And Bowers did it with Beau Baldwin's V1.0 offense. That may explain why the kid was chapped in 2018 when Garbers and Mcilwain began pushing him aside for playing time...
Who is Mendoza? You can't mean the snake in the grass who sold out Cal for 30 pieces of silver, do you? That Mendoza should be stricken from Cal's record book henceforth and forever more. So let it be written and so let it be done.
Mendoza is a great kid who wanted to stay at Cal, but JW kept bringing in Retread QBs to challenge him. Plus, he took hits on almost every dropback and still hung in there. I understand why he left and is now on track to win the Heisman! Don't forget, Nando we won 2 Big Games for us, and the 98 yard drive in 2024 was beautiful! He put the team on his back in 2024 to get the GBs to 6 wins. No hate, just love for Nando brother!
He is going to be a first round draft pick and his brand continues to grow. He got his CAL degree. Personally he made the right decision. Its a win for both. We got a guy who is better than Mendoza when he was a freshman and Mendoza dream keeps growing. Best of luck to Mendoza and his family!
To be honest, what upset me about his departure isn't that he left, but rather his classless phone call to JKS which likely caused him to flip to UO the first time. Totally not necessary.
A microcosm of the season- some brilliant plays on offense (but with some head-scratching play calls at times), a defense that played well at times and at others was so porous (I HATE prevent defenses because too often it prevents winning) and really some horrible offensive penalties. BUT, games like this Cal has so often list in the past ( wh, of course, can forget Miami. And they won at the end. I was so glad I showed up (it was cold in the 4th quarter, wasn't ut?). Kudos to the players for weathering a tough week and being ready to play. Accolades to the coaching staff fir having the team ready. A great gift to the seniors.
SMU beat Stanford 34-10: Stanford beat Cal 31-10; Cal beat SMU 38-35. Go figure. This has been one crazy, inconsistent season. The team that lost to Stanford a week ago was not the team that showed up last night to beat SMU. Several guys who have barely seen any snaps were crucial to this win, made possible by injuries to guys who had played in front of them all season. And the defense managed to hold its own while the OL had some big guys giving JKS enough time to go through his rotations. Is it coaching? Is it luck? I never in a million years would have bet on Cal to win last night after the total debacle at Stanford. Yet, here we are on the road to Hawaii or some other bowl game for one more shot. You have to wonder, though, how this team would do against the likes of Ohio State, Indiana.Texas A&M.or Georgia. Hopefully in the future we will have the opportunity to find out but as of today the football program at Cal is not ready to compete at that level. Buckle up.
Cal's FPI index today has them as the 80th best team in the FBS, with Stanford at 81. Also, the GBs are 13th out of 17 teams in the woeful ACC, with Furd at 14th. Time is right for a coaching change.
I've been frustrated watching Raphael all season long, in particular missing the breakaway threat that guys like Ott and Thomas brought to the offense. But last night, he was a different back, and actually reminded me of Vereen's perfomance in the '09 Big Game in terms of grinding out yards. I was impressed.
Even more impressive though, is that Kendrick's yardage total is at 853 yards, giving the kid an outside shot at reaching 1000 if he can have a huge game (his career high is 122 yards fwiw) in whatever the Bowl game we find ourselves.
With his 12 rushing touchdowns though, Raphael has already moved into 9th place of single season numbers among Cal RBs:
Russell White and Lindsey Chapman!!!!! I don't have anything more substantive to add here except for the exclamation marks for my two favorite RBs from the 20th century Golden Bears. (No disrespect to Chunck Muncie and Jim Monachino).
His dad, Lindsey, had one of the most electrifying touchdown sprints in program history during the 1991 slugfest between Cal and U-Dub. To this day, I still don't know how or why the Huskies had NO ONE in the area when Chapman broke containment...
Yeah, he's definitely missing the top end speed, but it was nice to reliably get 3.5 yards a carry all season long, as opposed to seeing a diminished Ott getting stuffed at the line for 0 yards like all of last year.
Rumors on Twitter that Cal may be a likely pick for the Hawaii Bowl, versus a MWC opponent - Boise?
