I think this shows you that the head coach is not in tune with players. I was a Wilcox supporter but bad decisions and numerous transfers and a defense that took a step backwards, is not good. It might be time for change. Wait, Knowlton will put up on the jumbo tron, give this guy a chance he lost two QB’s.
Only a matter of time before Wilcox is shown the door with the request that door not hit him on the way out. He got extremely lucky in his first few years as HC with easy non conference schedules and a Pac 12 that was historically bad. Now, he is surrounded on all sides by head coaches with great offensive minds who will overwhelm Wilcox's apparent strength on defense. I say apparent because, as you mention, his defenses have not been that good now that he is coaching with guys he recruited. Not a good story...very depressing to me as a long time Cal fan.
I am not a big fan of Cal basketball and have never been to a game at Haas. But I root for the team when they are competitive. It is fairly obvious to a non alum like me that what is happening to both of the major sports at Cal is deeply imbedded in the culture of the university and won't be fixed until major changes are made all the way up to the chancellor's office. The decision by the UC Regents to have UCLA fork over some of their Big 10 revenues back to Cal only prolongs the problem. I would LOVE to hear where I am wrong.
None of the candidates mentioned are even close to top shelf concerning the level of QB talent already in the conference. I have a feeling that Cal is going to pick Rogers since Spavital coached against him and apparently liked what he saw. Having a dual threat quarterback like Rogers is both a blessing and a curse. The urge to run first with Cal's porous offensive line might overtake him, and it would be like watching Chase Garbers all over again or worse. Or Maybe the kid already knows that and is going to choose a destination like Baylor that has a competent head coach.
There may not be a more dangerous job than starting QB behind Cal’s OL. He might just not want any part of that. And I have to imagine that’s making it a tough sell to transfers too.
The Faraudo article doesn’t make it seem like Millner has much contact with or interest in Cal. Unless something else happened after that, it seems very unlikely he will return.
I read elsewhere that Plummer dragged his decision over whether to return to the point that the coaches chose to move on--and then Plummer expressed a willingness to return after Spavital's arrival. That, of course, likely led to Millner's sense of uncertainty and decision to transfer as well.
Which begs the question as to why the staff chose to go top down and engage Plummer first without concerning itself with Millner's status at the same time. You'd think that Wilcox, at this point, had learned multitasking.
Call it what you want, but Wilcox is an incompetent boob. He has been given an unbelievable benefit of the doubt because he is a good looking man who looks great in Cal gear and comes across as a man of principle. But he has no idea on how to administer a successful Pac 5 football program and keeps showing it in ways that should be obvious to everyone. I just spent about 10 minutes researching the staff that Troy Taylor has put together at Stanford and how he is approaching his new gig. No more easy Big Game wins for you, Justin.
totally your prerogative to think that way about things that are happening on the field (I'm largely in a similar train of thought). Just couldnt get on board with an unhealthy description, as I associate that with off the field and locker room issues.
And a bunch of Wisconsin dudes that know how to coach up 3-stars to Top 10 defenses. Believe me, Taylor is going to serve up some magic on the offensive side of the ball. I believe Gregory was Tedford's OC in the glory days. I have loved TT from the first time I saw him throw a pass at Cal. Actually, I saw him play in the Sacramento high school championship game when he was playing for Rancho Cordova. A complete winner and someone I will root for even though he is now wearing red colors.
The frustrating thing is that 4 programs were basically disasters last year in the Conference (Furd, Colorado, ASU and Cal), and 3 of them made solid new hires.
Cal is basically in somewhat of a free fall with Wilcox, and next year’s schedule is a doozy…2024 is probably a make it or break it, but with that guaranteed contract, not sure he is going anywhere. We’re probably stuck with him.
Spav’s track record of putting up at least competent college offenses is pretty good. If Bloesch can coach up the OL, maybe improve some technique, and get that unit to something approaching average, the O should be better.
We need an influx of talent at the quarterback position…if Chandler Rogers is in fact the guy, Cal likely has the worst QB room in the P12 because its such a strong position for the Conference…tough to win games that way. Would love Justyn Martin…fear it’s a pipe dream.
I attribute a healthy program as one that has a strong culture that also cultivates men and women of leadership off the field. If you want to say the program is underachieving and needs an overhaul, by all means go ahead since there's ample evidence.
I put unhealthy in an off the field category. Texas is an unhealthy program. Whether they are winners is a different discussion. ASU for now is unhealthy. Cal in my opinion is not unhealthy. Hope this clears things up.
