Cal Football: The Bill Musgrave-Chase Garbers Partnership
How well will the talents of Bill Musgrave and Chase Garbers mesh?
Sure, there are a number of factors that will determine Cal's success in 2020: You could point to the questions about a defense that has lost some vital pieces, or to an offensive line that has a chance to be productive but has not yet proven much.
But the crux of the matter this spring is this: New offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave is a proven NFL offensive mind that Cal was lucky to land, but for the Bears' offense to get where it needs to go, he must develop and enhance the talents of his veteran quarterback, Chase Garbers, a proven Pac-12 quarterback who must embrace and master the pro-style system Musgrave is installing.
We are just two practices into spring ball and the Musgrave-Garbers relationship, but things look promising.
Garbers said Friday in the video above that Musgrave and his predecessor, Beau Baldwin, have similar personalities.
"I think coaching style Coach Musgrave is a little more hands-on with the quarterbacks," Garbers said. "See him out there with a baseball glove catching balls -- which is the first time I've ever seen that happen. It's cool to have Coach Musgrave with us."
To outsiders it seems the NFL system Musgrave is installing might be difficult for a college quarterback to understand, especially after having to learn another system during his first three years at Cal.
The differences from the Baldwin offense are already noticeable, the most significant being that Garbers will operate under center a lot more than he has at any time in his football life.
So has Garbers had trouble grasping what Musgrave is throwing at him?
"Honestly, no," Garbers said. "I think if you had asked me that two years ago, as a freshman, I would have said yes. But being in a college system already, for three years, this will be my fourth season, it's really . . . it's quite easy to grasp and understand even though it's a whole new terminology."
That suggests it's been a good start, but just a start. The proof will come as the offense continues to get installed and how it plays out on game day.
