Brent Brennan reportedly takes Arizona Wildcats job, ending Justin Wilcox speculation
The San Jose State head coach was one of the few candidates mentioned along with the Cal head coach for the job.
The coaching dominoes that started in Tuscaloosa with the retirement of Nick Saban and pulled Kalen DeBoer south and Jedd Fisch to the Northwest finished their tumbling in the Bay Area.
But it wasn’t Cal that was impacted. Yet.
Arizona reportedly opted for San Jose State coach Brent Brennan as their new leader. Brennan led the Spartans to two straight bowl games in 2022 and 2023, as well as an undefeated season during COVID.
Justin Wilcox was reportedly contacted about the job, but as we pointed out in our post yesterday, nothing from a financial perspective added up. Arizona is in a bit of a financial pickle and is likely about to turnover a significant chunk of their roster
So it’s unlikely that Wilcox will be subject to any more coaching searches this offseason, meaning he should be our head coach in the ACC come 2024.
While Cal fans have had their fair share of bumps and bruises with Wilcox, this would be a terrible time for the Bears to have to deal with a coaching change, particularly considering transfer windows would reopen with our players. Given the recent influx of talent from the portal and some star players already on the roster, the Golden Bears feel better suited to ride out the storm.
I know most Cal fans want Wilcox gone and I won't defend him (like I did for a certain other coach...), but this would've been a truly terrible time for him to leave.
It would've opened up the transfer portal and we'd be gutted without an opportunity to make things up with other transfers. And not to mention that puts players like Ott at risk of transferring as well.
Best to get one season in the ACC and then if we get rid of Wilcox to do it early before the portal and early signing day closes.
Also I don't want Knowlton hiring anyone else.
I know we share disappointment that Wilcox has not delivered the goods (my bet is his personal disappointment far exceeds ours) but I agree that now is not the time to make a change and I welcome his continued leadership as we transition into the ACC. Go Bears!