Pac-12 Football Players Light up the Senior Bowl

First off, before any other news is commented on, first look at Eric Bean’s 2020 Senior Bowl Review. In it, he goes into great detail on each Pac-12 football player and how they performed. Spoiler alert: they shined!

Multiple Pac-12 Football Programs Vie for Clay Millen

Wanted to thank Oregon State for coming out to watch me throw today, and after a great conversation with @Coach_Lindgren I’m extremely honored to have received an offer from Oregon State University!! #GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/JxiVRFJfy0 — Clay Millen (@ClayMillen) January 21, 2020

After Oregon State’s latest offer, Clay Millen now holds offers from Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State, UNLV. After sitting his freshman and sophomore year, Millen produced a fantastic junior season.

256 completions on 360 attempts

3,145 passing yards

34 passing touchdowns

1 interception

Because of this promising junior season, the 6-foot-3 quarterback out of Snoqualmie earned 4-star ranks in recruiting.

To Pac-12 football fans, the name Millen might sound familiar. That’s because his older brother Cale Millen plays as a backup quarterback for the Oregon Ducks. Additionally, his father Hugh Millen played for the Washington Huskies and in the NFL for eight years. Because of his size, family ties and breakout junior season, Clay Millen got noticed.

With another year to strut his stuff for Mount Si, Millen is certain to earn more than just Pac-12 football interest. However, we desperately want him to stay in the Pac-12.

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Gerald Alexander Leaves Cal, Golden Bears Sign Marcel Yates

#Cal Defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander is the new Defensive backs coach for the Miami Dolphins.



He’s instrumental in making the Cal secondary one of the best in college football. Excellent hire. Young, up and coming coach regarded as a “great defensive mind”. — George Wrighster III (@georgewrighster) January 24, 2020

Losing Gerald Alexander is a huge loss for the Cal Golden Bears. In three seasons as Cal’s defensive backs coach, he was pivotal in their defensive success. Alexander’s defensive backs rose to elite with his excellent coaching and leadership. Per calbears.com, Cal’s 2018 defense was top-ten in the nation in:

Interceptions

Defensive touchdowns

Turnovers gained

Passing yards allowed.

Among those stats, Alexander’s defensive backs accounted for:

17 of 21 interceptions

3 of 5 defensive touchdowns

3 of 7 fumbles recovered

Thankfully, Cal hired Marcel Yates (recently fired Arizona Wildcats defensive coordinator) as defensive backs coach. Somehow, they talked Marcel Yates to be okay with a defensive assistance coach position. Now, the Bears have four coaches with defensive coordinator experience. Justin Wilcox, Tim DeRuyter, Peter Sirmon and Marcel Yates have a combined 41 years of D.C. experience. Well done Cal.

USC hires Todd Orlando as Defensive Coordinator

“You can’t practice soft and play hard.”



New DC Todd Orlando is looking to up the physicality on the USC practice field. #FightOn pic.twitter.com/Jorj04g0b6 — USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) January 24, 2020

Recall that last week we mentioned that USC eyed Todd Orlando as their 2020 defensive coordinator. Well, now they made it official. However, Trojans need to temper expectations. Orlando is still a very speculative add. His 2019 Longhorns ranked 54th in Football Outsider’s DFEI rankings, almost matching USC’s 57th ranking. His middling 2019 defense got him fired from Texas, but his experience still got him hired for USC.

With 15 years as defensive coordinator, Orlando is known as an aggressive coach with positive influences. Hopefully, 2019 was just a blip on his career and due to the Longhorns defensive injuries. If that’s the case, USC did exceptionally well.

Keep in mind, the Trojans somehow kept Graham Harrell at Offensive Coordinator. With Kedon Slovis and Graham Harrell at the offensive helm, USC football will certainly put up points. Because of this, Orlando’s defense can afford to be risky and aggressive. It could be the perfect fit for a USC team on the rise. Be ready for a surge up the ranks as USC. Pac-12 football’s 2020 champion could very well be USC.

UCLA Athletics Rack up an 18.9-Million Dollar Deficit

#UCLA had been on solid financial footing for decades. No longer. The Bruins are bleeding cash and in need of a massive campus bailout:https://t.co/dN5JN6zCH3 — Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) January 24, 2020

As if UCLA wasn’t already at a low point in Pac-12 football, now they’re running a nearly 20-million dollar deficit. Yikes. Although they generated 108.4-million dollars in revenue, the UCLA Athletics Department ran up 127.3-million dollars in expenses. Because of this, the deficit was covered by an interest-bearing loan from central campus.

For the budget nerds out there, we’d highly recommend you read this work by Jon Wilner of Mercury News. In it, he breaks down the Bruins debt in detail, along with any solutions. The biggest solution seems to be clear for most. UCLA needs to win games.