Contra Costa Times: Cal Must Prove it Can Win on the Road

Monte PooleNo fan base in America could urge an athletic director to fire a college football coach whose team played its entire schedule on the road. Cal folks wouldn't dare.No A.D. would be irrational enough to dump a coach before allowing him to coach in the marvelous new facility built with the momentum he generated. Cal's Sandy Barbour won't even consider it.Not that she should.To the delight of most but the dismay of some, Jeff Tedford gets a pass this season. The Golden Bears cannot go winless, so the coach's job is safe in every realistic scenario.That's not to suggest Tedford can spend 2011 coasting on those successive top-25 finishes accumulated from 2004 through 2006. To the contrary, this season provides ideal circumstances under which he can begin repolishing a reputation that once shined brightly enough to attract glances from NFL executives.Tedford, 49, can reaffirm his initial identity as a football professor in Berkeley. Or he can confirm his rece...