Breaking news: Cal’s Reed to transfer to SJSU
You figured Cal quarterback Kyle Reed had to do something with his career, having been beaten out for the backup job by redshirt freshman Kevin Riley.
And now we know: Reed will transfer to San Jose State, where he will more than likely be eligible next season — after SJSU’s Adam Trafalis and Sean Flynn are gone.
This is not a big deal for Cal. The Bears are fairly flush at QB with junior Nate Longshore, Riley, and true frosh Brock Mansion.
But Reed is a big get for the Spartans, who haven’t landed a player with Reed’s credentials in … in … in a long time.
He was a prep All-American at McClymonds H.S., an Elite 11 quarterback who was expected first to compete with, and then to succeed, Longshore.
But Reed has not progressed at Cal and, having used his redshirt season, must have heard the eligibility clock ticking.
He’ll have two years left, if my math is correct. The only question is whether he’ll be eligible for the 2008 season opener.
I believe that depends on whether he is admitted to, and enrolled at, SJSU by Sept. 12 — the last day students can enroll.
Nice….. Nice…..
I know this is really cool, and I know Tomey won’t just hand Reed the #1 QB spot without making him earn it first, but I kind of feel for Jordan LaSecla, Myles Eden, and SJSU’s other young QBs who cannot be particularly thrilled at the likely prospect of a college career spent as someone else’s backup.
I join coach Tedford in wishing Reed all the best in his career. It is a difficult situation when the cupboard is so stocked and only one person gets to play that position. It’s not like other positions that routinely sub out the starters for a rest or for special packages, whereby the non-starters still get a chance to play. As a QB, they wouldn’t even let him play on special teams, which is how a lot of players down on the depth chart get to see some action. I hope his 2 years of stardom at SJSU, tearing up his mid-major conference, are worth it. If he doesn’t make it as a pro somewhere (NFL, CFL, AFL) he has basically given up what a Berkeley degree can do for him over his lifetime for 2 years of fading athletic glory. Athletically, he is trading up to be a starter. But there is no getting around the fact that he is trading down, academically, to do so.
It depends on the degree……You may wish to investigate a little before you make your assumptions.
GoldenBear,
I detect an incredible case of sour grapes! “…fading athletic glory…”, “…traded down degree…” Sounds like this one hits home more than you would care to admit. I’ll bet GB would be more charitable if the young man had transferred within the P10 to a school like Oregon, Arizona St. or even USC.
Regarding that “vaunted” Berkeley degree. I’ve hired alot of people over the years and the one thing I’ve learned is the academic prowess and reputation of one university over another have little to do with whether or not an individual can do the job. I’ve hired duds who want to Cal and superstars from SJS and vice-versa. But the best person I ever hired was a guy who left j-c after 1.5 semesters because he was “bored” with school and didn’t share the “worldview” of his professors. Funny thing, this guy is extremely well-educated (mostly self-educated), speaks well, writes brillantly and most importantly has some of the best critical thinking and decision-making skills of anyone I’ve come across.
To reiterate: to the savvy employer, the reputation of a school means nothing. Results count, not intentions or reputations.
Goldenbear……..whf.
Quite insulting to SJSU.
First off, Tomey will make him earn it,
just like Tedford was doing. Don’t assume
because Cals in the Pac ten that they are eternally
superior………things change.
Reeds problems with the bears will be the same issue with San Jose….football is football. I hope he does well, but he’s lucky to get another chance.
Personally, I dn’t like reading in the paper one day that he’s going to stick it out, and the next week cut and run.
Good luck to him….but don’t give that smug superior crap….which eally befits a Furd…..not a bear.
I wish Kyle Reed all the best. He did what was best for him and SJSU gets a potentially great QB.
Golden Bear…WTH. I’m a Cal Alum and season ticket holder and really it’s a no brainer - Cal or the potential to move up and even a pro career. I’d go for the potential and possibilities and screw the Cal degree. If he really wants a Cal degree he can come back.
Yeah I’m disappointed to hear him say he was going to stick it out, but in the scheme of things, does it matter? He’s young and you really only live once, so go for it.
Let’s see … that’s now transfers from Stanford, Cal, and USC coming to SJSU in the last few years. Can you say rising power???
As for the attitude from Cal: What more do we expect from a school that won’t come down to little ol’ Spartan Stadium for a game?
Mark is right, of course, but I must confess to sharing GB’s mindset somewhat. Even though I’m proud of my SJSU degree, I remember reading the announcements about Schweiger transferring from USC, then Marrero from Stanford, now Reed, and each time being baffled for a moment. If I’d had the grades for Cal, the money for USC, or both for Stanford, I can’t conceive of a scenario where I would’ve willingly transferred to SJSU, even if I’d learned that SJSU had a stronger academic program in my particular major. The big schools just have too much of a wow factor on the resume, even if, as Mark says, it’s all image and generally has little to do with what you are capable of in the workplace.
