Jeff Tedford
Jeffrey Raye Tedford is an American football coach and former player. From 2002 to 2012, Tedford was the head football coach for the California Golden Bears, where he was twice named Pac-10 Coach of the Year and holds the California program records for most wins, games coached, and bowl game victories. He also coached at Fresno State from 2017 to 2019 and from 2022 to 2023, leading the team to a school record 12 wins in 2018.
Tedford played as a quarterback, playing college football for the Cerritos Falcons and Fresno State, then he played in the Canadian Football League.
In his first head coaching position, Tedford inherited a Golden Bears team that had won only one game in its 2001 season. He was named conference coach of the year in his first season in 2002 after winning seven games. California was ranked No. 2 nationwide midseason in 2007, the school's highest ranking since 1951. However, Tedford's teams struggled later in his tenure, particularly from 2010 to 2012, and he was fired after the 2012 season. He was the seventh highest paid California state employee as of 2016.
Early life
Tedford was born in Lynwood, California, the youngest of five children of Joe and Betty Tedford. Tedford's parents divorced before he turned 10. His brother Dennis, 10 years his senior, helped raise Tedford, taking him on camping trips and driving him to football practice and games. Tedford attended Warren High School in Downey, California, where he was a letterman in football, playing quarterback and earning an All-League selection. Tedford graduated from Warren High School in 1979.College
After high school, Tedford enrolled at Cerritos College, becoming the first member of his family to attend college. He spent two years playing quarterback at Cerritos followed by two years at Fresno State, where he established several passing records, including career marks for passing yardage and touchdown passes. As a senior, Tedford led the Bulldogs to a Pacific Coast Athletic Association conference championship and a last-second, 29–28 come-from-behind victory in the 1982 California Bowl.- 1981: 132/250 for 1,879 yards with 11 TD vs 11 INT. Ran for 11 yards and 3 TD.
- 1982: 153/298 for 2,620 yards with 21 TD vs 18 INT.
Coaching career
Early coaching career
After retiring as a player, Tedford became a volunteer assistant coach at Fresno State under his former coach Jim Sweeney. He then coached as an offensive assistant for the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL ; returned to Fresno State as quarterback coach ; was promoted to offensive coordinator at Fresno State ; and worked as offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon. During his time at Oregon, the Ducks notched a Pac-10-best record of 38–10 while finishing progressively better each year.While at Fresno State, he was instrumental in developing many players who went on to the NFL: QB Trent Dilfer, QB Billy Volek, RB Ron Rivers, RB Reggie Brown, RB Michael Pittman, and WR Charlie Jones.
From 1998 to 2001 at Oregon he worked with future NFL talents such as: QB Akili Smith, QB A. J. Feeley, QB Joey Harrington, RB Reuben Droughns, RB Maurice Morris, RB Onterrio Smith, WR Tony Hartley, WR Keenan Howry, WR Samie Parker, TE Justin Peelle, and TE George Wrighster.
California
After previous Cal coach Tom Holmoe resigned from his post amid a 1–10 season in 2001, the worst in Cal's history up to that point, then-athletic director Steve Gladstone hired Tedford to become Cal's 32nd head football coach. Tedford inherited a program that had not had a winning season since 1993 and had only won 29 games on the field since then, including only 18 wins in Pac-10 play.During his time at Cal, Tedford became known for his work ethic, often working late hours in his office and sleeping on an air mattress. In evidence of his turnaround of the Cal program, season ticket sales jumped from 16,200 in 2002 to 41,336 in 2007, setting new records each year from 2004 through 2007.
In Tedford's first season, he led the Golden Bears to a 7–5 record, their first winning football season since 1993, the nation's biggest turnaround of the year, and was named Pac-10 coach of the year. The Bears ended a 19-game losing streak to Washington and a seven-game losing streak to arch rival Stanford in the Big Game. Despite their resurgence, the Bears didn't go to a bowl due to NCAA sanctions for academic fraud that were handed down shortly before Tedford took over.
After the season, Tedford signed a five-year contract through 2007 to replace his original four-year contract, which ran through 2005.
