Meet UC Davis' New Head Football Coach

Chancellor May sits down to chat with Tim Plough, UC Davis' new head football coach, in this episode. Coach Plough is a former Aggie quarterback and talks about his passion for the game and the Davis community. He also assures Chancellor May the Causeway Cup will remain with the Aggies this year.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to “Face to Face,” a UC Davis podcast
featuring students, staff and faculty innovators.
I’m your host, Chancellor Gary May.
Stay tuned for my next guest.
My name is Tim Plough.
I’m the new head football coach here
at UC Davis.
I was a student here and also

(00:23):
assistant coach for two previous
stints.
I love this community, love this
university.
Obviously, we want to win every
single game that we play and produce
a great team.
But my goal for a long time has been
to help our team find joy every
single day.
Coach Plough, welcome
to “Face to Face.”
Yeah, thanks for having me.
This is awesome.
Yeah. Thanks for being here.

(00:45):
So I think everyone knows this is
your first season as head coach here
at Davis. And
while we’re recording this,
you’re fresh off your very first
victory as a head coach.
Congratulations.
Thank you. Yes, sir.
I was there.
Tell me what you’re most looking
forward to this season.
I think for me, it’s always been
about growth — just
personally growth

(01:07):
— from getting into this coaching
profession.
There’s a lot of things that can
take you a bunch of different
directions, but I got into it
because of the personal growth I
thought I would get from it and the
values you get from leading.
So I know not being a head coach
ever, I’m going to learn so
many things that I would never have
had the opportunity to learn in the
other positions I’ve had.
So I’m looking forward to that.

(01:27):
So that leads to the next question.
What do you enjoy most about
coaching?
I think, you know, my parents are
both educators.
They were teachers that became
principals that became
superintendents. So I just,
I love the feeling of teaching
somebody something whether
it be a skill or just knowledge
of something and then watching
them put that to use for their

(01:49):
own benefit, right.
Like that’s an accomplishment that
once I got that
fix the first time, it was just, how
can I do this better and help these
guys out?
I can relate. My mom was a teacher
as well, so I get it.
Yeah, it’s very influential.
At the college level, recruiting
is obviously a really big part of
your job.
Tell me about your philosophy

(02:09):
on recruiting and retaining now that
we have this portal and all these
other things. It’s a crazy time we
have.
I think if you want to be a great
college coach, obviously you’ve got
to be a great recruiter.
But I’ve always thought the
important thing about recruiting is
you’ve got to really believe what
you’re selling.
And that’s why I’ve always
loved my time at Davis, because I
don’t really have to sell it.

(02:31):
I love it so much, and I know what
it can do for someone that
I look for guys that are
looking to be something more than
just than the normal things.
Like obviously I want them to love
football, but I hope that
they have an insatiable desire
to do something more like beyond
that, whether it be in

(02:51):
their career or in philanthropy,
something that can help everyone
get better. And the cool thing about
coaching at Davis is you are
surrounded by guys like that.
They wake up every day and they want
to be great at whatever they’re
doing. So it’s really about
identifying those guys
and then putting them in a position
to understand why this is the best
fit for them, because what can

(03:12):
happen — at Davis, we don’t really
recruit against other Big Sky
teams. We really recruit against
FBS, Mountain West teams
and then Ivy League teams.
And so it’s usually a great
student, and he’s either trying to
decide between going to a private
Ivy League school or go to Davis.

Or he’s trying to decide (03:28):
“Do
I want to go play the highest level
of football but sacrifice the
education piece?” And so we’re
trying to give them that picture of,
well, you can do both here.
And then from a retainment
standpoint, the other big reason
why I wanted to take this job at
Davis is this is one of the last
places where
luckily we haven’t had to face

(03:49):
that as much because the guys
that we have here can see the value
of it. And even though we may lose
a guy here or there to the
NIL, most of them are going
to graduate. They’re going to
graduate, and then it’s like, hey,
if you got to go play one more year
somewhere else and
further your football career, that’s
a great recruiting tool for me.
Because now I can tell them, hey, if

(04:10):
you want to go to the NFL — Keelan
Doss stayed, went to the NFL —
if you want to transfer and go
somewhere, we’ll be so good at
developing you that someone’s going
to pay you to go play for
them. And for me, that’s a great
recruiting tool. Come play for us.
We’ll develop you as a man, as
a student, as an athlete,
and then someone else is going to
pay you for those services down the

(04:30):
road, which just is what we’re about
is developing guys.
That sounds like a really good sales
pitch. I’m sure a lot of guys
relate to that.
So every year we have the Causeway
Classic, and last year we won.
By the way, President Wood
at Sac State and I have a nice
promotional rivalry between the two
of us on this game.

