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"This is a dream come true ... I am here to provide leadership, to create an environment for these athletes, both athletically and academically, that they can flourish in ... our team will be disciplined, our team will play hard, our team will play fast, they will have a lot of fun, but they will do it with class ... it will be something that you can always be proud of as Cal boosters, alumni and supporters. I have a goal and a vision that the University of California, through hard work and dedication, can get to where we are competing for the Pac-10 championship and at a national level. I am going to put together a staff that is going to care for the young men both on and off the field, that are great teachers, interested in their academics, interested in these kids in how they grow up, and that we can make an impression on their character that will last further than just the University of California ... again, I want to let you all know just how excited I am to be here, and how much of a great opportunity I believe that this is, that we can get this turned around and headed in the right direction."
- Jeff Tedford introductory press conference, opening statement, Dec. 12, 2001
Just over seven years after those introductory words, Jeff Tedford has not only built the California football program into one of the top programs in the Pacific-10 Conference, but he has also lifted the Golden Bears into the national picture and he has remained true to his ideals of playing with class and excelling in the classroom and in the community.
Under Tedford's leadership, the Golden Bears have climbed into the AP National Top 10 in each of the last four seasons, finishing in the Top-25 three times. The program has advanced to five straight bowl games for the first time in history, winning four of those to make Tedford the first Cal mentor with more than two bowl victories. Cal's 50 wins in the past six seasons are the most in a six-year stretch by the program in over 50 years - in the six years before Tedford's arrival, the Bears had 18 victories total. In addition, Tedford has also had 61 players recognized as Academic All-Conference. Of the 126 seniors who have played for Tedford, 112 (89%) have earned their degrees and/or gone on to NFL careers. All of this from a team which won just one game in 2001, the year prior to his arrival. The California football renaissance rates as one of the most impressive turnarounds in college football history.
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"Coach Tedford wasn't just a coach, I think of him as more like a father figure. He taught us lessons about life. He taught us to have integrity, to have character. He prepared us to be men."
All-Pac-10 linebacker and current Green Bay Packer Desmond Bishop
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Since Tedford's arrival, Cal has risen to No. 2 in the Pac-10 in television exposure, a dramatic increase over the years before Tedford. Sixty Cal games have been televised in six years under Tedford; in the six years prior to that, 35 Cal games were televised. National television broadcasts have more than doubled in that time. In 2007, for the first time ever, all 13 Golden Bear contests were televised.
Despite his success, Tedford remains devoted to being a mentor to the young men on his football team.
"Football is more than a game," he said. "I think it teaches so many values for young people as they move on into life - teamwork, sacrifice, dedication, hard work - all those things are very valuable to their futures. I'm going to be a person that they can trust and talk to while they're here, but I really, really hope that when they leave, they understand that they can come back and ask me for anything and count on me in any situation."
His legendary work-ethic, exemplified by the well-used air mattress in his office, shows the coach's drive, which is not geared towards individual success. His true goals are for success as a team, and success for his student-athletes.
"Jeff is the hardest worker I have ever encountered in this business," Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour said. "He is not going to be outworked, because he believes he owes that to his student-athletes."
That relentless drive developed in Tedford as a young football player in Downey, Calif., and at Warren High School. After a solid high school career, the undersized quarterback went on to a standout two-year stint at Cerritos College and a record-setting two-year stay at Fresno State. During his days as a Bulldog, he established several passing records, including career marks for passing yardage (4,872) and touchdown passes (35), while earning honorable mention All-America notice in 1982 when he set school standards for yards passing (2,993) and TD passes (24).
After receiving a B.S. degree in physical education from Fresno State in 1983, Tedford played pro football in the Canadian Football League for six seasons with Hamilton, Calgary, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg. He completed 54 percent of his passes during his career, appearing in the league's championship game with Hamilton in 1984.
Tedford has used his own signal-calling experience to build a reputation as a quarterbacks guru. During his 16-year collegiate coaching career at California, Oregon (1998-2001) and Fresno State (1992-97), Tedford has been integral in the development of six NFL First-Round Draft picks, including Trent Dilfer, Akili Smith, Joey Harrington, David Carr, Kyle Boller and Aaron Rodgers. In 2004, Rodgers, an under-the-radar junior-college transfer like Tedford, ranked No. 8 nationally in passing efficiency, completing 66.1 percent of his passes for 2,566 yards and 24 touchdowns with only eight interceptions.
Despite his success with quarterbacks, Tedford's teams feature balanced attacks and have become notorious for their ferocity on the ground. In his last nine years as a coach, Tedford has seen 10 1,000-yard rushing seasons by his tailbacks. In 2004, J.J. Arrington broke Chuck Muncie's school season record with 2,018 yards, which ranked No. 1 in the NCAA. In 2007, Justin Forsett's 1,546 rushing yards were the second-best in Cal history, following up back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons from Marshawn Lynch, who was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the No. 12 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
While offense has been Tedford's forte, California's defense has toughened considerably during his reign as well, allowing an average of just 22.4 points per game during his six-year tenure, second-best in the Pac-10 over that period. In 2004, Cal ranked eighth nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 16.0 points per game, while in 2005, the Golden Bears led the Pac-10 in scoring defense, allowing just 21.2 points per game.
Tedford's combination of precision passing (the Bears have completed 102 pass plays of 20 or more yards in the last two years) and relentless rushing, as well as his pairing of potent offense and relentless defense has led to six straight seven-win seasons, including eight wins in four of the last five years. The Golden Bears posted 10 wins for the seventh time in school history in 2006. Prior to his arrival in Berkeley, Tedford was a highly regarded offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Oregon, where the Ducks finished ranked No. 2 nationally in 2001.
Tedford played an integral role in the rise of the Oregon program during his four-year tenure in Eugene - a period in which the Ducks posted the Pac-10's best record of 38-10 while finishing progressively better each year (8-4 in '98, 9-3 in '99, 10-2 in '00 and 11-1 in '01). During his first season as offensive coordinator, the Ducks set school records in passing yards, total offense and points scored. Tedford's passing acumen was clearly evident in the rapid development of Smith, who earned Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year accolades in finishing second in the nation in passing efficiency and later being chosen third in the 1999 NFL Draft by Cincinnati. Cal's coach continued to work his magic during his final three seasons at Oregon.
Duck quarterbacks A.J. Feeley and Harrington combined to pass for 3,131 yards and 24 TDs on the Sun Bowl champion team that ranked 13th nationally in scoring in '99, while the 2000 team tied for the Pac-10 crown and defeated Texas in the Holiday Bowl. Tedford's last Oregon squad, which bagged wins over Colorado, Washington State, UCLA and Wisconsin en route to a No. 2 ranking, showcased one of the nation's premier quarterbacks in Harrington, who won Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year honors and a fourth-place finish in the Heisman balloting.
In 1992 as quarterback coach at Fresno State, Tedford began honing the skills of Dilfer, who quarterbacked Baltimore to a Super Bowl victory in 2001. Under his guidance, the Bulldogs' quarterback earned first team All-WAC honors for an offense that led the nation in scoring (44.2 points per game), ranked second nationally in total offense (541.9 yards per game) and beat USC in the Freedom Bowl. A season later, Tedford moved up to offensive coordinator, and Fresno State ranked third nationally in scoring and total offense in earning an Aloha Bowl invitation. Dilfer ranked first nationally in passing (173.1 rating) and won the WAC Offensive Player of the Year award; the Bulldog signal caller later was chosen by Tampa Bay with the sixth overall selection of the 1994 NFL Draft.
"I believe Jeff's one of the finest minds in all of football," said NFL veteran Dilfer. "He's certainly the finest coach I've ever been around. He's a great leader and great teacher. He has very high expectations for himself and the people around him. And he will work tirelessly to meet those expectations. Jeff taught me more about toughness and the game of football than any coach I've ever played for, and I've had some awfully good coaches. To this day, I still consult him on all major issues that I'm facing in football."
Tedford's coaching career began as a volunteer assistant at Fresno State in 1987, spending two years there before joining Calgary in the CFL in 1989. He served as an offensive assistant with the Stampeders for three seasons, including the 1991 team that advanced to the Grey Cup title game.
Despite his tremendous success as a coach and a mentor, Tedford still follows a basic philosophy, "We try to focus on one game at a time and try to reach our full potential" and still values each and every member of his football team, "whether it be the guys who are suited up, the guys who are going to play 50-60 plays or the guys who aren't going to play at all, I want them all to understand that they are very, very important to the success of the program. Their contributions are invaluable."
Tedford's hard work and dedication not only inspire his players to give the same toward the success of California football, it has made him a role model to the young men who are part of the Cal program.
"Coach Tedford wasn't just a coach, I think of him as more like a father figure," All-Pac-10 linebacker and current Green Bay Packer Desmond Bishop said. "He taught us lessons about life. He taught us to have integrity, to have character. He prepared us to be men."