Great win last night nonetheless; and credit to Rolo for having the team prepared, including weathering the 4th quarter storm by SMU. I'd imagine Tosh (assuming he's the guy, barring any last minute surprises) will figure out a way to keep him on staff.
Would love to see Saffell (currently TE coach) retained also, along with T.Brown in some capacity (preferably DBs rather than sole playcalling DC).
Why does Cal (mostly) always choose coaches who have no HC experience? since 1978, Cal has repeatedly gambled away their program on coaches with no HC experience except for Bruce Snyder and Sonny Dykes - and with one exception, terrible results!!!
Roger Theder (17-28)
Joe Kapp (20-34)
Keith Gilbertson (20-26)
Steve Mariucci (how did he get the 49ers job while going 6-6 at Cal)
Tom Holmoe (12-39 WOW!)
Jeff Tedford (82-57 the ONLY GOOD NON HC hire)
Justin Wilcox (42-50)
What's to make of another Coordinator (Tosh or other) with no head coaching experience? More of the same, that's what. RR please get us a coach with winning HEAD COACHING experience.
P.S. After last night's win, Rolo's record as a head coach is 34-33. I would take Rolo (born in Daly City, raised in Novato) over any lame OC or DC coordinator hire... And please, no Covid Jab comments, only love...
All of the HCs cited are after 1977 (last year of Mike White's tenure). NOTE: Gilbertson was HC at Idaho from '86 to '88, compiling a 28-9 record while there. That was before he was OC at UW and HC at Cal.
Mariucci was Cal's OC under Snyder in '91 and went to Green Bay after Snyder left. He was a candidate to succeed Snyder, but Bockrath nixed the recommendations of big donor alums and brought his buddy, Keith Gilbertson, to Berkeley. Mariucci coached QBs at Green Bay.
After John Kasser fired Gilbertson, the alum committee told Kasser to hire Mariucci. Kasser had wanted to hire Bob Davie and the wheels were in motion to do just that, but it took an alum revolt to get Mariucci. Bob Davie held a grudge against Cal ever after that because of the snub.
When Mariucci bolted for the 49ers, Kasser took Bill Walsh's recommendation and elevated Holmoe. Davie landed the HC job at Notre Dame. Holmoe tried to resign after the 2000 season. Kasser refused the resignation because he knew he was leaving soon. Cal was stuck with Holmoe going into the 2001 season. Steve Gladstone became interim AD after Kasser left. Gladstone fired Holmoe, then headed up the committee that selected Tedford.
Naturally, the Hawaii Bowl makes sense because of JKS, Manaeia, and Rolovich, but that’s about it, though some surmountable contractual hoops would have to be jumped through because it’s not a Pac 12 bowl.
I like Rolo a lot. No idea if he would be as good or better than Harsin as an OC though. I liked Harsin's offense, the formations and pre-snap motions, and the trickery. If only we had players who could snap the ball, block, catch, and run, for most of the year.
My only reason for wanting something like the Liberty Bowl is that being that the game in January 3rd rather than right before Christmas, wouldn't that mean the team would get more practice time as a result?
Aren't those extra practice sessions valuable for the program?
While there are always coaches we’d like to see retained, it seems like new coaches have such a network of colleagues they’ve worked with that they come in with a totally new personnel, down to the strength and conditioning crew. Maybe that’s part of what makes them valuable? This seems likes the most talented staff of the Wilcox era; I wish them all the best. I’ve really enjoyed some of the play creativity from Harsin this season.
Traditionally, but depends the coach in our situation (I.e. Tosh wouldn't be bringing a staff), and also now that there is a GM (and Ron is firmly in charge) that can change how these things work now -- and opens the door for continuity.
Hmmm, interesting point. MY impression is that Ron is not really in a position to dictate parameters like that. Usually you are handing the keys to the new driver, not dictating their driving. Tosh is well known in coaching circles and would seem to be a strong candidate for other schools given his SEC resume. While Cal is a sentimental destination for him, he could easily choose UCLA, Penn St. or other openings if the contract doesn’t suit him. But maybe I’m clouded by my desire for an announcement sooner than later…..