(04:50):
So, you know, I want to keep the
trophy.
Yeah, absolutely.
You got a prediction for me this
year?
Well, I know this:
If you want to be a good football
team, you can’t lose to the team
across the Causeway, and you can’t
lose to the team that’s down south.
We don’t like the color green.
And the cool
thing about going forward for the
future is one of my best friends
in the world is the head coach at

(05:11):
Sac State. So
being able to try to beat your
brother — added emphasis.
We’ve got to win this game.
So I feel pretty good.
Yeah.
I understand. And I’m with you.
So thank you.
So you mentioned you’re an alum, but
you also played quarterback for the
Aggies back in the day.
So what advice would you give your
current student-athletes — football
or beyond — having

(05:33):
been a student-athlete here
yourself?
Yeah, I think that’s
really what pushed me into the
coaching. And at the forefront
of it was my playing career here
was not great
and could be deemed even as a
failure in some people’s eyes.
And a lot
of had to do with injuries
but also just how I approached

(05:54):
my day in regard to
professionalism, of what it
takes to be a great athlete, what it
takes to be a great football player.
And I had to learn that
the hard way of, well, if you want
to be great at school
and football and your social life,
you got to be able to find that
balance maturely to be able to do it
the right way.
And that led to injuries and just

(06:15):
led to a career that I
definitely wish I could have back.
But it’s helped me be a better
coach, because I can identify that
with players and push them to say,
hey, you’re not going to want to
live with regret after this.
Like you got four or five years
here. Just put everything you have
into this, and you’ll get it all
back full.
And the cool thing about Davis
is for me, what I’ve learned

(06:37):
is I did give it all into the
school, into the community.
And that has come back full circle
for me with the amount of
relationships I’ve made.
So I can tell these guys, if you go
all in with it — don’t just dip your
toe in — go ahead and dive in
and reach your full potential, and
you’ll have no regrets.
Yeah, that really is good advice for
almost any profession.
So you’ve been a few places before

(06:58):
coming back to Davis.
What’s the best thing about being
back here on campus?
Man,
I could go on forever on that one.
My wife and I both graduated from
Davis, so this was kind of just
a manifested dream for her and
I. When you’re a coach — we know
that you’re going to bounce around.
You’re going to get fired.
You just, I mean, that’s the life of

(07:18):
a coach.
But in the back of our mind, our
thought was always, if we ever have
a chance to be the head coach at
Davis, that’s where
we’re ending.
That’s where we’re stopping.
That’s where we want to be because
of the community.
That’s what I’m so excited about.
I just, I love the community.
I got three little boys.
To be able to raise my kids in
Davis, have them go to school

(07:39):
in Davis, be around Davis athletes,
and then the people that I’ve known
here for 20-plus years —
a lot of them are still here.
And I think to have that type of
relationship and type of security
for my family is what I’m looking
forward to the most.
Yeah, that sounds like a perfect
reason. Yeah.
We have a little game that we play
here on “Face to Face.” We call it
“Hot Seat.” But basically,

(08:00):
I’m going to ask you some questions,
and I’m looking for a one-word or
one-sentence kind of rapid-fire answer.... OK. ...
So, ready?
All right.
Favorite NFL team or player?
Chargers — favorite team.

Player (08:11):
John Elway.
Wow, OK. Yeah.
So this is related to that question:
Which quarterback is the GOAT?
For me, it’s John Elway.
But I would listen obviously to
the Brady argument. And I also have
a soft spot for Drew Brees.
Those are the three I would accept.
You know, in the Bay Area, you have
to say Joe Montana, right?
I know, my wife would tell me that.

