Redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Kline threw a deep pass down the middle of the field that connected perfectly in stride with sophomore wide receiver Bryce Treggs.

A crowd of a few hundred fans voiced their approval.

 A fresh dynamic under new head football coach Sonny Dykes is that spring workouts are open to the public. Passionate Cal fans came to Memorial Stadium on Monday evening to watch the first spring practice of 2013, and were treated to an action-packed, enthusiastic practice.

"I thought the turnout was good," Dykes said after completing his first practice as Cal's coach. "I think our players are energized when people come out and watch practice. Hopefully, everybody liked what they saw."

Moments later, junior quarterback Austin Hinder delivered a touchdown pass to wide receiver Drake Whitehurst, drawing another positive reaction from the crowd.

"It made it more fun," Hinder said. "I thought it was more live. You look up there and you have the fans getting into your throws. It makes it fun. That makes you want to do it again. Now people can come and have fun."

Fans, players and coaches braved a chilly evening at the end of February, one that Dykes was pleased with afterward. Cal's players are learning an entirely new system, so Dykes acknowledged there will be some mistakes. But for a first practice, it was encouraging.

"I was pleasantly surprised," Dykes said. "I thought the energy was good. The attitude was good. There are going to be a million mistakes, but for the first day, I thought it was good. I was really pleased."

There will be a new starting quarterback behind center for the Bears in 2013 after the departure of two-year starter Zach Maynard. Monday, Kline, Hinder and senior Allan Bridgford took all of the reps, but Dykes said others, such as sophomore Kyle Boehm and true freshman Jared Goff, will get reps during Cal's next practice session on Wednesday.

"All I know is all these guys are studs," Kline said. "I'm just trying to compete and do my best. It's going to be a huge battle, that's for sure. It's going to be an interesting spring."

 

Football coach Sonny Dykes held a pre-spring practice press conference Wednesday at the Simpson Center, an informal gathering with pizza and about 10 reporters. While Dykes carefully picked all the veggies he could off his pizza slice, he answered several questions from the assembled press. Spring practice begins Monday. Here's a sampling:

On the team's attitude heading into spring ball: "The biggest thing I've seen is how hungry the guys are. They've been hard-working. They have been spirited. They've been real positive. That's been the biggest surprise for me in some ways, just based on having a rough year and maybe the perceived notion of the program in some ways. I think the guys are hard-working. I think they've really kind of embraced our style up to this point. It's easy to do that on the front end like they've done, but they've done a great job of doing everything we've asked them to do. I've really been pleasantly surprised with all that. In that regard, I think we're way ahead of schedule."

On the team attending the men's basketball game against UCLA last week: "I think we'll continue to do that kind of stuff. I'm a big believer in the whole team concept. I'm a big believer of student-athletes being part of the regular student-body. I think that's something that we have to encourage our players to be, involved on campus - whether it's sporting events or whatever else is out there available to those guys to be supportive of. So many people support them, coming to football games and cheering and doing that kind of thing. I think that's part of being a good person and being part of a good student, is embracing the whole 'all or one, and one for all' idea. The guys had a blast. They were excited to do it. I think they had more fun than they thought they were going to have. I think they've been pleasantly surprised, just like I have been, by the positive response that it generated -- because it's really not that big of a deal."

On what he's seen from the team so far: "The overall athleticism of the team is much better than I anticipated it would be. But just because you're a good athlete doesn't mean you're a good football player. That's what we need to find out starting on Monday, how well that athleticism translates to being a good player."

On whether there's a timeline for naming a starting quarterback: "I'd love to have a starter after Monday. That would be ideal. One of the guys is so good that everybody goes 'wow.' But I don't anticipate that happening. The sooner the better. Reps at the quarterback spot are the most valuable commodity there is. We have to get whoever the starter is going to be as many reps and as well-prepared as we possibly can."

On what he is looking for in a quarterback: "Timing, accuracy, leadership, ability to inspire confidence of others - that's probably the most important thing a quarterback can bring."

One day after the two-month anniversary of his hiring at Cal, Sonny Dykes experienced the first major rite of passage as the Bears' head football coach.

Make no mistake. Dykes has been busy since he inherited Cal's program on Dec. 5. He's assembled his coaching staff, immersed himself in recruiting and started connecting with the campus community.

But Wednesday afforded Dykes the opportunity to make his biggest mark yet on his stewardship in Berkeley with National Signing Day. And he did just that by inking 25 players that is considered a consensus top-30 class nationally, an impressive achievement for a head coach that took over a program so late in the recruiting calendar.

"You have to get that first recruiting class signed," Dykes said during an interview in his office as Signing Day wound down. "I feel good about what we did and what we accomplished. The thing I'm proud of is we added good people to our program and we added players that will be here and be productive for a long time."

There was an early-morning buzz at the Cal football offices Wednesday as the coaching staff and assembled support staff fulfilled their Signing Day duties. Dykes was in his office by 4:30 a.m., and the first National Letter of Intent came across the fax machine at 5:07 a.m. That belonged to defensive tackle Jacobi Hunter of Houston. At 5:29 a.m., the Bears received a fax from fellow Texan Chad Whitener, a linebacker from Mansield.

"And then somebody showed up with some doughnuts," Dykes said.

Shortly past 7 a.m., the fax machine set up temporarily in the football conference room was consistently humming. By just after 9:30 a.m., the class was complete. In between, hoots and hollers could be heard from the coaching staff meeting in the conference room as different faxes made their way across the machine.

"You never know. You're always worried somebody getting a late-night phone call or an early-morning phone call," Dykes said. "We were trying to hold off some schools on a couple of kids. It's a relief when you get the fax because it's an incredible amount of time and effort invested in these guys. It's good to see it go your way."

Since Dykes and his staff got a late start recruiting the 2013 class, they figured there was no time like the present to look ahead to 2014. After the last fax arrived, the staff started looking at film of high school juniors and got on the phone with coaches and athletes with an eye on the future.

"That's the nature of recruiting. It never stops," Dykes said.

At 1 p.m., Dykes began the media portion of his day. He went downstairs to the Tahir Family Team Theater for his Signing Day press conference, where he fielded questions from the press and narrated a video compilation of all 25 of Cal's new players. Then it was off to do radio interviews with KNBR 680 AM and 95.7 The Game, television interviews with the Pac-12 Networks and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and a live chat with fans on calbears.com.

"It's easy to talk about this class because I'm excited about this group," Dykes said. "I really like these guys. I think they're going to be very successful."

Finally, in the evening, Dykes ventured over to the University Club for a Signing Day reception with donors, followed by a season-ticket holder event in the Field Club.

"It's always fun to see Cal supporters," Dykes said. "It's a great bunch; so many nice people. It's fun because I'm actually getting to start to know some of them. I look forward to getting to know them even better."

Dykes plans on being back in the office early Thursday morning. He and the staff will continue preparations for spring practice and to recruit for 2014. When the Bears take the Memorial Stadium field for their first spring session on Feb. 25, it will be another benchmark in the Sonny Dykes era. You can tell he was pretty happy with the first one.

"It's been a hectic day," Dykes said. "It's good to have this behind us. It's an exciting day, but there is a lot of work involved. It's a relief to get these guys signed. The thing I'm always impressed with is how much interest there is in our program and I'm just excited about the future as we continue to build."

 

For coverage throughout the day, check out our special Signing Day blog here:

http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/signingday2013.html

All Signing Day blog coverage will appear at the above link throughout the rest of the day.

Welcome to Signing Day, 2013! Stay tuned throughout the day for thorough coverage, including updates on the arrival of letters and a behind-the-scenes look at the football offices throughout the day.