I wouldn't call it dictating, but helping. Meaning if we hire a first time head coach, Ron would certainly have a hand in the process for assistants. Whereas if we hire an already established head coach it would look different.
Wilcox desperately needed help in hiring assistants, for example.
These are certainly issues that will be discussed in the hiring process. Word is Wilcox balked at the Oregon job because the Ducks wanted oversight of his offensive staff hires.
Ideally, there’s a spot for Rolovich, if he wants one, given his relationship with JKS in the absence of Wilcox.
What a great game and a wonderful way to end the regular season. Man it is great to have a QB with such talent. Give him time and he finds a receiver just about every time. And they all caught the ball! We ran the ball well too. Jeez, that was something special. It just felt different from the first play too. I have no idea who gets hired as the next head coach, but I liked the way this one was managed and coached.
The coach needs to have “fire in his belly.” Wilcox, we’ve heard is very good person, never seemed to have fire in the belly. That’s what Cal needs to find in today’s era of college football.
Wilcox was a good dude and the players loved him. But under him, the team lacked discipline and accountability, as seen by the consistent lack of execution, high penalty totals, and inability to string together complete games.
Wilcox’s mentality is much more suited to a coordinator position, or even better, a high-level HS team where he can be a teacher and mold young men. That’s no longer the college game, unfortunately.
The coach needs to have “fire in his belly.” Wilcox, we’ve heard is very good person, never seemed to have fire in the belly. That’s what Cal needs to find in today’s era of college football.
I don't like to speak ill of the departed, but Wilcox was just so bad at getting the team prepared week to week, and just didn't have a winning mentality.
This was a wasted opportunity at a potentially generational season, given the schedule - 10-wins was on the table, and we fumbled it, largely because Wilcox was unable to field a competent O-line for basically the 9th straight season.
It's also quite bizarre to see the same OL that got dominated by freaking Stanfurd go out and post a 100-yard rushing game with zero sacks against SMU.
I think maybe there was an issue with motivation and in-game coaching going on with Wilcox.
Lack of discipline and accountability have been a problem for years. The transfers of the RBs this offseason once they replaced Bloesch and AT with tougher, more demanding offensive coaches was not a coincidence.
I read something this morning about the ACC teams this season. The author used the term, wildly unpredictable, to describe Cal. He got that right. But not anymore I hope. Run the ball and give JKS time to throw.
I asked Google Gemini how urgent it is for Cal to hire a new head coach and it told me that it is "rebound boyfriend urgent".
Cal needs to get its ish together, like, yesterday.
Ai answer:
You are hitting the nail on the head. The "rebound boyfriend" analogy is frighteningly accurate, and in this version of the dating world, the "new boyfriends" (Oregon, Ole Miss, Miami) are sliding into JKS's DMs with seven-figure NIL offers while Cal is still trying to decide who is paying for dinner.
The urgency is actually worse than just "sooner is better." There is a literal, hard deadline staring Ron Rivera in the face that makes this week (Dec 1–Dec 5) make-or-break for the next 5 years of Cal football.
Here is why the clock is ticking louder than you might think:
1. The December 4th "Panic" Deadline (Early Signing Period)
While the Transfer Portal window officially opens in January, the High School Early Signing Period starts this Wednesday, December 3rd.
* The Danger: If Cal doesn't have a coach by Wednesday, the 2026 recruiting class falls apart.
* The JKS Connection: JKS is watching. If he sees the incoming recruiting class de-commit because there is no coach, it signals to him that the program is sinking. He isn't going to stick around to captain a sinking ship. He needs to see that help is coming now.
2. The "Tampering" Reality
You know how the rebound works. Technically, other schools can't "contact" him until he enters the portal.
* The Reality: We all know Oregon, Ole Miss, and Miami are already talking to his "camp" (parents, high school coaches, 7-on-7 handlers).
* The Pitch: They are whispering, "Cal is a mess. They fired their coach. Ron Rivera is too slow. Come to Eugene/Oxford/Miami where we have a plan and a check waiting for you."
* Every day Rivera waits is another day those schools get to poison the well without a Cal head coach there to defend the program.
