All good questions.

Another good question: IF you are a 3-4 star CA HS Football star, would you rather play at Cal/ Stanford in the ACC or UC Davis in the Pac-12? It is now a debate, whereas UC Davis in the Big Sky is no debate.

100%.

Regarding Cal, paying $400M for stadium renovations, part of which as you mentioned was bc of the earthquake retrofit, is a much different situation than ours. We just raised $50M for the EFAC. We can certainly pay $5M to move up and another $30M-50M for stadium enhancements.

The overall quality in FCS is going to be considerably watered down.

Time to think BIG for the Aggies. Looks like Rocko is.

It’s either die with FCS or move up. Transfer Portal, NIL, and scholarship increase in FBS will kill FCS football. Either take a risky jump (and get $5-7M a year at least in media rights with PAC-12) or essentially operate as a D-2 program.

Who knew the Ron Gould hiring would be so successful this many years later

“In terms of on-field play, UC Davis is actually pretty good for a newer program. It only made the jump from Division II to Division I FCS in 2002. The Aggies have since rattled off upset wins over Stanford, San Jose State and Tulsa. They reached the FCS quarterfinals after winning the Big Sky Conference in 2018.

Finances will also help UC Davis’ case.

The university enrolls more than 40,000 students. Its endowment of $2.25 billion is larger than schools like Alabama, Colorado and Missouri. There is significant wealth in Davis, which could help its case.

Along those lines, athletic director Rocko DeLuca teased expansion plans for UC Davis Health Stadium shortly after the soon-to-be new Pac-12 was announced. The 17-year-old field underwent significant renovations in 2023 and was built with the hope of going even bigger in the future.

Perhaps DeLuca was hinting at the idea that the Aggies could expand its stadium for a new conference…“

so you’re telling me there’s a chance.

https://brobible.com/sports/article/uc-davis-pac-12-expansion-conference-football-stadium/

We might have to get them on the podcast to pick his brain soon.

There is no doubt that rocko tweeting that directly coincides with the pac 12 announcement. It’s time!

Southern Utah Preview and Bonus interview with Scott Marsh. It’s a long one so enjoy!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ucdavisfootball/episodes/The-Scotts-Preview-Southern-Utah-after-Ploughs-1st-Win--Bonus-Interview-with-Long-Time-Play-by-Play-Man-Scott-Marsh-e2o7bee

Scott Marsh and Scott Gordon are on tonight's podcast recapping Commerce and previewing Southern Utah. Any questions, comments, send our way! Not quite ready for the live recordings with fans but stay tuned in future weeks...

A lot to a little Aggies!

Episode 8 is LIVE with Coach Coombs

APPLE LINK: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defensive-coordinator-matt-coombs-on-coaching-cal-and/id1758625363?i=1000668163895

SPOTIFY LINK: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0g5XQA2WwSvEJODRORgppZ?si=b972658075124a95

We might play around with having a live audience on future episodes. Anyone interested, please let me know and we can send the link. Maybe have an open time for questions from fans/ alumni, etc.

Coach Coombs interview tonight for the POD to recap cal and preview Commerce

Offense: 12 drives: 1 touchdown, 1 FGA (0-1) , 4 punts, 6 turnovers (3 interceptions, 3 downs), 0.5 points/drive

Defense: 12 drives: 3 touchdowns, 6 punts, 2 turnovers (1 fumble, 1 downs), 2 points/drive

Excerpts from the Write for California game recap blog.