The 2024 Cal football schedule is set up for success

This is the critical year for Justin Wilcox to stand and deliver excellence for the California Golden Bears.

Photo credit: Rob Hwang

This has to be the year things change.

The California Golden Bears have everything in place to get to them to a very good place next year.

From a talent perspective, this is the best all-around Cal offense in a decade. They are returning their starting quarterback. They are returning the best running back on the West Coast. The wide receiver room is filled with experienced returners and talented newcomers. They have a go-to tight end. They have vastly improved offensive line play. Defensively, Cal has some work to do to improve from a disappointing showing, but it was a transition year at several positions and there are new standouts to count on.

And Cal didn’t stand pat with the guys they had in the locker room. They’ve added transfer portal talent that ranks among the best in the nation, and will likely add more in the spring window. The Bears have the influx of players needed to be a top-tier ACC team.

From a schedule perspective, this will be the most manageable week-to-week slate the Bears will have enjoyed since the very weak Pac-10 of the early 2000s. In 2023, Cal played seven bowl eligible teams, six that won eight games or more, including five of those six games in succession. In 2024, Cal will play six bowl eligible teams, four that won eight games or more (one of which is Oregon State, who lost the bulk of their coaching staff and players).

Cal will not play a projected bowl team in consecutive weeks, other than the NC State/Oregon State homestand. Cal will play four of the six worst teams in-conference in the ACC from last season, and Stanford, who was next-to-last place in the Pac-12. Add in their relatively manageable home conference schedule, and seven to eight wins are already right there and available.

Even the added travel time has been relatively mitigated for the majority of the schedule. After an admittedly brutal double dip of Auburn and Florida State in two out of three weeks, Cal will only make three road trips during October and November. One comes after a bye week and another comes Thanksgiving week. By mid-season, the Bears will be spending the plurality of their football time prepping and executing in Berkeley.

Every game is winnable the last two months, and in many of those Cal should be favored.

From a coaching perspective…

Ah. The coaching perspective. Where this will all be won or lost.

There will be a lot of questions.

Defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon and the entire defensive staff were all retained, despite the worst Cal defensive showing since the Sonny Dykes era. This is a real make-or-break year for the Cal defense, who needs to do better to support a team brimming with offensive talent.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch gets his first Power conference playcalling job. It will be the third time in four tries that Wilcox has gone for the OC with minimal Power FBS experience. He has earned many raves for his offensive line coaching acumen, but this is new territory, and his likely gameplanning partner (newcomer QB coach Sterlin Gilbert) has similar mixed reviews in other spots.

Justin Wilcox has never had a winning record in his seven seasons coaching Cal in-conference. Not going better than 5-3 in ACC play would be a bitter pill to swallow. With his current contract up in 2027, a disappointing year will leave him in a precarious situation in 2025.

Cal does not have the time to prove themselves in a new conference. The clock is ticking for the Bears to show they have what it takes to compete with the big boys.

This is the year. Things have to get better. Right now.