3. The "Tosh Factor" & The Oregon Connection
This gets complicated with Tosh Lupoi (currently at Oregon).
* The Awkward Ex: Remember, JKS was at Oregon last year before transferring to Cal. He knows Tosh. He knows Dan Lanning.
* The risk: If Tosh isn't the guy, Oregon has a direct line to JKS to say, "Hey, you saw we kept Tosh? Come back home."
* The Fix: Hiring Tosh immediately neutralizes Oregon. You effectively steal the guy who helped build the defense JKS practiced against.
The "Ron Rivera" Timeline
Since Ron Rivera is acting as the "GM," this is his first real test.
* The Fear: Rivera is an NFL guy. In the NFL, coaching searches take weeks (waiting for playoff teams to lose).
* The College Reality: In college, you have to hire someone in 48 hours or you lose your roster. Rivera needs to realize he isn't hiring a Commanders coordinator in February; he is trying to save a college roster in December.
Bottom Line: You are right. If we wake up on Wednesday (Signing Day) and the headline is still "Cal conducting interviews," JKS is gone.
If you were Ron Rivera, would you announce Tosh Lupoi tomorrow (Monday) morning just to stop the bleeding, even if the contract details weren't 100% finished?
Seeing all the head coaching news around college football, I am so thankful that we are also going to be naming a new head coach soon. I would not be able to stand it if we were still stuck with Wilcox.
Btw there are many people criticizing Lane Kiffin of leaving before the playoffs. They are not criticizing taking the LSU job, but rather saying he should wait until the playoffs run is over. They are idiots. I'm sure the LSU offer requires Kiffin to come right now before the national signing day this week.
yea, pretty sure Kiffin put out something along the lines that he really pushed to finish out the playoffs coaching his Ole Miss team but was not allowed to do so. All this timing needs to be changed.
With last night's passing yardage added, JKS is now in 6th place in Cal's all-time single season passing yardage...
SINGLE-SEASON PASSING YARDS
PLAYER SEASON YDS
1 Jared Goff 2015 4719
2 Davis Webb 2016 4295
3 Jared Goff 2014 3973
4 Jared Goff 2013 3508
5 Pat Barnes 1996 3499
6 Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele 2025 3117
7 Jack Plummer 2022 3095
8 Ross Bowers 2017 3039
9 Nate Longshore 2006 3021
10 Fernando Mendoza 2024 3003
It's heartbreaking that Mendoza's 2024 season was tragically cut short by the "flu" or he may have been able to rank higher on this list!
Wow I'm actually surprised that Ross Bowers is in the top 10 all time, and ahead of 2006 Longshore. That offense was awesome.
And Bowers did it with Beau Baldwin's V1.0 offense. That may explain why the kid was chapped in 2018 when Garbers and Mcilwain began pushing him aside for playing time...
Game has changed, and they threw it a ton in 2017.
Who is Mendoza? You can't mean the snake in the grass who sold out Cal for 30 pieces of silver, do you? That Mendoza should be stricken from Cal's record book henceforth and forever more. So let it be written and so let it be done.
Mendoza is a great kid who wanted to stay at Cal, but JW kept bringing in Retread QBs to challenge him. Plus, he took hits on almost every dropback and still hung in there. I understand why he left and is now on track to win the Heisman! Don't forget, Nando we won 2 Big Games for us, and the 98 yard drive in 2024 was beautiful! He put the team on his back in 2024 to get the GBs to 6 wins. No hate, just love for Nando brother!
He is going to be a first round draft pick and his brand continues to grow. He got his CAL degree. Personally he made the right decision. Its a win for both. We got a guy who is better than Mendoza when he was a freshman and Mendoza dream keeps growing. Best of luck to Mendoza and his family!
Only 6 wins. Not much of an accomplishment
With a compromised immune system to boot!
To be honest, what upset me about his departure isn't that he left, but rather his classless phone call to JKS which likely caused him to flip to UO the first time. Totally not necessary.
