Pac-12 Spring Football: Sonny Dykes At Cal, Mike MacIntyre At Colorado Have Work To Do

Which of the Pac-12's new coaches has the most issues to start addressing in spring football?

Jack Follman, Pacific Takes: Sonny Dykes has a tall task at Cal. They really need to find a quarterback that can step up and be dynamic, an every-down running back and they have a ton of other less high-profile holes to fill everywhere. I would actually argue that Cal might actually return less experienced talent than any team in the conference, so he's going to have to find some guys to step up right away because they can't coast on their talent anymore.

Matt Takimoto, Addicted to Quack: Cal's regime change may be more drastic, but Sonny Dykes has more talent to work with than Mike MacIntyre at Colorado. Cal could make a bowl game next year if all goes well; the Buffs are a ways away.

Gekko Mojo, UW Dawg Pound: While Sonny Dykes is the answer that comes to mind first, further consideration on the question leads me to the conclusion that Mike Leach has the most issues to address this spring. He's got key pieces to replace in Tuel, Long and Wilson, he's got a restless fanbase that has been more than patient, and he's got a competitive P12N that features an elite top third with a few teams in the middle on the brink of surging towards the top half of the overall conference. Layer on the fact that there hasn't been a good pirate movie released in the last year and you have a virtual cornucopia of issues in the Palouse.

Norcalnick, California Golden Blogs: I agree with Matt. I don't care about schemes. I care about talent. If you give a decent coach with any scheme good talent, he'll get you some wins. Mike MacIntyre is inheriting the toughest situation from the perspective of returning talent, and that makes his job the toughest in the Pac-12, if not at any AQ conference school.

Andy Wooldridge, Building The Dam: Matt and Nick are right about Cal having a lot more talent to work with the what Mike MacIntyre has in Colorado, but I think Sonny Dykes has more issues that his fan base is going to expect him to address, and quickly. Everyone can see it will take time and a lot of recruiting to plug up all the holes in the dyke in Boulder, but Dykes has the tougher division, and growing restlessness about that team across the bay. MacIntyre was also not a hire that raised many eyebrows. Dykes' hiring did. He has to get off to a good start or there will be a lot of pressure from the fan base and the budget.

Adam Butler, Pac Hoops: Can I say Clancy Pendergast? So much has been made of USC's inability to stop the spread and now every team in the conference runs the spread! OK, so maybe it was Oregon's offense specifically but nonetheless, all eyes in will be Clancy's defense inside the Coliseum.

Sean Reynolds, Block U: Mike MacIntyre really inherits a struggling program. That's never an idea situation and while he'll definitely be given time to turn it around, those initial seasons aren't generally easy - just ask Mike Leach at Washington State (or Jon Embree for that matter). The lack of overall talent is going to be a bigger issue, I think, than what Dykes will face at Cal.