That makes sense - totally get where you’re coming from.…guess we just have a difference of opinion on what constitutes a healthy football program, at least now in the NIL/transfer portal era. For me, it’s less about things like grad rates, which are so misleading, and definitely more about ON-field performance and whether or not your football program is at least generating some semblance of revenue for your school (and the non-revenue sports, specifically). Look at the stadium on game days…is it full or empty, because short of having a roster full of Keatons, McManus’, Fensters, Hockney’s and Verbal Kint’s, we as fans really have no idea about the “culture” of a program behind the closed doors of the locker room, beyond what we see on the field. How is Texas an unhealthy program while Cal is not, especially given the number of undergraduate players leaving the Cal program each year? Every team in the country has it’s share of bad actors off the field.
Utah’s win at Wazzu in October despite missing a number of key starters hammered this point home for me, IMO. Earlier in the month, Cal was basically non-competitive on the Palouse, and followed up their BYE week a few weeks later with a road loss to the worst P5 team in the entire country for the second consecutive season. That’s the sign of a poorly coached football team that lacks leadership. Contrast that to Whittingham’s program, which went on the road to a hostile territory and won a game with a backup QB, RB and multiple starters in the trenches. 6 years of evidence says there’s absolutely no way Justin Wilcox does that. As a man, Wilcox seems like a nice dude from a good football family…as a head football coach, though, things look a little different. We’ll get plenty of time to judge him, though - with that extension, he’s not going anywhere for years.
What's the deal with that 4-star Peter Costelli from Troy? He's from SoCal and was at Utah before getting outcompeted. Pro style but ran track so should be relatively quick. Of course, it would be nice to know why he's not seeing the field.
I was curious about Costelli too. Seemed like he had the raw tools and potential but couldn't beat out his competition at Utah or Troy. Maybe kinda like Millner?
At least he's used to being on a mediocre offense. He'll have better receivers and backfield at Cal. Unfortunately, everything still depends on having a good o-line no matter how well he runs.
Wouldn't be the first time we found an unheralded QB with a similar name. Spavital should represent Wilcox's last chance so they have to make it work with the personnel assembled.
Bob, If you scroll up to your original comment here, you will see you said "new head coach" in the third sentence. I'm going to paste it here in quotes:
"Gobears49
I'm concerned that Spav is really only interested in players he has watched in his time as a coach in the Sun Belt conference. Read the article above very quickly, but I think there are three of them. Not the scope of who I would expect a new head coach to consider as Cal's next starting QB."
See the third sentence: "Not the scope of who I would expect a new head coach to consider as Cal's next starting QB."
In that sentence you used the term "new head coach."
That's the cause of this confusion.
I think you meant to say "new offensive coordinator".
And I think given the combative history some people might rather not see it as an honest mistake but engage you on the topic and play out some kind of tragic dramatic irony.
Meet my new friend Cole Johnson. https://twitter.com/CalFootball/status/1610700455973380096?s=20&t=7navkq4J67ybKlV6Ng7Ukg
What about Will Crowder, Chance Nolan, or Calzada, let alone Brennan Armstrong from UVa? DJ U going to the Beavs? Schlee at UCLA? Pyne at ASU?
WELP!
USC just got rugged
Aune has withdrawn from the portal.
30 year olds can't just walk off the same injuries as a 22 year old.
I need an Epsom salt bath after a Costco run…those La Croix cases are a bear.
Really feels like my body's warranty ran out at about 40.
Absolutely. Everything hurts.
Good. 53% passers don’t do well in the P12.
Wait, Cal has a 24-hour chef? Where do I sign up????
Can he play o-line
At any 7/11 across the Oakland border?
I think this shows you that the head coach is not in tune with players. I was a Wilcox supporter but bad decisions and numerous transfers and a defense that took a step backwards, is not good. It might be time for change. Wait, Knowlton will put up on the jumbo tron, give this guy a chance he lost two QB’s.
Only a matter of time before Wilcox is shown the door with the request that door not hit him on the way out. He got extremely lucky in his first few years as HC with easy non conference schedules and a Pac 12 that was historically bad. Now, he is surrounded on all sides by head coaches with great offensive minds who will overwhelm Wilcox's apparent strength on defense. I say apparent because, as you mention, his defenses have not been that good now that he is coaching with guys he recruited. Not a good story...very depressing to me as a long time Cal fan.