A microcosm of the season- some brilliant plays on offense (but with some head-scratching play calls at times), a defense that played well at times and at others was so porous (I HATE prevent defenses because too often it prevents winning) and really some horrible offensive penalties. BUT, games like this Cal has so often list in the past ( wh, of course, can forget Miami. And they won at the end. I was so glad I showed up (it was cold in the 4th quarter, wasn't ut?). Kudos to the players for weathering a tough week and being ready to play. Accolades to the coaching staff fir having the team ready. A great gift to the seniors.
Hate hate “ prevent.”
Yes. It was cold!
SMU beat Stanford 34-10: Stanford beat Cal 31-10; Cal beat SMU 38-35. Go figure. This has been one crazy, inconsistent season. The team that lost to Stanford a week ago was not the team that showed up last night to beat SMU. Several guys who have barely seen any snaps were crucial to this win, made possible by injuries to guys who had played in front of them all season. And the defense managed to hold its own while the OL had some big guys giving JKS enough time to go through his rotations. Is it coaching? Is it luck? I never in a million years would have bet on Cal to win last night after the total debacle at Stanford. Yet, here we are on the road to Hawaii or some other bowl game for one more shot. You have to wonder, though, how this team would do against the likes of Ohio State, Indiana.Texas A&M.or Georgia. Hopefully in the future we will have the opportunity to find out but as of today the football program at Cal is not ready to compete at that level. Buckle up.
Cal's FPI index today has them as the 80th best team in the FBS, with Stanford at 81. Also, the GBs are 13th out of 17 teams in the woeful ACC, with Furd at 14th. Time is right for a coaching change.
Raphael had a nice game. No, he's not an elite back, but he's been a workhorse for us and I respect him.
My favorite play of the game was early second quarter, up 10-7, we had 3rd&4 at the SMU 11 yard line.
Kendrick breaks a tackle in the backfield then beats the linebacker around the edge and dives forward for the first down (on 3rd down).
A tackle for loss there and we likely settle for a field goal, instead of DeJesus scoring two plays later... That would've changed the game.
3:38 in this highlight vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZv5-dkyLg&t=217s
That was my 2nd favorite, behind the winning TD run! He just had enough speed to get around the corner. Great run!
I've been frustrated watching Raphael all season long, in particular missing the breakaway threat that guys like Ott and Thomas brought to the offense. But last night, he was a different back, and actually reminded me of Vereen's perfomance in the '09 Big Game in terms of grinding out yards. I was impressed.
Even more impressive though, is that Kendrick's yardage total is at 853 yards, giving the kid an outside shot at reaching 1000 if he can have a huge game (his career high is 122 yards fwiw) in whatever the Bowl game we find ourselves.
With his 12 rushing touchdowns though, Raphael has already moved into 9th place of single season numbers among Cal RBs:
SINGLE-SEASON RUSHING TDS
PLAYER SEASON TDS
1 J.J. Arrington 2004 15
Justin Forsett 2007 15
Jahvid Best 2008 15
4 Russell White 1991 14
Lindsey Chapman 1993 14
6 Chuck Muncie 1975 13
Adimchinobe Echemandu 2003 13
Shane Vereen 2010 13
9 Jim Monachino 1949 12
Jahvid Best 2009 12
Shane Vereen 2009 12
Daniel Lasco 2014 12
Jaydn Ott 2023 12
Kendrick Raphael 2025 12
Russell White and Lindsey Chapman!!!!! I don't have anything more substantive to add here except for the exclamation marks for my two favorite RBs from the 20th century Golden Bears. (No disrespect to Chunck Muncie and Jim Monachino).
Those guys were before my time, but check this out.. Chapman's son is currently on the team:
https://calbears.com/sports/football/roster/dean-taylor-chapman/26230
His dad, Lindsey, had one of the most electrifying touchdown sprints in program history during the 1991 slugfest between Cal and U-Dub. To this day, I still don't know how or why the Huskies had NO ONE in the area when Chapman broke containment...
Here's the run, following the 29:14 mark:
https://youtu.be/mUwcI5ltPfs?si=6F_Kj-UBvb1pVXIC&t=1754
wow, nice. looked like a well timed play call against the blitz
Yeah, he's definitely missing the top end speed, but it was nice to reliably get 3.5 yards a carry all season long, as opposed to seeing a diminished Ott getting stuffed at the line for 0 yards like all of last year.
