Ask The Bears Responses: Tom Holmoe
From Randall Cockshott in Tallahassee, FL:
What did you learn this year, in you recruiting efforts, that will affect how
you recruit in future years? What's it been like, now being the Head Coach, to
go out and recruit?
HOLMOE:"First of all, I like recruiting. As a position coach, I loved
to go out on the road and recruit. As a head coach, that feeling I have about
recruiting has helped me because I'm not shy to be in homes, to be in schools,
to get on the phone and talk with players. I like that part of it. So, that's
helped a lot.
"Our recruiting years started months and months ago when we took a analytical
look at the process and tried to organize our home office better, in terms on
how we were going to send out mailers, phone calls, the home visits, the campus
visits -- all the different factors that go into the recruiting effort. There's
so much paper work, so much data that has to be collected. So we figured the
more organized we could be with that, the more efficient we'll be.
"One other thing we learned this year was the problem we had with early
commitments. It seemed like it affected a lot of schools across the nation and
particularly out in the West. There was a big problem with guys who verbally
committed and then backed out of it. We need to address that as a staff as to
what really constitutes a verbal commitment and how we treat them."
From Tom James in Upland, CA:
A question about offensive strategy: In games where the Bears hold the lead in the third quarter, why does the
offensive strategy shift from the play selection that got us the points to one
designed to run time off the clock? Why not just continue to try to score? It
seems that if conservative play was not used to get the lead, why use it to
maintain the lead? If the bears get the ball with a minute or so remaining in the second
quarter, why not go for another score? More points would seem to help for
obvious scoreboard reasons, but would also bolster momentum and morale going
into the locker room. If an all out effort results in an interception at the
opposing 5-yard line, so what? We didn't score and the other team will just run
out the clock anyway. The players wont be demoralized because they know that we
were just trying to make a bigger lead going into the locker room.
HOLMOE: "If you're moving the ball on someone, whether it be running
it or throwing it and you create a lead, there's no reason why you shouldn't
continue that strategy -- other than you don't want to give up a foolish
turnover. As a defensive coach, you love it when a team goes into a shell. So I
think you have to be aggressive, but you have to be smart. We're going to try to
be aggressive. But, every situation is different. It depends on so many things,
how your team is doing health-wise, the momentum of the game. If you have the
lead, but things have not been going well for you on offense, there's no use
cranking the ball down the field. Generally, if you have the momentum, you
should go for it. Against Oklahoma last year, we had a big lead at the end of
the first half, and we tried to be aggressive, but we threw an interception that
they returned for a touchdown to let them back in the game. So, we want to be
aggressive, but you also have to realize there's a danger. Still, we'd rather be
aggressive than go into a shell."
From Ken Sakai in Sunnyvale, CA:
Coach Holmoe, Is the current recruiting class
going to do much about our apparent
lack of defensive speed last year?
(and for the past few years)
HOLMOE: "We tried to address the speed issue this year in recruiting.
We got a lot of speed in all parts of our recruiting class, whether it be
receiver, linebackers, the secondary or even the defensive line where Zech
Whittington is extremely quick. We improved our team speed on both sides of the
ball."
From Greg in Walnut Creek, CA:
Hi coach Holmoe! I was wondering which recruits you think may play next year. I
would assume as a coach that you would not like to comment until after
practices but is there a certain position that you think may be influenced by
freshmen? Also how much of a role does an atheletes character contribute to
their sucess on the field?
HOLMOE: "We recruited five wide receivers, and I believe two of them
will have a great opportunity to play a lot next year. I don't know which two it
will be and it will depend on who looks the best when they get to camp, but two
should get a lot of playing time. One freshman running back, whether it be
Stanger, Muhammed or Chris Hanks will have an opportunity to play. A couple of
the DBs also have a chance to play. The answer to that question lies in how well
high school players transtion into college. Last year, Marcus Fields was a guy
we thought was going to redshirt. But, as a result of the first couple days of
practice, you knew he was going to make that transition much easier than most."
From Dennis Noren in Campbell, CA:
Has the weight lifting facility been seen as a negative factor in football
recruiting? I have seen the claim that Cal's is the poorest in the PAC-10.
HOLMOE: "Around the country, there have been some outstanding new
strength and conditioning areas built, including a couple in the Pac-10. We've
upgraded our facility in a big way in the last couple months, and are continuing
to do so. We're limited somewhat in space, but we just brought in some of the
most expensive equipment you can buy, so our players have every opportunity to
maximize their potential. It is a factor, I don't think it's a huge factor for
most players."
