Gould brings Cal history into his job with Cardinal
Meet the running back whisperer.
When Stanford hired Ron Gould as its running backs coach this offseason, it acquired a mentor with a sterling reputation for developing players.
Yet, to Gould, the job is more than turning backs into stars.
“First and foremost, Ron is a mentor of young men,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said. “You call people at Cal. You call the guys he has coached — all these great running backs, and they love him. He’s not their coach, he’s their surrogate father.”
Gould coached eight future NFL running backs during his decade-plus career in Berkeley, including first-round draft picks Marshawn Lynch and Jahvid Best, and secondrounder J.J. Arrington.
Nine of the 11 best rushing seasons ever by Cal running backs came under Gould’s tenure as running backs coach (1997-2007) and associate head coach (2008-12). He also coached six of the school’s all-time top rushers.
Gould left the Bears to take the head-coaching job at UC Davis, but was fired in November after four seasons. The Aggies went 3-8 in his final year, and had a 12-33 record overall record under Gould.
Shaw had an opening at Stanford when running backs coach Lance Taylor left to become the Carolina Panthers’ wide receivers coach in February, and a reunion for Gould with the Pac-12 was cemented.
As rain poured at a Cardinal spring practice last week, he bellowed his husky, fullthroated commands. Gould, sporting a sharp, white goatee, was darting around his players and exhorting them to push through footwork drills.
“He knows what he is talking about,” junior running back Cameron Scarlett said.
Gould’s intense, in-your-face coaching style is a departure from the more laid-back Taylor, according to Scarlett. “He’s trying to teach us the whole scheme of the offense and the defense,” Scarlett said, “He’s teaching us what our whole offensive line is doing so that we understand the whole field. It makes everything easier for us.”
Bryce Love, the team’s No. 1 tailback, has been held out of spring drills because of an undisclosed, nagging injury and is unlikely to play in Saturday’s spring game. For now, Gould must wait for Love’s return to the field.
“I’m just eager to try to get a chance to work with him,” Gould said. “I know he is a talent. I know he is very, very competitive. But until I can get my hands on him, I can’t speak more than that.”
Gould likened Love to Best, whom he coached from 2007 through ’09. “Both have great speed. Their football IQ is second to none,” he said.
The skies at practice cleared for a time, but turned milk white again with rain as Gould pondered his journey from Cal to UC Davis and now Stanford. He was asked how he turned backs with various styles into stars, from powerful, attacking runners like Lynch to explosive and elusive “scatbacks” like Best.
“The biggest thing is that they allowed me to coach them,” Gould said. “There’s something called trust. Trust the process. Trust the things I’m teaching you. And go out and perform at the best of your ability.”
As one of the coaching staff ’s newest hires, he put a similar mandate on himself to be consistent. “If you want to be good at something, you’ve got to show out and bring your hardhat, your steel-toe boots,” he said. “And you better bring a work ethic.”