Cal officially names Brandon Jones offensive line coach

Cal officially has their offensive line coach. East Carolina offensive line coach Brandon Jones is replacing Zach Yenser as the new leader of the big Bear uglies in the trenches.

Thank you ECU football and Pirate Nation for the opportunity to be apart of a great program the last 5 yrs FOREVER THANKFUL AND GRATEFUL!!

— Brandon Jones (@CoachJonesB) January 19, 2015

Although it's nice to have continuity, this feels like a decent upgrade. In terms of experience, Jones comes in with plenty of it. He has coached in the Air Raid schemes for over half a decade and played in it at Texas Tech before that. He has familiarity with Sonny Dykes from his time as a center at Texas Tech when Dykes was receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator.

Yenser came in as a relative unknown, and although his offensive line showed signs of improvement in his two years, they were never a really elite unit. Jones at the very least provides a familiarity with the system and should hopefully coach up this experienced unit even further.

Here is the official release from CalBears.com.

Cal head coach Sonny Dykes announced Monday that Brandon Jones has been hired as the Golden Bears’ run game coordinator and offensive line coach. Jones has spent the past five seasons as the offensive line coach at East Carolina, where his unit helped the Pirates break multiple school records and consistently rank among the nation’s offensive leaders. Jones has been a member of six bowl staffs during the first eight seasons of his coaching career, including four of his five campaigns at East Carolina where he coached seven all-conference players during his tenure with the Pirates.

"We are hiring someone in Brandon Jones that has all the qualities we’re looking for," Dykes said. "Brandon shares in our philosophy of recruiting and developing the entire student-athlete to ensure success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Brandon is a quality individual as well as an effective coach and recruiter that our players will learn from and enjoy playing for."

"I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to join the Cal coaching staff," Jones said. "A lot of what Cal does on offense is similar to what I’m accustomed to, and I’m looking forward to our offensive line putting a good product on the field. I’m also excited about what being a student-athlete at Cal represents off the field because I know how important it is for college football players to receive a strong education. I’m ready to get to work by finishing up this recruiting class and signing the next group of Golden Bears."

During his final season at East Carolina in 2014 the Pirates posted an 8-5 record and reached the Birmingham Bowl led by an offense that ranked third in the nation in passing offense (371.9 ypg), fourth in first downs (378) and fifth in total offense (533.0 ypg), setting single-season school records and leading the American Athletic Conference in all three categories.

Welcome Brandon! GO BEARS!