Cal moves Garret Chachere to running backs coach, Art Kaufman to add linebacker duties

To apparently round out their coaching staff in time for Cal's junior day, Sonny Dykes has reshuffled his staff into working order for the 2016 season. Jake Spavital has settled into being the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Dykes went internal to finish things off.

Cal will now have its third different running backs coach in three years. Garret Chachere will move from linebackers coach back to running backs coach. He was last the running backs coach at Arizona with Sonny Dykes from 2009 to 2011. Chachere had previously been the defensive ends coach and is on track to coach every position for he Golden Bears by 2020.

Art Kaufman now takes over additional responsibilities as a linebacking coach along with his current defensive coordinator role. This won't be anything new: Kaufman has been the defensive coordinator and linebacking coach at several previous stops, including his last three before arriving at Cal in North Carolina, Texas Tech, and Cincinnati (and previously at Louisiana Tech and Ole Miss back in the 1990s).

With no other changes yet, this should be the coaching staff for the 2016 season:

• Head coach & outside wide receivers: Dykes
• Offensive coordinator & quarterbacks: Jake Spavital
• Offensive line: Brandon Jones
• Running backs: Chachere
• Inside WRs: Jacob Peeler
• Special Teams: Mark Tommerdahl
• Defensive coordinator & linebackers: Kaufman
• Defensive line: Fred Tate
• Cornerbacks: John Lovett
• Safeties: Greg Burns

What are your thoughts?

Here is the press release from CalBears.com:

Cal head coach Sonny Dykes announced Saturday that Garret Chachere will coach the team's running backs in 2016 after spending the last three campaigns on the defensive staff while defensive coordinator Art Kaufman will add responsibilities coaching the team's linebackers.

"These moves will strengthen our coaching staff," Dykes said. "Garret is an outstanding teacher who will do a fantastic job as our running backs coach. He has a tremendous amount of expertise with this offense from his time on the coaching staff at Arizona and that was critical to us being able to make these moves. Garret is quite comfortable with this offense. He speaks the same language as the rest of the staff, and I am extremely confident that he will fit right in and be on the same page with Jake Spavital and all of our coaches on the offensive side of the ball."

"This also gives Art the opportunity to work directly with a position group that he has coached successfully for most of his career," Dykes added.

Chachere has coached several positions during his 24 seasons as a collegiate coach and worked with the Cal linebackers the past two seasons after serving as the team's defensive ends coach in 2013. Chachere was promoted to Cal's associate head coach in 2015. He spent three seasons on the offensive side of the ball at Arizona from 2009-11 and tutored the running backs in his final season in Tucson when one of his pupils was Ka'Deem Carey, who evolved into a two-time consensus first-team All-American rushing for a combined 3,814 yards over his final two collegiate seasons. Carey was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year in his final campaign in 2013 after a strong freshman season the previous year under Chachere's tutelage. Chachere was the wide receivers coach during his first two seasons with the Wildcats on a staff with Dykes as the offensive coordinator in his first campaign. The Wildcats played in bowl games each of those two seasons at the Holiday Bowl and Alamo Bowl. Arizona was the nation's ninth-ranked passing offense in 2010 (307.69 ypg).

"This was an excellent opportunity to make a move back to the offensive side of the ball," Chachere said. "I love Cal and am excited to be part of a coaching staff that has helped turn this program around. I really enjoyed coaching this offense at Arizona and gained a firm grasp of it during my time there. With the familiarity I have with this offense my learning curve will be short. I'll also be able to add an interesting and different perspective to coaching the position because of my experience working on the defensive side of the ball especially the last three seasons at Cal with many opportunities to go up against this offense. I know first-hand what the defense is trying to accomplish."

Kaufman has 28 seasons of experience working with linebackers in his 34 campaigns as a collegiate coach most recently when he was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati in 2013. He also worked with linebackers during previous stints at Northwestern State (1983-87), Mississippi (1988-91; 1994-2000), Louisiana Tech (1992-94), Arkansas Tech (2001-02), Middle Tennessee (2005-07), North Carolina (2009-11) and Texas Tech (2012). Kaufman has developed several outstanding linebackers in his career including most recently Greg Blair at Cincinnati, as well as Zach Brown, Bruce Carter and Kevin Reddick at North Carolina. Brown (Tennessee), Carter (Tampa Bay) and Reddick (Buffalo) are all currently in the NFL.