Then I remember I was never a student athlete. I don’t think the “trading down” concept is as applicable for students dead set on a career in the NFL (and willing to accept, as their fallback, Europa, CFL, or the arena league before ever trying their hand at selling used cars or whatever). Especially if the student athlete values the coaching he receives, moving from Tedford, Carroll, or Harbaugh to Tomey is a lateral shift at worst. And yes, the WAC is not the PAC-10, but it’s not as though Reed were relegating himself to a career of invisibility in the Sun Belt or something – and even that would be pretty much the same as spending the rest of his eligibility as the college equivalent of a career backup. If Reed can grab the starting spot at SJSU, he could very well be salvaging his future NFL career.
CV_Spartan–
Please don’t take what GoldenBear said as the prevailing “attitude from Cal!” I certainly don’t share is sentiment. Nor does Milo a couple of posts above this one.
You don’t have to stoop to his level by calling out scheduling issues that none of us have any control over. Besides, as we all know, they are usually set-up several seasons in advance, so its likely that the last time talks of scheduling a potential Bear/Spartan match-up, Cal was in its “Crap Teams of the Holmoe Age.”
I always root for you guys and am really excited about all the success you’ve had under Tomey. (Anything before that, I’m afraid I don’t know much about, as I used to only care about Cal and not CFB in general.)
Peace. Go Bears. Go Spartans.
Things are changing as they invariably do.
San Jose is on the way up. Tomey has done a great job.
He realizes that success breeds success.
Kids are attracted to the best programs, the ones with the highest profile. But profiles change over time.
Same with the NFL, with the character issue now being
central to acquired players.
One more thing, look at how many dIII players that got drafted or went in as free agents.
If you are truely good enough, and you have a team that cares for you……….they WILL find you.
Hey GoldenBear -
As a fellow Cal fan and alum, I must say that was an ignorant and asinine comment. You make the assumption that Reed is going to “tear-up his mid-major conference” on what basis? Just because he was a 4-star recruit? Or because since he was good enough to be 3rd string for Cal, he going to be a star at SJSU? IMO I think Reed will be a great QB for the Spartans, but as with all athletes, in no way will he be a “sure thing.” He will still have to earn that starting job just like any other QB. Secondly, you talk about a Berkeley degree as though it’s a document forged by God himself. I have family that went to SJSU, and if you were to go to their annual alumni dinner, you’d be surprised to see that many Silicon Valley CEOs, CFOs, and the like all attended what you deem is an academically inferior school. I’ll personally take an engineering degree from SJSU over a sociology (no offense to the sociology majors out there) degree from Berkeley any day.
Let’s face it…….
The Spartan Football Program is one of the most
promising up & coming D1 Turn-Around programs in the Country!! Just look @ Tomey’s resume and figure it
out!!
David Marrero did not pass up a Stanford degree to go to San Jose State, and he’s not really a transfer. He got his undergraduate degree last year and enrolled at San Jose State as a graduate student.
He may prove a pretty useful pickup for San Jose State. He was heavily recruited by Notre Dame out of high school and actually committed there before changing his mind and going to Stanford…where, unfortunately, he ran into Walt Harris and his career (like the rest of the program) took a sudden downturn. I think a lot of Stanford fans will be following his career with interest this season.
Just want to set the record straight for the Berkeley v. SJSU, both academic and athletic wise:
You guys got to be kidding….Berkeley degree worth tons more than SJSU. Get real boys, and try living in the real world and try getting the political correctness out the window. You guys can go on and on about people who have graduated from SJSU who are successful, and I am sure that is true. But the reality is that there are more people with a Cal degree who are successful (financially and career-oriented wise, if one define success this way for the sake of argument). Sure, it is really about how hard you work at the workplace and whether you are skilled at what you do; but in terms of opportunity, the type of network you built while at school, a Cal degree is invaluable. I got crappy degrees at Cal, but when it was interview season, I got offers from left and right while my pals from Davis or SJSU cannot even get interviews. It is unfair, but that is the reality. Don’t sugarcoat it.
In terms of athletics, it works the same way. Even if Reed was able to tear it up in the mid-majors, when it is time for draft time, the scouts will say, “mmm….here is a guy who cannot even make his team at Cal,” and he will be a mid to late draft pick (best case scenario). Remember, Aaron Rogers transferred from JUCO to Cal, and in one year he became a nobody to a first round draft choice, after he teared it up in Pac-10.
