California

1978 - 80 Golden Bears
(Authentic Reproduction)

The Bears promoted offensive coordinator Roger Theder to head coach. He was a former Cal player, had developed Jim Plunkett while at Stanford, and was the mastermind behind the high-powered offense of 1975, having served Cal as coordinator for six seasons. He took over the head coaching job as Cal Chancellor Ira Michael Heyman expressed his belief that intercollegiate athletics at Cal should be de-emphasized or eliminated, in part due to the response of the college community to the eligibility scandals involving Isaac Curtis and then head coach Mike White that continued to hang over the athletic department. The Cal administration and much of the faculty made public their feeling that athletics did not fit the mission of the university and that the athletes in general did not meet Cal academic or social standards. Theder accepted the job despite the negativity on campus. For the 1978 season he maintained the yellow helmet and striping that had been used previously, but changed the logos on each side of the helmet. Attendees of Cal’s games were greeted by a light navy blue decal that spelled out “CAL” in script and the bear-faced award stickers were now a bit smaller and placed towards the rear of the helmets. The 6-5 season was one of inconsistency, losing to UCLA 45-0 on national television with a team that seemed to have forgotten how to play its own offensive and defensive schemes, getting pounded by a combined 152-48 tally to USC, Arizona State, Stanford, and UCLA yet whose offense was among the national leaders. QB Rich Campbell put up 2287 passing yards and rush leader FB Paul Jones contributed 801 on the ground. Lamar Lundy Jr., son of the former Ram Fearsome Foursome DE was a target for Campbell at TE. One of the Bears' primary weapons was kicker Jim Breech who went on to a long and successful career with the Bengals. LB Burt Toler Jr. All Pac 8, and team captain, was the son of the well-known NFL ref and former star of the famous 1951 University Of San Francisco team. A former walk-on, Toler Jr.'s son also played at Cal as a walk-on, earned a scholarship, and recently played with the Raiders' practice squad and in the Arena League with the San Jose Sabercats. QB Campbell set all of the Cal passing records in ‘79 except the career TD mark held by former great Craig Morton. With TE Joe Rose and WR Matt Bouza (fifty-two catches) on the other end of his throws, the Bears came in with a 6-6 record that included tough play against their better opponents and a loss to Temple in the Garden State Bowl. Rose played well for the Dolphins for six seasons before coming back for one game in the '87 NFL strike year with the Rams. Ground-power came from FB Jones' 937 yards that allowed him to finish as the second best rusher in school history. When Campbell went down with a knee injury, the 1980 QB spot was shard by freshman Gale Gilbert and J. Torchio and the result was a 3-8 record. TE Dave Lewis was consistent with thirty-two receptions. RB John Tuggle caught thirty-six balls and ran for 580 yards behind tackle Harvey Salem. Campbell left behind a slew of records including a total of 7174 passing yards and a 70.7 completion percentage and was the Packers first-round draft pick, playing with them through 1984. After a relatively unproductive pro career, Campbell entered a seminary and practiced as a minister until moving forward to a new career as an editorial writer for a Mississippi newspaper. Kicker Mick Luckhurst was an effective weapon and followed with a seven season stint with the Falcons. DE Ralph DeLoach, who played with the Giants and LB's Rich Dixon and frosh Ron Rivera were the strength of a spotty defense that gave up 328 points. The high point was the upset of the John Elway-led Stanford team that was heavily favored.

If interested in any of these Cal helmets please click on the photos below.

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