Sonny Dykes and Tradition

Ran across this article not to long ago about the extra funding The Ohio State band garnered this off-season and the extra road trips they will now take (including one to Berkeley) because of the boost in their budget.

I think I can speak for all of my friends that seeing the band in action last year in Columbus was very cool. To be able to watch a true college football tradition live-and-direct was excellent and something we won't forget anytime soon.

Reading the article also reminded me of something Dykes said shortly after he was hired about bringing "college football tradition" back to Berkeley. For all intents and purposes, Dykes is college football through-and-through. His father was a long-time collegiate coach and Dykes, in more ways than one, was raised to become a football coach himself. When you add on to the fact that Dykes spent a bevy of time in Texas and you quickly understand how entrenched college football tradition is in his blood and what all that stuff means to him.

Sonny Dykes is bringing tradition back to Cal football. (Golden Bear Sports.com)

With that said, I wasn't surprised one bit when Dykes mentioned (albeit briefly) about creating more of an old-school traditional feel to the Cal football program. I don't think Dykes was talking about major changes when he said that but rather subtle tweaks - including implementing a post-game fight song sing along between the entire team and the student section. Other fanbases probably read that last point said thought what, Cal doesn't do that? as numerous programs around the country have done the post-game sing for a very, very, long time.

I also really liked when I read earlier this week that Dykes sat down with former Cal quarterbacks Troy Taylor, Mike Pawlawski, Dave Barr and Pat Barnes to pick their brains about Cal football and all things associated with it. Since the moment Dykes has been hired and his staff has been put together, they have said, done, and performed in a way that most Cal fans envisioned post-Jeff Tedford era.

In a way, it really does feel like Dykes is purposely doing everything edford would never do (publicly connecting with old alumni, open practices, smiling and laughing, etc ...). Initially, I was lukewarm on the Dykes hire but after hearing him in interviews and watching how he coaches and interacts with his guys in practice, I am now very confident that Sandy Barbour hired the right guy (or at least as confident as I can be considering no one has played a game yet).

Only time will tell if Dykes does indeed prove himself to be a great football coach in a BCS-level conference. What I can say though is that I am happy he's coaching the Bears right now ... and I'll probably be singing along right with him win-or-lose come Saturday night.

Go Bears!