Given the state of the Bear roster, Cal was going to loose a QB this year if they wanted to get play time.
While Cal fans never saw his contributions directly, the competition that he provided pushed both Longshore and Riley to become better QBs. For that, I’ll join in with all the Bears wishing Reed the best of luck and success at SJSU. (and at the same time acknowledging that the Spartans could have a breakout season next year)
One thought for SJSU fans — I think you may owe Hawaii a bit of thanks given the hype around Brennan (who transered out of Colorado)
Hey Bears –
lets not get into the “value of a degree”/”merit of a football program” discussion. It’s a slippery slope that we’ve all seen Jim Harbaugh look foolish on.
This is a huge coup for San Jose State, this only further demonstrates the huge improvements the Spartan football program has made the last couple of years. The program is getting better every year. Last season they were 9-4 and won the New Mexico Bowl.
Perhaps more importantly Coach Tomey has improved the prestige and marketing of the program and brought it to new heights which is tremendously important for recruiting. The fact that we are competing with a top program like Cal, USC and to a lesser extent Stanford for talent shows how far SJSU has come.
Now we need to schedule a game against Cal for the 2008 or preferable 2009 season so Kyle Reed can lead the Spartans to victory against his former team. First we surpassed Stanford and now Cal!!!
Go Spartans!!!
SAN JOSE STATE RULES! More SJSU football players get into the NFL than Stanford or CAl put together, it’s true. It’s well known to college players, so they are clamoring to play for SJSU now. GO SPARTANS!
The Spartans are improving every year soon we will be winning WAC Championships and in the top 25 every year along with Boise State.
Excllent move Kyle Reed! Welcome to Sparta and best of luck!
It is extremely arrogant and pretentious to lay claim that Cal is a better education then SJSU. Obliviously Cal has a better academic reputation but reality is very different. As stated by a previous poster there is academic intelligence and street/common sense intelligence once you graduate everyone is back on a even playing field on the open job market and results are more important then reputation or a theoretical academic prestige.
in the age of money ball, atheletes need to get onto the field if they want to get in the pros. thats why college atheletes transfer. Reed’s degree in “undeclared” would be worthless from any school.
what’s more inportant is that athletes are recognizing sjsu as a place that can help their athletic carrers. i don’t mind if someone wants to get a degree from stanford or cal and I can’t blame someone for wanting to live all year in hawaii, but sparta should not be losing local high schooler’s and transfers to fresno, boise, or nevada. go spartans-
SpartanThunder -
For such an obviously rabid fan to discuss changing ‘08 and ‘09 game schedules makes you look a bit foolish — you seem unaware that BCS schools schedule non-conference games 3 or more years out.
Cal does an “A” Top Tier, “B” Low BCS, “C” Mid-major out of conference schedule. You know why Cal is playing Lousiana State? To improve recruiting profile. That is a factor in how Cal picks its out of conference
games.
You can cry foul (because it kind of is), but the the reality is that there is absolutely ZERO upside for Cal to play SJSU, so why schedule it when Cal can play a “C” team elsewhere and give the staff a bit of recruiting time?
Congratulations on getting a great QB, and I’ll root for him to do well next year. But don’t loose sight of the fact that he was still the 3rd (maybe 4th) best QB on Cal’s roster.
News Bulletin… Flash…….
If Reed couldn’t play at Cal he won’t be able to play at San Jose State. Maybe a transfer to Laney JC would have been a better option.
More good news…Awesome!
The West Coast is a happening place to be, California alone has like 8 million people surrounding the Bay Area and something like 13 million surrounding the LA area. Todays news is a very good sign that the West Coast is where college football players want to be and or stay.
Go Spartans! Go Bears! Go Cardinals! Go Trojans! Go Bruins! Go Bulldogs!
I still would be rooting for any west coast team over any east coast or mid-america team no matter what conference or school it may be. The reason is because East Coasters believe that they are better than us.
God I can’t wait until a playoff system is implemented, there will be nowhere for them to hide..
We play Arizona State this Saturday which is pretty much West vs. West but next Saturday we’re at Kansas State. ASU and KSU will see who we are. We are 4REAL.
Go Bears put a beat down on Tenessee and make us proud!
~mws
Couldn’t agree more the West Coast does not get the respect it deserved in all sports but especially college football. Where would you rather go to school when you were that age Oklahoma or California hmmmm thats a easy choice in my opinion.
I will root for the other West Coast teams when they play but otherwise Go Spartans!!!!
