room.
Immediately after finishing his thoughts on his soon-to-be home, his attention came right back to Oregon, something head coach Mike Bellotti is confident will be the only thing on his mind for a friend who will soon be a rival.
"It's a feeling of pride, but also a feeling of sadness," said Bellotti, who has gone 20-3 the past two seasons. "I like Jeff Tedford as a person and as a coach. I respect him and wish him well. I'll wish him well in every game except one. When you have success, that happens. Good people are going to be noticed."
Big Red fans amongst Buffs?
So what if Nebraska beating Miami coupled with a Colorado victory over Oregon could lead to a split national title for the Big Red and Buffaloes? That doesn't mean that certain Buffalo players will automatically root for Eric Crouch and Co. on Jan. 3.
"I won't be," said free safety Robbie Robinson. "I will never root for Nebraska until the day I die. That's just the way it is."
If Colorado does prevail, Robinson may just not watch the game so he isn't faced with such a scenario.
Defensive tackle Justin Bannan hates the idea, but is a little more open to it considering what it could mean.
"I don't know if I can honestly say I can root for Nebraska," he said. "But I guess I'll have to."
Come through, Coach, please
After seeing what No. 9 Texas did to No. 20 Washington in the Culligan Holday Bowl in a 47-43 victory, Colorado head coach Gary Barnett had a message for his co-defensive coordinator Vince Okruch.
"(Barnett) called me last night after the Texas-Washington game and said, 'DON'T do this to me.'"
"I said, 'Coach, I don't want to do this to you. I'm sitting here in a cold sweat as well.'"
Speaking of the Longhorns, in watching all of this year's games and a few last year, Okruch couldn't find many flaws in Joey Harrington's game.
"I've only seen him rattled once, and that was last year's Holiday Bowl," he said, referencing last year's 35-30 Ducks' victory. "Texas is a complete man-to-man team and they gave a man look and fell into three-deep coverage and he threw an interception."
Ready to go
Colorado has no injuries to report, while Oregon only has one: wide receiver Jason Willis sprained his right thumb in Friday afternoon's practice.
"I don't think it's going to be a problem," said Bellotti of the junior. "I know he'll play."
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online. He can be reached at marc.connolly@abc.com.
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