Sonny Dykes To Cal Is Official

Cal Athletics has released their official statement.

Sonny Dykes, one of the brightest offensive minds in the country who directed the nation's top-ranked scoring offense at Louisiana Tech this past season, has been named head football coach at the University of California, Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour announced Wednesday.

"Sonny Dykes is one of the brightest offensive minds in the country, running a high-octane style of football, one that I'm certain will allow our student-athletes to thrive and that our community will love on gameday," Barbour said. "However, it was far more than his history of a top-ranked offense and his proven success on the football field that solidified my decision; it was the way he described his responsibility to the University at large and his commitment to creating a climate of comprehensive excellence and success for his student-athletes. We discussed the unique place that Berkeley and Cal Athletics occupy in higher education, standing for both academic and athletic excellence. Above all, Sonny values the opportunity to develop relationships with and have an impact on his student-athletes, staff and community."

If you want some more inside information, we have a professor from LaTech who dropped in to the first thread to give us some information on Dykes. Here is what he had to say:

LA Tech prof and fan here...

Thought I’d add in a few thoughts to your conversation, in no particular order…

-Y’all got a good coach. I’ve watched Sonny come in and take a pretty decent foundation left by Dooley and build on it, and I can see him doing something similar at Cal.

-He’s an excellent offensive coach and has a great way with players. They respect him, play hard for him, go to class, and stay out of trouble away from the field (there’s a lot to be said for that these days).

-Hope like hell he hires a good DC, because he won’t have much to do with that side of the ball.

-What he’s been able to accomplish here, with the financial limitations he faced, has been pretty astounding. I can’t even begin to explain the lack of resources this place has. Not only that, he was faced with a staggering amount of apathy from the fanbase. Case in point: with the team at 9-1, and Orange Bowl reps in attendance, playing what was essentially a conference championship game, every business in town was GIVING away tickets in order to get a respectable crowd. The stadium was still only 2/3 full (and the stadium only holds about 32k.

-The missed bowl opportunity lies squarely at the feet of the AD, who arrogantly made his decisions without consulting the coach.

-The university didn’t make a counter-offer to keep him because there’s no money to do so. We are about to face our 6th consecutive year of mid-year budget cuts. As an example of how difficult it is to raise money here: Two years ago, the university announced a capital campaign to build a new football complex behind one of the endzones, to include some luxury boxes. The goal was to have the money raised…in TEN years!

-Tech fan hate to see him go, though we knew it would happen eventually. Seriously, what coach would want to stay after that bowl fiasco? Good luck to him and to y’all.

Meet it is I set it down that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain--Hamlet, I, v

by PBCrook on Dec 5, 2012 5:36 PM PST reply actions 15 recs

That actually really helps me feel better about this call. Plus, I'm going to give Sandy the benefit of the doubt on this. I think she's earned it! GO BEARS!