To Spartan Pride:
“There is academic intelligence and street/common sense intelligence…On the open job market and results are more important then reputation or a theoretical academic prestige.” Agree with you one hundred percent. But your statement, “Once you graduate everyone is back on a even playing field” ha ha, just what type of reality are you living in? I hate to say it and burst your bubble, but there is no such thing as “even playing field.” Life is not fair, and people from Cal just get better opportunities. Once a senior project manager from Oracle even told me: “Sure, those guys from Cal Poly or other Cal state system schools may seem like they have more polished technical skills in the beginning, but after a few years they will eventually get passed over for promotions by those from Berkeley or Stanford, for whatever reasons.” Trust me, I dislike this type of reality as much as you, but this is reality.
To Jammer:
Good Points! I see what you are saying and I couldn’t agree more life is not fair in that regard. I am just trying to emphasize that it is subjective to say one education is better then another based purely on reputation. However to your point obviously resume value is a different story and it is frequently “who you know” not “what you know”
Spartan Thunder -
You say “More SJSU football players get into the NFL than Stanford or Cal put together, it’s true.” Please do some research before pulling this garbage out of your anus.
Here is a current list of NFL players from SJSU:
Courtney Anderson Tight End Miami Dolphins
John Broussard Wide Receiver Jacksonville Jaguars
Rashied Davis Wide Receiver Chicago Bears
Jeff Garcia Quarterback Tampa Bay Buccaneers
James Jones Wide Receiver Green Bay Packers
Joe Nedney Kicker San Francisco 49ers
Josh Parry Running Back Seattle Seahawks
Tyson Thompson Running Back Dallas Cowboys
Here is a current list of NFL players from Cal:
Lorenzo Alexander Defensive Tackle Washington Redskins
J.J. Arrington Running Back Arizona Cardinals
Nnamdi Asomugha Cornerback Oakland Raiders
Tully Banta-Cain Linebacker San Francisco 49ers
David Binn Center San Diego Chargers
Desmond Bishop Linebacker Green Bay Packers
Kyle Boller Quarterback Baltimore Ravens
Andre Carter Defensive End Washington Redskins
Adimchinobe Echemandu Running Back Oakland Raiders
Scott Fujita Linebacker New Orleans Saints
Matt Giordano Safety Indianapolis Colts
Tony Gonzalez Tight End Kansas City Chiefs
Nick Harris Punter Detroit Lions
Dante Hughes Cornerback Indianapolis Colts
Chidi Iwuoma Cornerback Pittsburgh Steelers
L.P. Ladouceur Defensive End Dallas Cowboys
Ryan Longwell Kicker Minnesota Vikings
David Lonie Kicker Green Bay Packers
Marshawn Lynch Running Back Buffalo Bills
Chris Manderino Running Back Cincinnati Bengals
Brandon Mebane Defensive Tackle Seattle Seahawks
Aaron Merz Offensive Guard Buffalo Bills
Jeremy Newberry Center Oakland Raiders
Ryan O’Callaghan Offensive Tackle New England Patriots
Deltha O’Neal Cornerback Cincinnati Bengals
Marvin Philip Center Pittsburgh Steelers
Ryan Riddle Linebacker Baltimore Ravens
Aaron Rodgers Quarterback Green Bay Packers
Todd Steussie Offensive Tackle St. Louis Rams
Burl Toler Wide Receiver Washington Redskins
Langston Walker Offensive Tackle Buffalo Bills
John Welbourn Offensive Tackle Kansas City Chiefs
Mark Wilson Offensive Tackle Oakland Raiders
And you say SJSU sends more players to the NFL than Stanford AND Cal COMBINED?! Gimme a break.
And from the Stanford Spring media guide ….
A total of 22 former Cardinal players are
currently on NFL rosters. Stanford has had
23 players selected in the last five NFL
Drafts, and 36 in the last nine years, among
the most in the nation. Some of Stanford’s
(current and past) NFL players and coaches include:
• Brian Billick, coach
• John Brodie
• John Elway – NFL Hall of Fame
• Darrien Gordon
• Dennis Green, coach
• Kwame Harris
• Eric Heitmann
• James Lofton – NFL Hall of Fame
• John Lynch
• Ed McCaffrey
• Ernie Nevers – NFL Hall of Fame
• Darrin Nelson
• Ken Margerum
• Jim Plunkett
• Jon Ritchie
• George Seifert, coach
• Dick Vermeil, coach
• Bill Walsh, coach – NFL Hall of Fame
• Troy Walters
• Gene Washington
• Bob Whitfield
• Tank Williams
• Kailee Wong
Spartan Thunder is pretty much all bluster. I almost let that bit of harmless bombast pass but we might as well point out the obvious just in case the more credulous might actually believe it.
