Posted by: Josh Kendall on November 22, 2012

Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour gave Pac-12.com an inside look at what she's hoping to find in the Bears next head coach.

"I'm looking to somebody who comes to this as a builder, character builder, team builder, staff builder, integrity, innovation, vision for this program, applying an identity to it, disciplinarian and then certainly somebody who is an Xs and Os expert that I have confidence that from a football perspective they come with demonstrated success," Barbour said Wednesday in a Pac-12 digital exclusive. "I think this is a great job. It's an incredible university."

Barbour announced her decision to fire Jeff Tedford, the school's winningest coach in history, earlier this week.

"There really was no tipping point. It was a postseason analysis that needed to be done very quickly, but obviously it was important to get it right," Barbour said. "Jeff and I spent considerable time talking about the direction of the program, and it came down to that I was concerned about us returning to a competitive success and an academic success position that we had previously occupied under Jeff's leadership."

Asked if there was anything Tedford could have said in their postseason meetings to alter her decision, Barbour replied, "As an athletic director, you want to know that your program has a direction and has a plan to get to where you want to be. The unique position that we were in was that Jeff had taken us there. This is a man who had accomplished all the things we are talking about. I wanted to believe that we had that opportunity under Jeff's leadership and in the end I just couldn't get there."

Barbour hopes the Bears' search moves quickly, she said.

"The time frame is going to be fluid," she said. "It's important that we do it as quickly as we possibly can, but that's not at the sacrifice of getting it right. These searches are tricky with when we have permission to talk to guys."

Here's a look at Barbour's press conference explaining the decision:

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Josh Kendall is a staff writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered the SEC for more than 15 years for papers such as the Athens Banner-Herald, Macon Telegraph, and The State. He’s the father of two boys who he’s hoping don’t inherit his wide receiver frame and offensive guard feet. Follow @EyeOnCoaches on twitter and send your feedback to josh@coachingsearch.com