Over the last 10 years, California head coach Jeff Tedford has developed NFL quarterbacks unlike any coach in all of football.
Tedford's style of coaching has been regarded highly ever since his breakout seasons as an offensive coordinator for Fresno State and Oregon. One of his famous coaching devices, a checkerboard, was one of the tools that took former California quarterback Kyle Boller all the way to the NFL.
By lining up the pieces in certain defensive alignments, Tedford tests his quarterbacks' anticipation and knowledge of the offense by making them line up the offense accordingly.
Starting with Tedford's tutelage of Super Bowl champion quarterback Trent Dilfer as offensive coordinator at Fresno State, Tedford has been at least partly responsible for six different quarterbacks' rise to the pro ranks. Tedford would later recruit and coach the No. 1 pick of 2002, David Carr.
"It's been a learning process," Tedford said. "There was a lot of experimentation starting off with Trent Dilfer and David Carr."
After one year with Carr at Fresno, Tedford left to fill a hole at Oregon vacated by the departure of ASU head coach Dirk Koetter, who received a head coaching position at Boise State.
There, Tedford would cement his reputation as a premier instructor of quarterback talent, with a little help from Koetter.
The year Tedford arrived, Akili Smith became the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, breaking Oregon marks for passing yards and touchdowns in a season after just seven starts prior to his senior year.
"He was the most gifted quarterback I had been around," Koetter said. "When I coached Akili, he actually split time, and he improved. Then I left and went to Boise State, and Jeff [Tedford] coached him into a first round draft pick."
Joey Harrington followed Smith and eventually became the Ducks' all-time passing leader. In his senior season, Harrington and Tedford guided Oregon's 2001 squad to the No. 2 spot in the national polls.
It was at Sun Devil Stadium in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl that Harrington made a statement in a 38-16 pasting of Big 12 champ Colorado, helping Harrington become the second pick in the 2002 NFL draft.
Perhaps Tedford's greatest achievement occurred last year, his first at Cal, when he turned around the career of Boller, a highly touted high school quarterback who had yet to meet his potential.
After just one offseason with Tedford, Boller transformed himself into a top quarterback, finishing 10th in the country in touchdown passes with 28, which was 16 more than he had the previous season.
This year, Tedford has brought along talented sophomore Aaron Rodgers, who has progressed significantly over the last month, averaging more than 200 yards passing per game. Around the Bay Area, there has been talk that he could be Tedford's next gem.
"There was great communication with all of them," Tedford said of his quarterback protégés. "It's one thing to be able to tell them something, but they followed through with it."
Reach the reporter at matthew.schubert@asu.edu.
