Borges Leaves to Become Offensive Coordinator at Cal

Al Borges is headed home to the Bay Area, and the UCLA football team is looking for another offensive coordinator.

Borges, whose offense put up record-setting numbers during his five seasons as coordinator, announced Thursday he’s leaving Coach Bob Toledo’s staff for the same job at California.

“This is a great opportunity for me,” said Borges, 45, who grew up in Salinas. “It’s a chance to go to a place that’s dying to win football games, that’s ready to win football games.”

Borges signed a two-year deal for what a Pacific 10 Conference source said would be “significantly more” than his $114,000 annual salary at UCLA.

Toledo, who Wednesday announced he had fired defensive coordinator Bob Field, said the money factored significantly into Borges’ decision to leave UCLA, where his offenses averaged 32.1 points a game.

“I think money was a big part of this,” Toledo said. “I mean, it’s a lot of money. It’s not a little money, it’s a lot of money. Al said that as well. And it’s an opportunity for him to do something at a place that hasn’t had a very good offense. So it was a real challenge for him too.”

Despite featuring promising sophomore quarterback Kyle Boller, Cal’s offense finished ninth in total yardage, averaging 317.5, and last in scoring, 22.4 points, in the Pac-10.

Unlike Toledo, who is an offensive specialist, Cal Coach Tom Holmoe concentrates on defense. That will allow Borges to put his own stamp on the Golden Bears’ offense, which is important because he aspires to become a head coach.

Under Borges’ tutelage, Cade McNown became the most productive passer in UCLA history and became the all-time conference leader in total offense. In 1997, UCLA scored a school-record 477 points and ranked third nationally in scoring.

In 1997 and ‘98--when the Bruins averaged 39.8 and 39.7 points a game--Borges didn’t receive interest from schools in search of head coaches, probably because he was lost in Toledo’s shadow.

“He doesn’t want to ride the bus, he wants to drive the bus,” Toledo said. “And I think that’s great. Maybe this is an opportunity to eventually do that.”

As for finding a replacement at UCLA, Toledo said he plans to take his time, possibly waiting until after recruiting is over. He said he has no plans to change the offense and indicated he will strongly consider promoting one of his current assistants.

Borges and Toledo stressed that their friendship remains strong. They have been known to take vigorous walks together after practice and, Toledo said, never have had an argument.

Borges, who worked as a part-time assistant coach at Cal in the early 1980s, said he declined to listen to any offers until after the Bruins had played in the Sun Bowl, so as not to create a distraction. When Cal came calling, he couldn’t resist. He said he decided Wednesday to accept the job.

“It’s a good chance to jump-start my career,” he said. “It’s a good chance to jump-start the offense and see if we can’t get the Cal Bears to a bowl game.”