For the sake of the talent in the roster, would be good for Wilcox to have a breakout year against all odds.
It won’t be 2023 unfortunately. 3-9 is seriously on the table.
@ North Texas, @ UO, @ UW, @ UU, @ UCLA, v USC, v Or St, v Auburn are all likely L’s.
Do you believe in miracles ?
I believe they happen, yes.
Just not to Cal, at least under it’s current leadership…
;-)
I am not a big fan of Cal basketball and have never been to a game at Haas. But I root for the team when they are competitive. It is fairly obvious to a non alum like me that what is happening to both of the major sports at Cal is deeply imbedded in the culture of the university and won't be fixed until major changes are made all the way up to the chancellor's office. The decision by the UC Regents to have UCLA fork over some of their Big 10 revenues back to Cal only prolongs the problem. I would LOVE to hear where I am wrong.
None of the candidates mentioned are even close to top shelf concerning the level of QB talent already in the conference. I have a feeling that Cal is going to pick Rogers since Spavital coached against him and apparently liked what he saw. Having a dual threat quarterback like Rogers is both a blessing and a curse. The urge to run first with Cal's porous offensive line might overtake him, and it would be like watching Chase Garbers all over again or worse. Or Maybe the kid already knows that and is going to choose a destination like Baylor that has a competent head coach.
QB candidate TBA>Rogers>Martinez>Zach Johnson>LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE>Bachmeier>100%Wildcat w/ OTT>Aune
Rogers and anyone else, and 4-8 is the ceiling next year, given the BRUTAL Cal schedule…they can be a better team and still lose 8.
I can’t believe Kai didn’t know about Plummer. Kai has the starting job starring him right in his face. This kid has talent, Wilcox get him to stay!
There may not be a more dangerous job than starting QB behind Cal’s OL. He might just not want any part of that. And I have to imagine that’s making it a tough sell to transfers too.
The Faraudo article doesn’t make it seem like Millner has much contact with or interest in Cal. Unless something else happened after that, it seems very unlikely he will return.
You know it!
I read elsewhere that Plummer dragged his decision over whether to return to the point that the coaches chose to move on--and then Plummer expressed a willingness to return after Spavital's arrival. That, of course, likely led to Millner's sense of uncertainty and decision to transfer as well.
Which begs the question as to why the staff chose to go top down and engage Plummer first without concerning itself with Millner's status at the same time. You'd think that Wilcox, at this point, had learned multitasking.
Wilcox runs a disorganized, unhealthy program. That much is clear on Saturday’s.
I would call unhealthy a bit of a stretch
Call it what you want, but Wilcox is an incompetent boob. He has been given an unbelievable benefit of the doubt because he is a good looking man who looks great in Cal gear and comes across as a man of principle. But he has no idea on how to administer a successful Pac 5 football program and keeps showing it in ways that should be obvious to everyone. I just spent about 10 minutes researching the staff that Troy Taylor has put together at Stanford and how he is approaching his new gig. No more easy Big Game wins for you, Justin.
totally your prerogative to think that way about things that are happening on the field (I'm largely in a similar train of thought). Just couldnt get on board with an unhealthy description, as I associate that with off the field and locker room issues.
Just looked up. Bob Gregory joins them as ST coordinator and somehow Pete Alamar is still there.
And a bunch of Wisconsin dudes that know how to coach up 3-stars to Top 10 defenses. Believe me, Taylor is going to serve up some magic on the offensive side of the ball. I believe Gregory was Tedford's OC in the glory days. I have loved TT from the first time I saw him throw a pass at Cal. Actually, I saw him play in the Sacramento high school championship game when he was playing for Rancho Cordova. A complete winner and someone I will root for even though he is now wearing red colors.
You mean DC.
But yeah some nice staff. I want him to succeed but I don't want to at the same time.
The frustrating thing is that 4 programs were basically disasters last year in the Conference (Furd, Colorado, ASU and Cal), and 3 of them made solid new hires.
Cal is basically in somewhat of a free fall with Wilcox, and next year’s schedule is a doozy…2024 is probably a make it or break it, but with that guaranteed contract, not sure he is going anywhere. We’re probably stuck with him.
Spav’s track record of putting up at least competent college offenses is pretty good. If Bloesch can coach up the OL, maybe improve some technique, and get that unit to something approaching average, the O should be better.
We need an influx of talent at the quarterback position…if Chandler Rogers is in fact the guy, Cal likely has the worst QB room in the P12 because its such a strong position for the Conference…tough to win games that way. Would love Justyn Martin…fear it’s a pipe dream.