In the 2003 season, Tedford's record of 8–6 included the upset of eventual national co-champion University of Southern California in triple overtime, as well as a 52–49 shootout victory against Virginia Tech in the 2003 Insight Bowl. The Bears won 5 of their last 6 games.
In the 2004 football season, the Bears finished with a No. 9 national ranking in both the AP Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll with a 10–2 record, losing to Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl. Tedford was named Pac-10 coach of the year for a second time. The team was undefeated at home, notched the fifth 10-win season in school history.
Following the regular season, Tedford signed an extension of his contract through 2009, which nearly doubled his base salary to $1.5 million per year; in the deal he also had the pay of his assistant coaches raised significantly.
Image:Jeff Tedford at 2008 Big Game 1.JPG|thumb|Tedford at the 2008 Big Game
In 2005, the Bears finished with a No. 25 national ranking in both the AP Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll with an 8–4 record. Cal rose as high as No. 10 in the AP Poll and No. 9 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll in week 6 before losing to UCLA 47–40. They beat BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl, 35–28.
In 2006, the Bears recorded an eight-game win-streak, including five straight games scoring 40 or more points, rising as high as No. 8 in the AP poll, and remaining undefeated at home. The Bears finished the season with a 45–10 Holiday Bowl victory over Texas A&M, a No. 14 ranking, and an overall 10–3 record. The Bears were also co-champions of the Pac-10 for the first time since 1975. Following the season, Tedford signed a contract extension through 2013, which raised his base salary to $1.8 million per year and included significant performance and retention bonuses.
The 2007 campaign saw the Bears jump out to a 5–0 start and a No. 2 national ranking, Cal's highest since 1951. Set to move to No. 1 after LSU lost, Cal instead lost when freshman quarterback Kevin Riley—playing for the injured Nate Longshore—failed to get out of bounds for a game-tying field goal and time expired in a 31–28 home loss to Oregon State. This began a streak of losses in six of the seven final regular season games, including Tedford's first losses as head coach to Washington and Stanford to end the regular season. During the losing streak, Tedford's play-calling was the subject of criticism. Nevertheless, Cal was invited to a fifth straight bowl game for the first time in program history. Cal defeated Air Force 42–36 in the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl, giving Tedford and Cal a sixth-straight winning season.
In 2008, Tedford led the Bears to a 9–4 overall record and a perfect 7–0 record at home. Cal accepted an invitation to play in the 2008 Emerald Bowl, the program's sixth-straight bowl appearance, where they defeated Miami, 24–17. After the season, Tedford agreed to a two-year contract extension through 2015.
In 2009, the Bears went 8–5 and earned an invitation to the 2009 Poinsettia Bowl, which they lost to Utah, snapping a four-game bowl winning streak that dated back to 2004. The team also did not produce a 1,000 yard rusher for the first time since 2002.
The 2010 season saw Tedford surpass the legendary Pappy Waldorf to become the Cal head coach with the 3rd most career victories with a victory over UC Davis in the first game of the 2010 season. The team finished 5–7, Tedford's first losing season and the team's first losing season since 2001.
Tedford became Cal's all-time leader in victories with the third win of the 2011 season to surpass Andy Smith with 75 wins. The 2011 team improved to a 7–5 season record, and again produced a 1,000 yard rusher. However, 2012 was again a losing season, with the team finishing with a 3–9 record. Cal finished the final two games of the season with the worst losses of Tedford's career – a 59–17 home loss to Oregon followed by a 62–14 road loss against Oregon State. A few days after the final game of the season, Tedford was fired as head coach, but was owed $6.9 million over the remaining three years of his contract. The Golden Bears were only 2–5 at home at Memorial Stadium, which reopened that season after a $321 million renovation. In his final three seasons, he was 15–22, including 9–18 in conference games and 0–3 vs. Stanford. Since the loss of the 2007 game to Oregon State, Tedford was 34–37. In a letter to donors, Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour called a "great concern" the 48 percent graduation rate of football players at Cal who entered the school between 2002 and 2005; the rate was the lowest in the Pac-12.
Tedford left Cal with the most bowl wins, conference wins, and games coached in the school's history. He also tied Pappy Waldorf for most Big Game wins against Stanford. During his tenure, Cal produced 40 players drafted by the NFL, including eight first-round picks.