California coach Dykes determined to turn program around following worst finish since 1999
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}California head coach Sonny Dykes, left, shakes hands with Stanford head coach David Shaw after the Stanford 65-13 victory in an NCAA college football game in Stanford, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar) (The Associated Press)
Sonny Dykes was nearly 30 minutes into a press conference wrapping up his first season at California when the Golden Bears coach was asked what he could point to as a tangible sign of progress.
Dykes was stumped for a reply, a fitting cap to a season in which Cal seemingly had no answer whatsoever for much of anything.
The Bears won just one game in Dykes' debut season. Outside of freshman quarterback Jared Goff breaking the school's single-season passing record, there wasn't much else that went right.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The losses weren't just confined to the field, either. The student section at Memorial Stadium was often near empty during games, and an increasingly frustrated group was calling for Dykes to be fired long before the season ended.