Ryan Cobb was educated in SEC football long before he enrolled at Vanderbilt in 1993. His primary professor was Larry Munson.

Cobb, the head athletic trainer at the University of California, grew up in Atlanta in a pro-Bulldog household, which followed the team to the sound of Munson’s raspy, sometimes desperate, and always pro-Georgia voice.

“If the game was on TV, we’d turn off the sound and listen to Larry on the radio,” Cobb said by telephone from his office in Berkeley, Calif., where he is in his second stint with the Golden Bears.

Those two stints give him a great appreciation for the new, improved version of Cal football.

His first California venture came after graduating from Vanderbilt. He went West to complete his graduate assistantship, then was hired for a full-time role on the training staff. He left in 2001 to become Vanderbilt’s trainer for football and baseball.

In 2001, Cal football wasn’t much different from Vanderbilt football. The Golden Bears had just finished 1-10 for their eight eighth consecutive non-winning season.

“We didn’t get the win (in 2001) until Thanksgiving,” Cobb said. “That was against Rutgers in a rescheduled game from 9/11.”

When Cobb left for Vanderbilt, the Golden Bears were just interviewing Jeff Tedford, a longtime assistant coach, as a possible successor to Tom Holmoe, who lost 29 games in his last three seasons. When Cobb returned to Cal two years later as the football trainer, he recognized everything but the record.

Tedford’s first team went 7-5, his second one was 8-6 and his third was 10-2. The Golden Bears will enter this year’s opener against Tennessee with five consecutive winning seasons and three consecutive top-25 finishes. They’re also ranked No. 12 in the coaches’ preseason top 25.

Cobb noticed a bigger difference in the mindset than in the caliber of athletes.

“We always had great student-athletes,” he said. “But Coach Tedford had a plan and vision. I think the key was adding to what was already there.

“It was an amazing feeling and turnaround. I can’t imagine coaches and athletes worker harder to get to that position.”

Cobb has been as upwardly mobile as Cal football. Although he’s only 32, he already has been promoted from football trainer to head athletic trainer. Last year, he was honored as Trainer of the Year by the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine. Not only did he win the award, he received it in Atlanta, the site of the National Athletic Trainers Association annual meeting.

Like most athletic trainers, Cobb works long days without off days during the season. And like so many in his profession, he’s devoted to his work, which has given him an appreciation for two conferences.

“They might be different in terms of style, but they’re both great football conferences,” Cobb said.

In Cal’s case, you also can measure the differences between the conferences with a thermometer. After growing up in summer heat and later working at Vanderbilt, Cobb has been spoiled by the Bay Area’s mild climate.

“I went to a wedding last week in Tampa,” he said. “You forget about that humidity.”

So he knows the challenge of preparing a Northern California team for southern Southern heat, which the Golden Bears encountered last season in their opener at Neyland Stadium.

“You can do a good job with cardiovascular fitness anywhere,” Cobb said. “Climatization is more difficult if you’re at Cal and trying to prepare for (a game in) Miami.”

Cal doesn’t just sit there and take the mild weather. As part of their preseason conditioning, the Golden Bears can turn up the heat by taking a 30-minute trip to a high school stadium for a more taxing practice.

“One day this summer, I drove from Berkeley out to Walnut Creek,” Cobb said. “It was about 20 to 25 minutes. The thermometer read 80 degrees when I left (Berkeley) and was 101 when I got there.”

More than the temperature can change quickly in the Bay Area. A trainer on his second go-round with Cal football can vouch for that.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.