Respectfully, TD, do healthy programs lose at Arizona and Colorado the past two years? We should’ve won both of those.
The number of guys to enter the portal could also be taken as a bad sign.
I attribute a healthy program as one that has a strong culture that also cultivates men and women of leadership off the field. If you want to say the program is underachieving and needs an overhaul, by all means go ahead since there's ample evidence.
I put unhealthy in an off the field category. Texas is an unhealthy program. Whether they are winners is a different discussion. ASU for now is unhealthy. Cal in my opinion is not unhealthy. Hope this clears things up.
That makes sense - totally get where you’re coming from.…guess we just have a difference of opinion on what constitutes a healthy football program, at least now in the NIL/transfer portal era. For me, it’s less about things like grad rates, which are so misleading, and definitely more about ON-field performance and whether or not your football program is at least generating some semblance of revenue for your school (and the non-revenue sports, specifically). Look at the stadium on game days…is it full or empty, because short of having a roster full of Keatons, McManus’, Fensters, Hockney’s and Verbal Kint’s, we as fans really have no idea about the “culture” of a program behind the closed doors of the locker room, beyond what we see on the field. How is Texas an unhealthy program while Cal is not, especially given the number of undergraduate players leaving the Cal program each year? Every team in the country has it’s share of bad actors off the field.
Utah’s win at Wazzu in October despite missing a number of key starters hammered this point home for me, IMO. Earlier in the month, Cal was basically non-competitive on the Palouse, and followed up their BYE week a few weeks later with a road loss to the worst P5 team in the entire country for the second consecutive season. That’s the sign of a poorly coached football team that lacks leadership. Contrast that to Whittingham’s program, which went on the road to a hostile territory and won a game with a backup QB, RB and multiple starters in the trenches. 6 years of evidence says there’s absolutely no way Justin Wilcox does that. As a man, Wilcox seems like a nice dude from a good football family…as a head football coach, though, things look a little different. We’ll get plenty of time to judge him, though - with that extension, he’s not going anywhere for years.
What's the deal with that 4-star Peter Costelli from Troy? He's from SoCal and was at Utah before getting outcompeted. Pro style but ran track so should be relatively quick. Of course, it would be nice to know why he's not seeing the field.
I was curious about Costelli too. Seemed like he had the raw tools and potential but couldn't beat out his competition at Utah or Troy. Maybe kinda like Millner?
McCall withdrew his name so he's staying at Coastal Carolina.
Bc he does not have the grades to go anywhere decent
Can’t imagine the injury helped either.
At least he's used to being on a mediocre offense. He'll have better receivers and backfield at Cal. Unfortunately, everything still depends on having a good o-line no matter how well he runs.
Wouldn't be the first time we found an unheralded QB with a similar name. Spavital should represent Wilcox's last chance so they have to make it work with the personnel assembled.
Bloesch has experience. Just don't know if he has the players or can make the scheme get more out of our current ones.
https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/cal-football-completes-the-offensive
It's in the link above but here's the original source W4C built their article from.
https://admin.calbears.com/staff-directory/mike-bloesch/5305
Maybe you should click on the link presented.
It’s not Wikipedia. Can’t be trusted.
Well that's the name, minus the "d"
We don't have a new head coach. Wilcox is still the head coach at Cal.
"Not the scope of who I would expect a new head coach to consider as Cal's next starting QB."
You just said "new head coach"
Who is this "new head coach" that you are referring to?
Are referring to how it would be better with a new head coach?
Otherwise you are just gaslighting Justbear. You clearly said “new head coach”
Bob, If you scroll up to your original comment here, you will see you said "new head coach" in the third sentence. I'm going to paste it here in quotes:
"Gobears49
I'm concerned that Spav is really only interested in players he has watched in his time as a coach in the Sun Belt conference. Read the article above very quickly, but I think there are three of them. Not the scope of who I would expect a new head coach to consider as Cal's next starting QB."
See the third sentence: "Not the scope of who I would expect a new head coach to consider as Cal's next starting QB."
In that sentence you used the term "new head coach."
That's the cause of this confusion.
I think you meant to say "new offensive coordinator".
And I think given the combative history some people might rather not see it as an honest mistake but engage you on the topic and play out some kind of tragic dramatic irony.
“Having a conversation with you is like a Martian having a conversation with a fungo.” - Crash Davis