From Randall Cockshott in Tallahassee, FL:
Please explain how or how not, a recruits recorded time running 40 yards,
generalizes to his ability as a football player? How much weight do you give
this measurement? What do you think is a better measure of a players ability?
HOLMOE: "A lot times, we take reported 40 times with a grain of salt.
Unless it's a combine time, you don't really know for sure. If we send out a
questionairre and they write in that they run a 4.5, there's no way to confirm
that. Generally, a better measure is how a player looks on film. From that, we
see how they can run in comparision to other players on the film. A more
legitimate measure could also be track times. If somebody runs a 10.65 timed
electronically, that means that there's no question the athlete has leg speed."
From Dave Altman in Walnut Creek, CA:
It would seem that OLB is an area lacking depth. Sanyika can't take all the
snaps. Does Cal have anyone in mind to add young depth at this position or will
this wait for next year's class?
HOLMOE: "A guy who will have an opportunity this spring is Scott
Fujita. He redshirted last year, but he made some great strides in the fall and
he'll have a chance to show his skills this spring. We recruited some freshmen
in this past class with the idea that they might be able to come in and help us
in a back-up role early."
From Jon in Berkeley:
First, I'd just like to say that Coach Holmoe is doing an incredible job and I
am very excited about the future of Cal football. My question is about
recruiting locally. While our recruiting the last few years has been very good,
we have lost out on a lot of East Bay stars and most of the top Sacramento
talent, another area "in our backyard". With guys like Roy Williams, Matt
Cooper, Stallworth, Simmons, Brannan, Fasani, D Whiting, etc going elsewhere the
last few years, do you worry that we are losing our hold on our local talent? Of
course every coach will take the best players regardless where they are from,
but it seems a school like Cal needs to start with its own and build on it from
L.A., Orange County and elsewhere. Keep up the good work Coach!
HOLMOE: "It is always a priority for us to do a good job in our own
backyard. And we consider Sacramento, the Valley, San Jose and the Central Coast
as our territory. I think we've got our share of Bay Area guys, but we're not
entirely satisfied. The top guys are going to get recruited by a lot of schools
around the country and we're going to win some and lose some. Sometimes there
are local guys that we don't rate that highly, so it's different in every
situation. We'd love to keep all the big-time players and we'll have more and
more success as we win more football games."
From Greg in Walnut Creek, CA:
Mr. Holmoe,
I was wondering how many true freshmen you think may play next year? If you had
your choice how many would play? Also is it as nerve wracking for you as it is
for fans when a player wavers between schools often?
HOLMOE: "It's hard to say how many true freshmen will play, depending
on how quickly they make a transition from high school to the college level.
However, if I had a choice, I'd say three or four would be an ideal number for a
successful program. We started off last season playing four and then Corey Smith
got injured, so we ended with just three. Anytime a program needs to play more
than that, something's wrong, unless you have an amazing freshman group."
From Juan Serrano in Houston, TX:
Did you recruit any players in Texas and will you increase that in the future?
HOLMOE: "We had Doug Cosbie in Texas quite a bit this last recruiting
season, but I think we'll have him do less in that state next year. It will be
more productive for him to spend more time in Orange County instead of putting a
lot of resources into recruiting Texas. We got some very good trips from players
from Texas and went right down to the wire on a couple of them. But it's very
difficult to go that far. In the future, we'll stay closer to home unless we
have a connection. As our national reputation grows, we'll be able to go into
Texas with more success."
From Matt Lowe in Larkspur, CA:
Can you give me any insight into next years quarterback situation?
HOLMOE: "Justin Vedder returns as a senior starter. We also have the
two walk-on back-ups in Ryan Tollner and Wesley Dalton, plus redshirt-freshman
Samuel Clemons and incoming freshman David Page. So that's five players who are
in the picture. It will be an open competition in the spring. Clemons will get a
long look, because he's put in so much work since last summer when he arrived
here, making a lot of physical, mental and emotional strides. However, Vedder is
somebody who is going to be difficult to unseat because of his command of the
offense and the improvement which we expect to see from him."
From David Demster in Berkeley, CA:
In determining your recruiting needs, are individual athletes ranked by position
before the coaching staff makes the first contact?
HOLMOE: "After reviewing our season, we made increasing our speed and
athletic ability as our top priority and I think we accomplished that at every
position. With Bobby Shaw leaving and not having a lot of depth at wide
receiver, it was big for us to get five top receivers who can all run. You
always want the top players at every position, but you certainly target certain
areas and put a plan together on how many you ideally want at each position. We
wanted to make sure we signed four wide receivers this year and feel even better
about being able to sign five good ones."
What criteria do you use to determine who you want at a particular position?
HOLMOE: "We start the recruiting process by looking at our needs,
after examining our depth chart - including the incoming recruits. Offensive
line may be an area we focus in on strongly next recruiting season. We then set
a number of how many JC or preps we want at any particular position. That figure
is not set in stone, but it gives us an estimate while considering the total
number of scholarships we have available. We evaluate every recruit according to
specific criteria. Every position has different criteria, including speed,
instincts, strength etc."
From Steve in Hamilton, MA:
Tom what can you tell me about QB David Page? With all the talented QB's in California this
year, why go out of state?
HOLMOE: "David Page actually contacted us first while he was a
sophomore living in Korea. He sent us a tape and he looked like a great player,
but he was playing against questionable competition. We talked to him about his
possibility of coming to the United States to play against better talent, which
he did. He then sent us another tape from his junior year in Mississippi and we
liked what we saw. We then invited him to our summer camp and he came out here.
So, we had a great opportunity to see him and evaluate him. He was also a great
student and he wanted to come to Cal, so in some ways he fell into our lap. Just
because there are great quarterbacks in the state of California, it doesn't mean
we'll automatically get the cream of the crop, because almost every top school
in the nation looks at California to recruit quarterbacks."
From Andrew Lin in Palo Alto, CA: Last year, I seem to recall that
you had signed 3 highly rated running backs (Jamar Sheppard, Marcus Fields, and
Saleem Muhammed) if I'm not mistaken. I see that Saleem has been able to sign
with the Bears this year. What happened to Sheppard?
HOLMOE: "I'm limited in what I'm able to say about an individual's
situation who is not enrolled or signed by Cal. Sheppard is enrolled at City
College of San Francisco and will continue his career there."
From Darold Mark in Sacramento, CA:
Does Samuel Cleamons have a chance to start at QB next season?
HOLMOE: "A lot will depend on how he performs in the spring. He'll
have a great opportunity to show his wares in the spring. However, realize that
Justin Vedder has a lot of experience under his belt and it's hard to list him
at anything but number one going into the spring."
From Willerup in Berkeley:
Will there be a competition for the
quarterback position this year?
HOLMOE: "Yes. We always want to have competition at every position,
including quarterback. If they are returning starters, they still have to
perform to earn their stating status. Competition makes the starters or the
returning players better."
From Randall Cockshott in Tallahassee, FL:
What does the team do to work on the mental side of the game throughout the
season? What do you do as a coach to help prepare your team mentally?
HOLMOE: "I believe both the mental and the emotional side of the
game. I think the preparation mentally is important, meaning knowing the
tendencies, the x's and o's, the game plan. You may be talking more about the
emotional side and we do a lot in that area. Each player has to be handled a
little bit differently. As a head coach, I give talks to the team throughout the
week, the night before the game and the day of the game. You have to sense the
mood of the team and then the timing is also important. It's something that you
emotionally work yourself up to during the course of the week. A pep talk the
morning of the game is really too late."
From Jay Walton in Cupertino, CA:
How do you feel about
recruiting "non-qualifying" athletes? Should recruits be held to the same high
standards as other Cal applicants?
HOLMOE: "The only reason we would or do recruit a non-qualifying
athlete is if, after a lot of research, we feel that he has both a good chance
of qualifying by his enrollment in the fall and secondly, that he has a good
chance to succeed at Cal once he gets here. Some of those situations may be that
a recruit had bad grades early in his high school career but is showing signs of
turning things around. If we see a big upswing and we're convinced by talking to
the counselors, the teachers, the coaches and the parents, that the player is
now goal-oriented and is making strides, we think there should be a spot at our
campus or on any campus for that type of student-athlete. So, it's more than
just his SAT score or his grade point average, it's how he is doing lately and
if he's dedicated to succeeding in his academics. The numbers don't always tell
the whole story. At Cal, we'll never do a lot with non-qualifiers. We might have
one or two a year, that we're willing to take a risk because we're convinced
that they will be successful at Cal. It's also important to note that we have
had some success with students like that in recent years, and that becomes very
rewarding for our football program and the school itself."
