Tim Plough no longer has to prove he has what it takes to be the head football coach at UC Davis. The 2024 season was the former Aggies quarterback’s first at the helm and it could not have gone much better. UC Davis won 11 games for the first time since making the jump to Division I in 2007.
Plough had longed for an opportunity to take charge after being an assistant at UC Davis, Northern Arizona, Boise State and Cal. He was the tight ends coach at Cal in 2023 and could have remained to call plays as the Golden Bears offensive coordinator. Plough gets to call all the shots at UC Davis.
One of the first was having his three sons attend practices and play on the sideline before games. Plough has never understood why coaches implore their players to think of themselves as a family and yet the coaches’ wives and children must keep their distance. He wants an all-inclusive family.
And no one can tell him otherwise. Plough could have made much more money by staying at Cal, but he would have had to play by by someone else’s rules instead of creating his own at UC Davis. His word is final on everything from equipment and the depth chart to his sons joining him at practices and games.
Plough can accept a lower salary if it does not come with the cost of leaving out his wife Christine and sons Jackson, Camden and Bodie. “You sacrifice for maybe a lot financially, but you’re gaining time,” he said. “Because I’m the head coach, I want my family to be a part of this. I get to do that.”
Being in charge as a head coach does not mean the 40-year-old Plough feels free to micromanage his assistants as he sees fit. He usually steers clear of position meetings so his assistants can talk to their troops without him hanging on every word. The one exception is the quarterbacks meeting.
Paul Shelton is the offensive coordinator and meets with the seven quarterbacks, but Plough calls the plays and needs to ensure he is in tune with whoever is behind center. He stopped by the quarterbacks meeting Aug. 1 to find former Aggies head coach Bob Biggs was already in the room.
Plough’s respect for Biggs goes without saying. Plough played four years for Biggs and then joined the staff as an assistant in 2008. Biggs promoted Plough to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2010. Biggs retired in 2012 after 19 seasons and Plough was not retained by Ron Gould.
The grass practice field adjacent to UC Davis Health Stadium was named after Biggs, but Plough is the first coach to have his team actually practice on it. Practices this summer usually start on Bob Biggs Field and then move to the stadium. Like Plough’s wife and sons, Biggs is always welcome.
“It was a great moment for me,” Plough said of Biggs’ presence in the Aug. 1 meeting. “I was going to check with the offensive staff on a couple of things, but Coach Biggs decides to come by and sit in on the quarterbacks meeting. I don’t need to be in the meeting with Bob there. He can handle it.”
Plough will likely not match Biggs’ longevity at UC Davis because few coaches stay in one place for two decades. And he is unlikely to let ambition get the best of him as it did in 2020 when he left Davis to become offensive coordinator at Boise State. He did not last two years with the Broncos.
UC Davis is where Plough belongs. If last season was a glimpse of the future, the Aggies are in store for more success. And three boys are in store for more fun with their father on his playground.
