Ex-Cal coach Jeff Tedford hired as consultant by Washington

LOS ANGELES -- FormerCal coach Jeff Tedford has agreed to join the staff at Washingtonas a consultant, Huskies coach Chris Petersen said.

Tedford won't be permitted to coach any of the players, Petersen said, but he will be able to take part in meetings with the coaching staff, go over film and provide help in ways yet to be defined.

"What prompted this was he wanted to get back into college football and there wasn't an opportunity out there for him this year to become a head coach or some other position like that and he knows a lot of guys on our staff," Petersen said.

Tedford, Cal's all-time winningest coach, went 82-57 from 2002-2012, but was fired after the Bears went 3-9 in his final season and replaced by Sonny Dykes.

He was hired as the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prior to the 2014 season, but underwent a heart procedure just before the season which led to an indefinite leave of absence. The Buccaneers released Tedford from his contract on Dec. 5, 2014, and two weeks later he was named the head coach of the B.C. Lions in the Canadian Football League. The Lions went 7-11 in 2015 and Tedford resigned in December in order to pursue opportunities in college football.

Tedford and Petersen spent three seasons together as assistants at Oregon (1998-2000), where Tedford served as the offensive coordinator and Petersen as the receivers coach before Petersen left to become the offensive coordinator at Boise State. Washington's staff also includes associate head coach Bob Gregory, who served as Tedford's defensive coordinator at Cal for eight seasons.