For now, Cal football boosters like Dykes’ game plan

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Before the season started, Cal football coach Sonny Dykes had a conversation with Dr. Douglas Goldman, one of the university’s most generous donors, about expectations.

“How many wins do you think you must have this season?” Goldman asked.

Dykes declined to answer. So Goldman — the donor who, along with his wife Lisa, gave $10 million for the construction of the Lisa and Douglas Goldman plaza at Memorial Stadium in 2012 — told Dykes what he thought.

“He needed to have four wins,” Goldman said. “Four was showing the start of a serious turnaround.”

So, one can say Cal’s 5-7 record represented a step in the right direction for Dykes, whose team was 1-11 in 2013. Those preseason thoughts from major boosters may have shifted when the Bears jumped out to a surprising 4-1 start, but losing six of their final seven games was a disappointment. The positive effect created by Cal’s high-powered offense was often erased by a defense that allowed the most passing yards in FBS history.

“Getting over the hump in college football is a hard thing to do,” Dykes said. “We had an opportunity to do it this year; just didn’t get it done.”

On top of having one of the worst pass defenses in college football history, critics can point to Dykes’ 0-15 record against teams with winning records and the fact that the Bears averaged more penalties per game this season than all but three other FBS teams.

His supporters often point to the lack of discipline in the program he took over. The issues were heightened because Dykes had to play 42 newcomers who had never played FBS football before the season started. Twenty-three of those were freshmen. And the numbers weren’t by design.

Fan support

Cal’s defense struggled all season, allowing averages of more than 500 yards per game and nearly 40 points per game. Cal’s defense struggled all season, allowing averages of more than 500 yards per game and nearly 40 points per game. Photo: Stephen Lam / Getty Images Photo: Stephen Lam / Getty Images Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close For now, Cal football boosters like Dykes’ game plan 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Goldman is one of Dykes’ supporters, for now. He wants Cal fans to be patient and thinks Dykes should have two more seasons before he’s judged.

“Regretfully, the program had deteriorated so much in the last three years under Jeff” Tedford, Goldman said. “You’re talking about the proverbial turning the huge ship around. It takes a long time.”

Others in the Cal community offered similar sentiments. Former quarterback Lloyd J. Torchio, who is best known for his 1980 victory over John Elway and Stanford in the Big Game, is also a Dykes supporter.

Torchio, who went by “J” in his playing days, spent his career in a traditional offense, but defends the spread offense Dykes runs. He said Cal isn’t any different than the majority of the Pac-12, which was a pass-happy league in 2014.

“When you take a step back, you’re very, very proud,” Torchio said. “We’ve gone from a non-competitive, anemically struggling program to five wins and very competitive. We’ve righted the ship on the other side of the coin, which is the academic side.”

Gary Slavit, president of the Cal Grid Club of Sacramento, was also cautiously optimistic about where the program is headed.

“We realize that he inherited a team that was kind of in disarray,” Slavit said. “They feel that Sonny is doing a lot of the right things, but we also know that you don’t know until two, three, four years in whether the trajectory is going to continue in the right direction.”

Cost of doing business

Dykes made $1.8 million this season and was two wins shy of a $25,000 bonus. Only one other Pac-12 head coach made less than Dykes in 2014, according to USA Today. Offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was paid $420,000 and defensive coordinator Art Kaufman was paid $550,000.

Cal’s original severance payment of $1.95 million to outgoing coach Tedford was lessened because of his employment with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tedford, who has been on indefinite medical leave all season after a heart procedure, was relieved of his duties with the Bucs on Friday in order to pursue other opportunities, according to the team.

But the university’s financial commitment to the football program is under heightened pressure considering the huge debt accrued after the $321 million renovation of Memorial Stadium.

Because of this, Dykes will face added scrutiny next season. A winning program is critical to increasing ticket sales and donations to help cover that debt.

Moving forward

The plan for Cal in 2015 is simple: The coaches need to fix a pass defense that was, statistically, the worst in Division I history.

“We certainly have to get better on the back end of our defense,” Dykes said. “We just didn’t have the depth we needed. We have to get bigger back there.”

On his radio show after the season, Dykes said he hopes to recruit two defensive tackles, three defensive ends and eight players in the secondary.

The first addition came in the days after Cal’s season ended. The Bears received a commitment from Derron Brown, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound safety from Mesa (Ariz.) Community College.

While Cal’s defense was shredded in 2014, players who accounted for 5,918 of the offense’s 5,942 total yards will be back for 2014.

“I think people see that our program is improved,” Dykes said on the radio show,” “and getting ready to take the next step.”

Mike Vernon is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mvernon@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @M_Vernon

Getting better

Cal’s recent rankings nationally in some team stats: