Dec 15 2008
Michalczik bolts up north for promotion
The Cal Bears have lost their stalwart offensive line coach to the Washington Huskies. Jim Michalczik will remain on the Cal staff until after the Bears take on the Miami Hurricanes in the Emerald Bowl on December 27, 2008, but then he’ll move on to his home state of Washington to be the Huskies offensive coordinator.
Michalczik came over to the Bears when Jeff Tedford was hired to be the head coach and has been the assistant head coach / offensive line coach with also being the offensive coordinator in 2007.
It was a tough decision for Michalczik to leave. “It was an incredibly tough decision,” Michalczik said Sunday night. “Leaving the Bay Area, leaving these kids, leaving coach (Jeff) Tedford, who gave me an opportunity here. This is a pretty good opportunity. It was literally too good to turn down.”
Michalczik will be joining the staff of the former offensive coordinator of the USC Trojans, Steve Sarkisian. The Huskies finished winless this season at 0-12, so they have nowhere to go but up, making any sort of improvement a feather in Michalczik’s cap.
“Professionally, it was an offer I couldn’t turn down,” he said. “There’s no definite path in this profession, but the perception is (this) is the path to take.”
The Bears will be taking the next three days off to rest and recuperate before taking the field on Thursday and beginning their preparations for the Miami Hurricanes.
* Check over at the Cal Bears Examiner , where I’ll be covering the game more extensively.
