page_title: History of California Golden Bears football
section_title: Jeff Tedford and Cal's renaissance
hierarchical_section_title: History of California Golden Bears football / 2000s through 2010s / Jeff Tedford and Cal's renaissance
caption_attribution_description: Cal head coach Jeff Tedford at Cal Fan Appreciation Day in Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, California.
context_page_description: Football was first played on Berkeley campus in 1882, albeit in a form that resembled rugby. It was not until 1886 that University of California began to play American football. Aside from the first season's matches against Hastings Law College, Cal primarily played against local clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1892, the school played against Stanford University, this was the first match of the annual rivalry game – The Big Game, one of oldest College rivalry games in the United States. This match was organized by the team's student manager Herbert Lang, and Stanford's student manager and future president of the United States Herbert Hooverf. Cal lost 14–10. From 1885 until 1903 California home games were held at West Field, at the current campus location of the Valley Life Sciences Building. Eventually bleachers were added allowing seating up to 5,000 people. Big Games were held at neutral venues in San Francisco.
  Cal's first Big Game win came in 1898, when it was coached by newly hired Garrett Cochran, a Princeton alumni who was recruited immediately after his graduation.
context_section_description: During the last month of 2001 Holmoe was replaced by Jeff Tedford, previously a successful offensive coordinator for the Oregon Ducks. California began a renaissance under Tedford, who dramatically turned around the long-suffering program. Under him the Golden Bears posted eight consecutive winning seasons, a feat that had not been accomplished since the days of Pappy Waldorf. After being ruled ineligible for a bowl game in 2002 due to academic infractions under Holmoe, the Bears went on to appear in seven straight bowl games.
  Cal finished Tedford's first season going 7–5, their first winning season since 1993. The 2002 team defeated three nationally ranked opponents on the road for the first time in school history, including California's first win over conference foe Washington in 26 years, and won the annual Big Game against arch-rival Stanford for the first time in eight years. The 2003 team was led by a junior college transfer, and future NFL superstar Aaron Rodgers. The Golden Bears posted an 8–6 record, highlighted by a dramatic 34–31 triple-overtime victory over No. 3 ranked and eventual national co-champion USC. Bears were invited to the 2003 Insight Bowl, where they edged Virginia Tech 52–49. During that season Rodgers tied Cal's season record with five 300-yard games and set a Cal record for the lowest percentage of passes intercepted at 1.43%.
  In 2004, the Bears posted a 10–1 regular season with their only loss coming against the eventual national champion - USC, and finished the regular season ranked No. 4 in the nation. Running back J.J. Arrington set a Cal record gaining 2,018 total rushing yards, becoming only the third Pac-10 running to gain over 2,000 yards. Based on Cal's record the team was expected to receive an at-large BCS bowl berth, and play in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1958. However, Mac Brown the coach of then lower ranked University of Texas, intensively lobbied both Coaches Poll and the Associated Press voters to change their ranking in the final week of the season. Even though Texas did not play and Cal won its final game, it was Texas that received more votes in the final poll and was invited to play in the Rose Bowl. The Longhorns went on to beat Michigan, while California was upset by lower ranked Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl. Partially due to the lobbying controversy with California's BCS ranking, the AP poll withdrew from the BCS after that season. After the season, Rodgers decided to forgo his senior season to enter the 2005 NFL Draft. He was drafted in the first round by the Green Bay Packers, while senior J.J. Arrington was drafted in the second round by Arizona Cardinals.
  The 2005 season saw inconsistent quarterback play and an overall inexperienced roster Cal finished the season in the middle of the conference. It went on to defeat BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. In 2006, the team went on 10–3 overall and 7–2 in Pac-10, sharing the conference title with USC. This was Cal's first Pac-10 championship since 1975. The star of that year's team was running back Marshawn Lynch, who ran for 1,356 yards and 11 touchdowns, while catching for 328 yards with 4 touchdowns. The Golden Bears accepted an invitation to the 2006 Holiday Bowl, routing Texas A&M 45–10. Lynch left for the NFL as a junior, he was drafted in the first round by the Buffalo Bills. He went on to have an 11-year NFL career as a star running back.
  
  Next season Cal had a great start, ranking as high as No. 2 in the AP, but had a terrible second half of the season, finishing ending up in 7th place in the conference. Cal also lost its first Big Game in six seasons. Tedford declared there would be open competition for all positions on the team and a reevaluation of every aspect of California's football program. The team played better in the next two season, but could not get above 4th place in the conference.  
  From 2010 to 2012, Cal had three consecutive losing seasons within the Pac-12. California played their 2011 home games in San Francisco Giant's AT&T Park due to the massive reconstruction of the Memorial Stadium. 
caption: Jeff Tedford, 2010
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot SD1300 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2010:08:28 13:43:05", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Tag 0x1001": "4000", "Image Tag 0x1002": "3000", "Image ExifOffset": "326", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image DigitalZoomRatio": "125/102", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "3428", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5425", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/80", "EXIF FNumber": "59/10", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:08:28 13:43:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:08:28 13:43:05", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "101/16", "EXIF ApertureValue": "41/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "41/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "20", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4000", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1633987/81", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "262605/13", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera"}