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Bob Gregory Had Success as Cal DC Until 8th and Final Season

After Bears defense got scorched in 2009, he moved to Boise State to take a lesser position.
Dan Raley|
Bob Gregory Had Success as Cal DC Until 8th and Final Season
Bob Gregory Had Success as Cal DC Until 8th and Final Season

Bob Gregory enjoyed a fair amount of success as the California defensive coordinator for most of eight seasons before stepping down when things weren't quite so successful at the end.

On Monday, University of Washington coach Jimmy Lake promoted Gregory to Husky defensive coordinator to replace Pete Kwiatkowski, now at Texas.

Gregory, 57, held the job in Berkeley from 2002 to 2009, working for Jeff Tedford, and the Bears' were nationally ranked as a team in seven of those eight seasons, according to Jake Curtis of the Cal Sports Report, which is part of the Sports Illustrated Network.

Curtis, who previously worked for the San Francisco Chronicle, writes about Gregory's time at Cal and it can be found here. 

He was the defensive coordinator during the 2004 season in which the Bears, who were losers only to national champion USC 23-17, finished No. 4 in the final polls and No. 5 in the BCS standings, the latter costing them a Rose Bowl berth. 

Gregory's defense complemented a Cal offense that featured Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and freshman Marshawn Lynch at tailback.

Meantime, the Huskies couldn't stop anyone in 2004, finishing 1-10, which included a 42-12 defeat to the Bears.

In 2006, Cal finished tied for first in the conference with USC, the only time that's happened since 1958.

Gregory's stint in Berkeley ended following the 2009 season, when the Bears went from sixth-ranked early in the campaign to giving up 30 points or more in five of their last 10 games.

He left to take a defensive assistant job at Boise State, a move that prompted outsiders to suggest he was forced out at Cal. 

Gregory had served as the Broncos defensive coordinator for one season in 2001, and then left to join the Bears. Now he was headed back.

Tedford, as Jake Curtis of Cal Sports News recalls, said it was Gregory's decision to move on and return to Boise State.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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