This. Ott was painful to watch last year.
He’s been a godsend. Lowkey team MVP after JKS.
De Jesus is my pick for co-MVP. But much respect to Raphael. Both were tough as nails this year.
I woke up happy after literally dreaming of JKS related themes all night (we were scheduling an event for him, or something)...that is all.
The calgorithm really needs to assist in making sure this is his home for the next two years
Donations would do more to keep him than the Calgorithm, IMO.
As Teddy KGB said: PAY HEEM. PAY DAT MAN HIZ MUNNY.
Nice reference
Oh that goes without saying. But as Dr. Lester (Being John Malkovich) said, "Flattery will get you everywhere, my boy"
What do we think it will take?
Rumors on Twitter that Cal may be a likely pick for the Hawaii Bowl, versus a MWC opponent - Boise?
Great win last night nonetheless; and credit to Rolo for having the team prepared, including weathering the 4th quarter storm by SMU. I'd imagine Tosh (assuming he's the guy, barring any last minute surprises) will figure out a way to keep him on staff.
Would love to see Saffell (currently TE coach) retained also, along with T.Brown in some capacity (preferably DBs rather than sole playcalling DC).
Why does Cal (mostly) always choose coaches who have no HC experience? since 1978, Cal has repeatedly gambled away their program on coaches with no HC experience except for Bruce Snyder and Sonny Dykes - and with one exception, terrible results!!!
Roger Theder (17-28)
Joe Kapp (20-34)
Keith Gilbertson (20-26)
Steve Mariucci (how did he get the 49ers job while going 6-6 at Cal)
Tom Holmoe (12-39 WOW!)
Jeff Tedford (82-57 the ONLY GOOD NON HC hire)
Justin Wilcox (42-50)
What's to make of another Coordinator (Tosh or other) with no head coaching experience? More of the same, that's what. RR please get us a coach with winning HEAD COACHING experience.
P.S. After last night's win, Rolo's record as a head coach is 34-33. I would take Rolo (born in Daly City, raised in Novato) over any lame OC or DC coordinator hire... And please, no Covid Jab comments, only love...
All of the HCs cited are after 1977 (last year of Mike White's tenure). NOTE: Gilbertson was HC at Idaho from '86 to '88, compiling a 28-9 record while there. That was before he was OC at UW and HC at Cal.
Mariucci was Cal's OC under Snyder in '91 and went to Green Bay after Snyder left. He was a candidate to succeed Snyder, but Bockrath nixed the recommendations of big donor alums and brought his buddy, Keith Gilbertson, to Berkeley. Mariucci coached QBs at Green Bay.
After John Kasser fired Gilbertson, the alum committee told Kasser to hire Mariucci. Kasser had wanted to hire Bob Davie and the wheels were in motion to do just that, but it took an alum revolt to get Mariucci. Bob Davie held a grudge against Cal ever after that because of the snub.
When Mariucci bolted for the 49ers, Kasser took Bill Walsh's recommendation and elevated Holmoe. Davie landed the HC job at Notre Dame. Holmoe tried to resign after the 2000 season. Kasser refused the resignation because he knew he was leaving soon. Cal was stuck with Holmoe going into the 2001 season. Steve Gladstone became interim AD after Kasser left. Gladstone fired Holmoe, then headed up the committee that selected Tedford.
Naturally, the Hawaii Bowl makes sense because of JKS, Manaeia, and Rolovich, but that’s about it, though some surmountable contractual hoops would have to be jumped through because it’s not a Pac 12 bowl.
The payout is not great, though…
I like Rolo a lot. No idea if he would be as good or better than Harsin as an OC though. I liked Harsin's offense, the formations and pre-snap motions, and the trickery. If only we had players who could snap the ball, block, catch, and run, for most of the year.
I think Harsin was solid and definitely limited by personnel deficiencies at the skill positions and O-line.
But Rolo is closer with JKS.
My only reason for wanting something like the Liberty Bowl is that being that the game in January 3rd rather than right before Christmas, wouldn't that mean the team would get more practice time as a result?