(08:32):
She’s a huge Bay Area gal, so I’m
going to hear that when I get home.
Yeah.
What did you want to be
when you were a kid?
I actually wanted to be a baseball
player.
I grew up playing baseball and
football, but
my first love was baseball.
So it’s funny. My kids now, that’s
all they do is play baseball.
They like football, but they love
baseball. It’s probably my fault but

(08:53):
wanted to be a baseball player.
Who’s a leader you find inspiring?
Yeah, well, I mean,
I’m a history major from Davis, so
I’ve always looked at great leaders
of the past.
I loved
John F. Kennedy, Martin
Luther King
from a historical standpoint.

(09:13):
But from a coaching standpoint,
Jim Sochor,
Chris Petersen have been the
two guys that have
probably influenced me the most as a
leader.
Yeah.
Good to hear those names.
I ask all my guests this one

question (09:27):
What artist is
at the top of your playlist right
now?
Man, I was just joking around with
the players about this, because I’ve
gone in different waves.
So when I was younger, I was more of
like a punk rock, hip hop guy.
And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve kind
of eased myself into country.
But right now I listen to a lot
of Chris Stapleton, Tyler
Childers, Zach Bryan.

(09:48):
Those are kind of the three that I
listen to a lot.
Yeah.
Kind of modern country artists.... Yeah. ...
OK,
now it’s your turn. Ask me whatever
question or questions you have.
OK.
I think the first one would be:
If you’re in your car
and you’re going to flip on your
radio or flip on your CD,
what album —

(10:10):
if you had one album to listen to?
All-time favorite album is
“Songs in the Key of Life” by Stevie
Wonder.
But there’s several old-school

albums I like (10:20):
“What’s
Going On,” Marvin Gaye.
Many Earth, Wind & Fire albums I can
name. But that’s kind of my — I’m
old school R&B kind of guy.
From an athletic standpoint,
what were the influences
or teams, sports that you
found yourself when you were younger
— like the teams that you were on?
I grew up in St. Louis, so

(10:41):
it’s required that you’re a Cardinal
fan.
So I played baseball.
My dad was my Little League coach.
But I admired guys like Lou Brock
and Bob Gibson and
Ozzie Smith later.
I met Ozzie recently.
I still think
he’s the best shortstop I’ve ever
seen play. ...
No doubt. I’m a Padre fan, so
he started with the Padres.
So you’re not going to get anargument

(11:01):
from me there.
Yeah. That’s awesome.
In your time at Davis
— not just gassing you
up because you’re here — but you’ve
done a lot of amazing things just in
my eyes from when the transition
happened.
What are some of the things
that I can do from my seat
that would assist you in anything

(11:23):
you’re trying to do to help improve
Davis itself?
Yeah, that’s a really great
question. You know, we think a lot
about the environment and the campus
climate here, and I think athletics
and football is a very important
part of building community.
So anything that you and
the team can do and your staff can
do to be out and about on campus,
being

(11:43):
ambassadors for the campus when you
go out and play away
games and things.
That’s always helpful to me.
In fact, I tell people
when I go with the team, whether
it’s football or basketball or
whatever sport, when I go with a
team to an away game,
one of the things that affects me
the most and makes me feel good is
when somebody at the hotel, a clerk
or somebody, says, “Wow, your

(12:04):
students are such nice people.
They’re very polite and they know
how to handle themselves.” So that’s
the kind of thing I want to just
continue.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah. I mean, I think it’s funny
when I got to see
the transition, right.
Because I remember when Coach Biggs
was the head coach, I just started
coaching and they had
stuff happen on campus and just a
lot of things going on.

(12:25):
So just from an alumni standpoint,
I just want to say thank you for all
you’ve done for a place that I
really, really love.
Because it’s, in my opinion, become
even better under your leadership.
And this
place to my wife and I — I mean,
this really is home. This is a place
we really care about.
So I really
thank you for all you’ve done.

(12:46):
Appreciate you saying that.
We’re glad you’re back.
It’s a great place.
I’ve learned to love it as well in
my now eighth year starting.
So UC Davis
has so much to offer, and
we’re just happy to be a part of it.
Happy that you’re a part of it as well.
Thanks to everyone for listening.
Tune in next time on “Face to Face.”

(13:07):
Go, Ags!