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Who's excited for a coaching search?! Jeff Faraudo is ahead of the game and posted a comprehensive list of candidates for the position. Might we be interested in a Bay Area guy?
RANDY BENNETT, Saint Mary’s
Credentials: The Gaels’ all-time winningest coach with a 14-year record of 286-137. Bennett, 51, guided Saint Mary’s into the Sweet 16 in 2010. SMC was 23-12 this season, interrupting a run of six straight years of at least 25 victories.
Positives: Has led the Gaels to five NCAA tournament berths since 2005 — as many or more than any Bay Area school over the same time frame, including Cal.
Negatives: Faced a five-game this past season as part of sanctions for NCAA violations that included impermissible workouts and benefits and a failure to monitor charge.
What about a former Pac-12 coach?
BEN HOWLAND
Credentials: The 56-year-old has won at every stop, with a career record of 398-205. He was 233-107 in 10 seasons at UCLA, reestablishing the Bruins as a West Coast power. Previously coached at Northern Arizona and Pitt. Mentioned the past week as a candidate for the Marquette job.
Positives: Guided the Bruins to three straight Final Fours through 2008, their best run since the John Wooden era.
Concerns: Age and style of play. Pauley Pavilion fans embraced the low-scoring, defense-oriented Bruins during the Final Four years, but came in fewer numbers when the Bruins won just two NCAA tournament games in a span of five seasons ending in 2013.
Or a current Pac-12 coach's brother?
ARCHIE MILLER, Dayton
Credentials: At 35, Miller directed the Flyers to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament after a decisive win over Stanford last week. He is 63-38 in three seasons, including 26-11 this year. Dayton beat Cal by 18 points at the Maui Invitational in November.
Positives: The younger brother of Arizona coach Sean Miller is familiar with the Pac-12, having spent two seasons as associate head coach for the Wildcats.
Concerns: The Bears might have to move quickly to get him. Rewarded last week with a contract extension through 2018, Miller nonetheless has been mentioned for job vacancies at Wake Forest and Marquette.
There's no shortage of candidates. These next few weeks should be fun as the coaching search begins.
Tennis
- Anett Schutting's singles win helped propel the thirteenth-ranked Bears to a win over no. 29 Arizona.
- The no. 16 men's team defeated Utah in Salt Lake City.
Softball
- The Bears tallied 18 hits in a 13-3 win over Oregon State. Cal won the weekend series, as rain forced the cancellation of the other two games.
Baseball
Basketball
- After 32 years of coaching at the collegiate level, Mike Montgomery announce his retirement on Monday.
- Monty gave a strong endorsement for current assistant coach Travis DeCuire as his successor.
Football
- Uncle Ted rounds up the Pac-12's latest NFL Draft assessments. Richard Rodgers is the only Bear mentioned and is rated as the no. 8 tight end.
- Dykes and Franklin plan on easing Goff into the mix. He will split reps early on and get several days off.
- Sonny Dykes expects big things from Brennan Scarlett, who is reportedly 100%.
- One of the biggest challenges this spring will be turning around the worst defense in school history. DC Art Kaufman plans on giving his players a fresh start instead of evaluating his players based on their performances last spring.