Sonny Dykes: New Cal offensive coordinator will maintain Bear Raid scheme

Tony Franklin might no longer be at Cal ,but the Bears aren't expected to deviate too far away from his teachings.  For those thinking that Cal was going to overhaul the offense from what Tony Franklin brought the last three seasons, think again. The new offensive coordinator is likely to be comfortable sticking to the majority of the current principles.

Aside from a few adaptations to parts of the overall scheme (like the movement from the vertical set blocking scheme to the more traditional dropstep techniques), the Bears aren't expected to deviate too far from what's worked the past few seasons. The Air Raid (or as you know it, the Bear Raid), should be here to stay.

Connor Letourneau caught up with Sonny Dykes, and he had these quotes on the offensive coordinator search. He did confirm that he himself will not take over playcallng responsibilities.

"People kind of know what our DNA is offensively," Dykes said in a phone interview Tuesday while recruiting at Antioch High. "We'll definitely stay with someone who is familiar with what we've done, and how we do it."

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"It's going to be someone that I've either worked with before, or at least has run this style of offense," Dykes said. "I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. We have a system that we believe in and has been successful."

If Sonny is sticking with the Air Raid, you can probably just go scouting up and down the college football ranks and look for eligible candidates from around the Air Raid schools. Washington State, East Carolina, Texas Tech all come to mind (Oklahoma too, but it's hard to see anyone making that type of move).

Letourneau came up with a list of candidates. I doubt Dykes is going to go to Hal Mumme and Chris Hatcher (neither have coached major FBS football in years), I'd say the other few are worth considering.

• Rob Likens, Kansas offensive coordinator: This is the obvious guy. Likens didn't do much at Kansas but is the obvious candidate to provide continuity. With a year of playcalling under his belt and years of familiarity with the Tony Franklin System, Likens seems like the perfect fit long-term. The big question is if he could turn his back on Kansas, but does he want to risk the football graveyard?
• Dave Nichol, Washington State outside receivers coach: Nichol worked with Dykes at Texas Tech and Arizona and is now back in the Pac-12 after a solid stint as East Carolina offensive coordinator. He was hired by the Cougs this season, so it might be rough on Nichol to accept a Cal offer, but it would be a definite upgrade in position if Nichol was offered the job.
• Bill Bedenbaugh, Oklahoma offensive line coach: An interesting idea given the familiarity between Dykes and Bedenbaugh at Texas Tech and Arizona. I'm not sure how Brandon Jones would feel about a second line coach though.