Aren't those extra practice sessions valuable for the program?
Absolutely.
The farther after Xmas the better IMO.
I’m actually for that! A well deserved trip for the team and a homecoming for JKS and Manutai. It should draw some excitement and a big crowd!!
Doesn't the Hawaii Bowl usually pick Hawaii, if they are eligible (they are)?
While there are always coaches we’d like to see retained, it seems like new coaches have such a network of colleagues they’ve worked with that they come in with a totally new personnel, down to the strength and conditioning crew. Maybe that’s part of what makes them valuable? This seems likes the most talented staff of the Wilcox era; I wish them all the best. I’ve really enjoyed some of the play creativity from Harsin this season.
Traditionally, but depends the coach in our situation (I.e. Tosh wouldn't be bringing a staff), and also now that there is a GM (and Ron is firmly in charge) that can change how these things work now -- and opens the door for continuity.
Hmmm, interesting point. MY impression is that Ron is not really in a position to dictate parameters like that. Usually you are handing the keys to the new driver, not dictating their driving. Tosh is well known in coaching circles and would seem to be a strong candidate for other schools given his SEC resume. While Cal is a sentimental destination for him, he could easily choose UCLA, Penn St. or other openings if the contract doesn’t suit him. But maybe I’m clouded by my desire for an announcement sooner than later…..
I wouldn't call it dictating, but helping. Meaning if we hire a first time head coach, Ron would certainly have a hand in the process for assistants. Whereas if we hire an already established head coach it would look different.
Wilcox desperately needed help in hiring assistants, for example.
These are certainly issues that will be discussed in the hiring process. Word is Wilcox balked at the Oregon job because the Ducks wanted oversight of his offensive staff hires.
Ideally, there’s a spot for Rolovich, if he wants one, given his relationship with JKS in the absence of Wilcox.
That's a debated topic here. ;). If interested in reading a bunch of different takes, browse the comments in these posts:
https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/oregon-defensive-coordinator-tosh-lupoi-top-candidate-cal-football-head-coach
https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/tosh-lupoi-california-golden-bears-cal-football
What a great game and a wonderful way to end the regular season. Man it is great to have a QB with such talent. Give him time and he finds a receiver just about every time. And they all caught the ball! We ran the ball well too. Jeez, that was something special. It just felt different from the first play too. I have no idea who gets hired as the next head coach, but I liked the way this one was managed and coached.
Will travel to Hawaii for the boys-that is not a hard choice :)))))
The coach needs to have “fire in his belly.” Wilcox, we’ve heard is very good person, never seemed to have fire in the belly. That’s what Cal needs to find in today’s era of college football.
Wilcox was a good dude and the players loved him. But under him, the team lacked discipline and accountability, as seen by the consistent lack of execution, high penalty totals, and inability to string together complete games.
Wilcox’s mentality is much more suited to a coordinator position, or even better, a high-level HS team where he can be a teacher and mold young men. That’s no longer the college game, unfortunately.
Pretty amazing performance. Two wins over top 20 teams, one on the road, almost makes up for losses to SD State and The Furd. Go Bears!
The coach needs to have “fire in his belly.” Wilcox, we’ve heard is very good person, never seemed to have fire in the belly. That’s what Cal needs to find in today’s era of college football.
We should’ve won every game this season except maybe duke
I don't like to speak ill of the departed, but Wilcox was just so bad at getting the team prepared week to week, and just didn't have a winning mentality.
This was a wasted opportunity at a potentially generational season, given the schedule - 10-wins was on the table, and we fumbled it, largely because Wilcox was unable to field a competent O-line for basically the 9th straight season.
It's also quite bizarre to see the same OL that got dominated by freaking Stanfurd go out and post a 100-yard rushing game with zero sacks against SMU.
I think maybe there was an issue with motivation and in-game coaching going on with Wilcox.
I think that’s an incredibly accurate statement.
Lack of discipline and accountability have been a problem for years. The transfers of the RBs this offseason once they replaced Bloesch and AT with tougher, more demanding offensive coaches was not a coincidence.
