[tags, college football, Pac-12, San Jose State}

by Jerry Feitelberg

San Francisco Bay Area College Football Media Day.

The annual Bay Area College Football Media Day was held at the spanking brand new Levi Stadium in Santa Clara. It was the first event of this type to held at the 49ers new stadium and all the media was truly excited to be at the stadium and after the tour the media gave the new stadium rave reviews.

The event kicked off Doug Kelly honoring the late Sam Goldman by placing butterscotch candy at all the tables. Goldman who passed away last month had attained iconic status as he handed out butterscotch candy at all the athletic events he attended and was loved by all that knew him.

After a few short speeches, the coaches from San Jose State, University of California Berkeley and Stanford were introduced. First speaker was Ron Caragher from San Jose State. In his first season, Caragher had a 5-3 record in conference play and 6-6 overall. It was the first time in 21 years that a first-year San Jose State coach produced a .500 percentage and a winning record in conference play. Jabari Carr and David Peterson represented the SJS players.

Cal coach Sonny Dykes talked about the expectations to improve on last year’s dismal season and how tough the Pac-12 Conference is. Dykes said that his team will be ready to play and they open the season against Northwestern. Dykes was accompanied by Cal players Chris Adcock and Brannon Scarlett.

The final speaker was Stanford coach David Shaw. Shaw is starting his fourth year as Cardinal coach and he is hoping to continue the success that he has had the last three season which included three straight bowl appearances and the last two were at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Stanford won the Rose Bowl game in 2013 but lost the game on New Year’s day 2014. Stanford has a lot of the team returning including quarterback Kevin Hogan, linebacker A.J.Tarpley and wide receiver, kickoff returner Ty Montgomery. The Cardinal lost player on both the offensive and defensive lines, linebackers and defensive backs. Hopefully the new players will step up and help Stanford to the Pac-12 championship again this year. Coach Shaw spoke about the need for the team to gel. He did not elaborate about how long the process would take but he was hoping for sooner rather later. A.J. Tarpley felt that the team would be prepared as the open the season against UC Davis and then meet the University of Southern California Trojans at Stanford Stadium in the second game of the year. He, however, warned against looking ahead to games on the schedule and stated that the team would prepare only for the team that they woulf face that week.Ty Montgomery reiterated much of what Tarpley said and he felt that he would be ready for the season despite having shoulder surgery earlier this year.

It was a great event again this year and football practice starts next week for the upcoming season. No one knows how the teams will fare this year but that’s why they play the games.