Cal football coaching staff for 2025 appears to be finalized

The California Golden Bears coaches have overhauled the offense yet again. Is this the group that will take us far?

Credit: Cal Athletics

Cal has officially announced the hiring of Allen Brown as co-defensive backs coach and Julian Griffin as running backs coach. With those hires, the California Golden Bears appear to have their new look coaching staff in place as they hit the recruiting trail. Here’s a look at the latest evolution of Justin Wilcox’s program.

Who’s returning

Nearly the entire defensive coaching staff

Defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon will return for his eighth season on the Cal sidelines and his seventh year as a defensive coordinator with the Bears. Sirmon had some up-and-down seasons to begin the 2020s but righted the ship in parts after a successful transfer portal campaign in 2023-24. The Cal defense saw a drastic improvement in advanced metrics, going from bottom 50 in SP+ in 2023 ($), to top 40 in 2024 ($).

Returning will be his entire group of assistants. Defensive backs coach Terrence Brown (cornerbacks since 2022) was a member of the secondary coaching staff that saw them grab 15 of the team’s 17 interceptions last year. Andrew Browning (defensive line since 2019) oversaw a defensive front that helped produce a top 15 run defense. And Vic So’oto appears to be maintaining his dual outside linebacker (since 2022)/special teams coordinator (since 2023) duties. With Cal coming off a solid season in generating pressure and turnovers, it made sense to mostly run this staff back.

Offensive holdovers

Tight end coach Mike Saffell is also back. Saffell’s work with Jack Endries helped bring him along to an impressive sophomore season, so it made sense for him to come back. Expect the two to continue to do great things together in 2025.

Who’s new

Offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Bryan Harsin is in the building. Harsin replaces Mike Bloesch, who struggled to juggle dual responsibilities of OC and OL coach. Harsin will have the more traditional offensive coordinator/QB coach cadence and will have to make the tough decision about who. Harsin is by far the most experienced offensive leader in FBS football that Cal has ever had in the Justin Wilcox era, and of course the two worked together for years. There is a lot of upside with this hire, with the caveat that Harsin hasn’t called plays in awhile. But his success likely depends on how he manages the quarterback situation with Devin Brown, EJ Caminong, Dominic Ingrassia, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele this offseason.

Wide receiver coach Kyle Cefalo is considered one of those up-and-coming position coaches to look out for. He’s coached four wideouts to All-American status in the past half-decade, three to Biletnikoff Award status. It hurts to lose Burl Toler, but Cefalo appears to be an impressive, results-driven hire.

Offensive line coach Famika Anae is one of those guys who has earned his dues, coaching offensive lines at every level, and New Mexico did remarkable work this season in creating a top level unit that allowed very few sacks and ran the ball like crazy. This feels like a very high upside hire if Anae is able to work this beleaguered unit into shape.

Running backs coach Julian Griffin has enjoyed very solid results in UTSA, producing running offenses that amassed over 1,700 yards every season with the Roadrunners. With Jaydn Ott and Jaivian Thomas secure as the one-two punch at RB, this will hopefully help the Bears unlock a formula they seemed to have the keys for in 2023 but struggled to tap into in 2024.

New Defensive backs coach Allen Brown appears to be in the similar vein of the Tre Watson hire—a young coach on the rise who Cal is willing to take a chance on, with the older Brown there to help keep the Takers moving in the right direction. With Cal continuously using their base nickel defense to keep opposing offenses at bay.

Offensive analyst and former Wazzu coach Nick Rolovich will remain a bit of a concern given the negative feedback Washington State fans have given from their experience with his litigious history (which backfired). However he appears to have embraced the Calgorithm and is enjoying his time tweeting, so the dynamics remain as chaotic as ever with Cal Twitter online.

Cal fans, thoughts on the new look coaching staff? Grade it in the poll!