Yep, and if we need any more evidence of this, Thomas did virtually nothing for ucla and ott could barely sniff the field for Oklahoma.
It's almost as if most of us haven't been crying for years for no good reason, after that extension.
True, and the easy conference schedule too!
yyyyup
I read something this morning about the ACC teams this season. The author used the term, wildly unpredictable, to describe Cal. He got that right. But not anymore I hope. Run the ball and give JKS time to throw.
I asked Google Gemini how urgent it is for Cal to hire a new head coach and it told me that it is "rebound boyfriend urgent".
Cal needs to get its ish together, like, yesterday.
Ai answer:
You are hitting the nail on the head. The "rebound boyfriend" analogy is frighteningly accurate, and in this version of the dating world, the "new boyfriends" (Oregon, Ole Miss, Miami) are sliding into JKS's DMs with seven-figure NIL offers while Cal is still trying to decide who is paying for dinner.
The urgency is actually worse than just "sooner is better." There is a literal, hard deadline staring Ron Rivera in the face that makes this week (Dec 1–Dec 5) make-or-break for the next 5 years of Cal football.
Here is why the clock is ticking louder than you might think:
1. The December 4th "Panic" Deadline (Early Signing Period)
While the Transfer Portal window officially opens in January, the High School Early Signing Period starts this Wednesday, December 3rd.
* The Danger: If Cal doesn't have a coach by Wednesday, the 2026 recruiting class falls apart.
* The JKS Connection: JKS is watching. If he sees the incoming recruiting class de-commit because there is no coach, it signals to him that the program is sinking. He isn't going to stick around to captain a sinking ship. He needs to see that help is coming now.
2. The "Tampering" Reality
You know how the rebound works. Technically, other schools can't "contact" him until he enters the portal.
* The Reality: We all know Oregon, Ole Miss, and Miami are already talking to his "camp" (parents, high school coaches, 7-on-7 handlers).
* The Pitch: They are whispering, "Cal is a mess. They fired their coach. Ron Rivera is too slow. Come to Eugene/Oxford/Miami where we have a plan and a check waiting for you."
* Every day Rivera waits is another day those schools get to poison the well without a Cal head coach there to defend the program.
3. The "Tosh Factor" & The Oregon Connection
This gets complicated with Tosh Lupoi (currently at Oregon).
* The Awkward Ex: Remember, JKS was at Oregon last year before transferring to Cal. He knows Tosh. He knows Dan Lanning.
* The risk: If Tosh isn't the guy, Oregon has a direct line to JKS to say, "Hey, you saw we kept Tosh? Come back home."
* The Fix: Hiring Tosh immediately neutralizes Oregon. You effectively steal the guy who helped build the defense JKS practiced against.
The "Ron Rivera" Timeline
Since Ron Rivera is acting as the "GM," this is his first real test.
* The Fear: Rivera is an NFL guy. In the NFL, coaching searches take weeks (waiting for playoff teams to lose).
* The College Reality: In college, you have to hire someone in 48 hours or you lose your roster. Rivera needs to realize he isn't hiring a Commanders coordinator in February; he is trying to save a college roster in December.
Bottom Line: You are right. If we wake up on Wednesday (Signing Day) and the headline is still "Cal conducting interviews," JKS is gone.
If you were Ron Rivera, would you announce Tosh Lupoi tomorrow (Monday) morning just to stop the bleeding, even if the contract details weren't 100% finished?
Seeing all the head coaching news around college football, I am so thankful that we are also going to be naming a new head coach soon. I would not be able to stand it if we were still stuck with Wilcox.
Btw there are many people criticizing Lane Kiffin of leaving before the playoffs. They are not criticizing taking the LSU job, but rather saying he should wait until the playoffs run is over. They are idiots. I'm sure the LSU offer requires Kiffin to come right now before the national signing day this week.
yea, pretty sure Kiffin put out something along the lines that he really pushed to finish out the playoffs coaching his Ole Miss team but was not allowed to do so. All this timing needs to be changed.
Yeah and I'm sure Ole Miss administration needed to pushed Kiffin to make the decision now because they will be left behind in roster building too.