UC Davis HC Tim Plough expects the Aggies to bounce back

UC Davis head coach Tim Plough had a simple message for his team following a difficult loss to Montana: take accountability, learn from it and get back to work.

Plough joined Sactown Sports’ Carmichael Dave and Jason Ross to discuss the Aggies’ disappointing performance and how they plan to respond with seven games still remaining on the schedule.

Following the loss, Plough said his first message to the team was an apology.

“The first thing I said is I just apologized to the team,” Plough said. “I feel like whenever your team plays that poorly, it’s on the head coach.”

For Plough, taking responsibility is part of being the person leading the program. He believes players already understand their mistakes, so publicly blaming them adds little value.

More from UC Davis head coach Tim Plough

“When you get in this seat as a head coach, you just start to realize, like, man, you need to be that shield for your guys,” Plough said. “If you ultimately take accountability, you don’t need to tell the players that they messed up. Sure, they know.”

Plough believes that accountability also allows a coach to demand accountability from everyone else.

“You got to start with yourself in any leadership role,” he said. “If you hold yourself accountable, then you can hold others. But if you don’t hold yourself accountable, how can you expect to hold others around you accountable?”

The Aggies now have an opportunity to respond when they return home to face Eastern Washington. Rather than trying to correct everything at once, Plough wants his team to focus on incremental improvement.

He referenced The Martian, a movie he said has been in his rotation for years, and its central idea of solving problems one at a time.

“Just fix one thing,” Plough said. “Like, just decide what that’s going to be as a player. We’re going to fix one thing on defense, fix one thing on offense, fix one thing on special teams.”

The approach is about getting UC Davis back to the process that has produced success under Plough.

(UC Davis football)

“Let’s chalk it up to a bad night,” he said. “Let’s just do better on Monday. Let’s do better on Tuesday. Let’s have a better Friday, and just find joy together.”

Plough also pointed to a previous matchup with Eastern Washington as evidence that one difficult game does not have to define a season. In 2018, UC Davis lost to Eastern Washington 59-20 before facing the Eagles again three weeks later in the semifinals, losing by a field goal in the final 20 seconds.

Now, Plough wants the Aggies to create a similar response.

“Just focus on having a good day today, and that’ll lead to good days on Saturday,” Plough said.

Listen to The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross from 6 – 10 a.m. PDT, Monday through Friday, on Sactown Sports 1140.

2026 UC Davis Football Schedule

• Saturday, October 3rd – vs. Eastern Washington – 7:30 PM PT
• Saturday, October 17th – @ Southern Utah – 5:00 PM PT
• Saturday, October 24th – vs. Northern Colorado – 4:00 PM PT
• Saturday, October 31st – @ Weber State – 12:00 PM PT

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