If you were in the market for a head coach, you would be hard-pressed to find a more appealing candidate than Cal's Jeff Tedford.

You want a guy who can rebuild a program? He's the guy.

You want a guy with an exciting offense? He's that guy, too.

You want a guy who can attract the country's best high school quarterbacks? It's Tedford again.

In 2002, Tedford took over a program that had suffered through five consecutive losing seasons and was getting worse by the year. The 2001 Cal team lost 10 of 11 games, including six by 27 or more points.

Tedford didn't just rebuild the program. He did it fast and made it sound easy.

"It wasn't really that difficult," he said Wednesday on the News Sentinel's radio show, The Sports Page. "We had great kids here, and there was a lot of senior leadership. They were very hungry to learn and get the team back on track."

It wasn't that difficult?

Tell that to Tedford's predecessors. Tom Holmoe was 12-43 in five years. Steve Mariucci was 6-6 in one season. Keith Gilbertson had three losing seasons in four years.

Bruce Snyder was hailed as a great success after going 29-24-4 in five years. Joe Kapp had one winning season in five years. Roger Theder had one winning season in three years.

That's the recent Cal track record. And that's what makes Tedford's record even more impressive. He has won where so many others have failed.

In his first season as a head coach, Cal went 7-5. His next team was 8-6, and his third was 10-2. Last year, despite an inordinate number of injuries, Cal went 8-4.

And this year's team might be his best yet. The ninth-ranked Golden Bears will open their 2006 season in Neyland Stadium on Sept. 2.

Tedford's dramatic turnaround at Cal isn't the only reason he has been sought after by the pros and other colleges. He has a Steve Spurrier-like reputation for spectacular offenses.

Tedford, who won't turn 45 until after the season, needed just one game as a head coach to show Cal fans he knew a little something about offense. Cal scored 70 points in its 2002 season opener against Baylor.

His four Cal teams have averaged 34.4 points per game; his 2003 team set school records for total offense, passing yards and first downs; and his 2004 team averaged a school-record 492.4 yards per game.

Never mind all the points and yards. Tedford is still looking for more. That's why he hired offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar to implement the spread option he ran at Northwestern.

"It's an added dimension," Tedford said. "It's very important to have multiple offense and utilize your personnel. We have very fast receivers and very athletic linemen.

"Our challenge is to meld the two. We feel like we have come up with a pretty good combination."

His offensive reputation isn't built solely on schemes or play-calling. He has coached one outstanding college quarterback after another.

Tedford, who set school passing records as a Fresno State quarterback in 1982, later coached Trent Dilfer at his alma mater. Dilfer was the sixth pick overall in the 1994 NFL draft.

Tedford has coached five other quarterbacks who were taken in the first round -- David Carr of Fresno State, Akili Smith and Joey Harrington at Oregon, and Kyle Boller and Aaron Rodgers at Cal.

With his success at Cal, Tedford has proved he can develop a program as well as quarterbacks. The school showed its appreciation by nearly doubling his salary after the 2004 season. He has a base salary of $1.5 million, with incentives adding up to another $300,000.

At today's prices, Cal still has a bargain.