Sonny Dykes prepares for first spring at Cal

Posted by: Chris Vannini on February 24, 2013

Several teams open up spring practice on Monday, but Cal might have had the most eventful offseason.

For the first time since 2001, Jeff Tedford is not opening up the spring. Sonny Dykes was hired from LA Tech and hopes to bring a high-powered offense to a conference full of them.

The Golden Bears will open the first spring practice from 4-6:30 p.m. PT on Monday, and all practices are open to the public.

"This is a great opportunity for our fans to come out and enjoy a football program that belongs to all of us in the Cal community," Dykes said in a statement. "We are excited to get on the field and continue building upon Cal's excellent football tradition. We want everybody to feel like they are a part of that."

Spring practice will conclude on the spring game on March 23.

As for Dykes' staff, he hired former Wisconsin linebackers coach Andy Buh as his defensive coordinator and brought Tony Franklin as his offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach from LA Tech.

Rob Likens (assistant head coach / outside receivers), Pierre Ingram (running backs), Mark Tommerdahl (inside receivers / special team coordinator) and Zach Yenser (offensive line) also came from LA Tech.

On the defensive side, Garrett Chachere (defensive ends) comes from Southern Miss, Barry Sacks (defensive line) comes from Nevada and Randy Stewart (defensive backs) comes from Eastern Michigan.

Cal opens the season with a home game against Northwestern on Aug. 31. For a full list of spring practice start dates, click here.

Below is Dykes talking about spring football last week.

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chrisvannini

Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com

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