These are the youths that thunder at a playhouse,
and fight for bitten apples; that no audience, but
the Tribulation of Tower-hill, or the Limbs of
Limehouse, their dear brothers, are able to endure.
“Henry VIII”
I’ll join those Bear fans that are wishing Kyle good luck in his upcoming years at SJSU.
I would not be so sure that he will just walk in and take the starting job at SJSU next year. I remember looking at his HS numbers on a website when he was being recuited. His career completion percentage was BELOW 50% in High School. For those of you who have not been paying attention in these past few years, Jeff Tedford has a place for QB’s that are not accurate. It’s called the bench. (Just ask Joe Ayoob)
I think that if Kyle’s accuracy had gotten to a good level, he would not have been beaten out by Kevin Riley in camp.
As far as putting SJSU back on the schedule for Cal, I think SJSU needs to become “consistently relevant” before that can happen. That means SJSU needs to string together probably 3 or 4 more 9-10 win seasons at the least. Then it has the potential of being a regional rivalry. Until then, as LaughingBear pointed out above, recruiting benefits of playing against someone other than SJSU are too great.
Lastly, while I do not like to cast stones, why on Earth would Cal want to play at SJSU (in a stadium that holds maybe 31k fans) when they could play at home before twice as many fans. Even in the dark years of Theder, Kapp (the latter part of his tenure), Snyder (his early years), & Gilbertson the game usually drew over 50k fans. (Holmoe is not included in this list as I do not think we ever played SJSU during his tenure) The one year we played at SJSU (1996 — Mariucci’s only year) it was a joke.
LB and Jammer,
Please, you two are ridiculous. Don’t think for one single minute Cal is on the level of Stanford, Harvard and the like, academic reputation wise. There are a ton of SJSU grads that are executives. There are more successful SJSU grads working in business and engineering in this valley than Cal. I doubt any of us SJSU alums have had problems finding good jobs, so don’t make statements based on something you heard from a co-worker(and Cal alumni) or made-up to drive your point. Its really disappointing that you brought this up on a college football board. If anything it shows you have some kind of jealous feelings for SJSU getting some attention with its football program, being featured more in the mercury news, or maybe an SJSU alumni is passing you up at work. Whatever it is, its not our problem so don’t start with it. Its football season!
Thanks to the other Cal alumni for trying to squash this. Lets talk football.
Re: Reed vs. Riley.
As I love what Tedford has brought to Cal (joy, happiness and winning football), the rap that he produces systems QBs has some truth. Not every or any QB can make it in a Jeff Tedford system.
JT has very specific requirements and hey it obviously works great (99th percentile). (BTW, Bill Walsh had his idea of a QB as well.) That said, some QBs will flourish away from Tedford’s requirements, and Kyle Reed might be one of these QBs. Not a rap on Reed and not a rap on Tedford.
Any way, the Pac 10 thankfully isn’t the SEC..i.e., there’s other stuff to worry about beside football and life on the West Coast is great…so enjoy and smile.
SJ - I assume the “LB” is me? I had no intention of disparaging SJSU Academics and would love to see what in my posts above made you single me out….
BUT SINCE YOU FELT THE NEED TO ATTACK CAL’S ACADEMICS…..
“Don’t think for one single minute Cal is on the level of Stanford, Harvard and the like, academic reputation wise.”
- DEPENDS HOW YOU DEFINE ‘ON THE LEVEL’ SURE THE PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES YOU LISTED ARE ABOVE CAL, BUT WE’RE SPLITTING HAIRS ON THESE RANKINGS:
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/08/18_rankings.shtml
“There are a ton of SJSU grads that are executives.”
- OPINION?
There are more successful SJSU grads working in business and engineering in this valley than Cal.-
- OPINION?
I doubt any of us SJSU alums have had problems finding good jobs
- OPINION?
“don’t make statements based on something you…made-up to drive your point.
– THE IRONY OF THIS FINAL LINE IS REALLY FUNNY GIVEN THE LEAD UP ABOVE IT.
LaughingBear,
Sorry, I meant Golden Bear. I and none of the other Spartan alumni are here to cast stones, simply defend ourselves. Lets leave it at that.
I just want to say one thing about all of the posts about who’s sheepskins mean more. SJSU is supposed to be an affordable university for ALL to obtain a higher education, not just the people who have been fortunate or lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
The cost to attend the private Stanford’s or USC’s are way higher than SJSU. SJSU is the answer to the elitests who stick their nose up at everyone and think they’re better because they have a wealthy grandparent. The University of California-Berkley is supposed to be as well, but as I can see here in these posts hipocracy is not limited only to the well-to-do.
Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure..
~mws