Not sure if I can take another Wilcox season, forth and one........arms wrap, deep thought.....I know, hand the ball off to Ott six yards back against Florida State and Auburn. Never mind that I have a 6'5" qb that can fall forward or slide off center or guard for 2yds.
That salary really isn't that high. It's what's required to compete for any coach worth his salt in college football. There's a reason all the other coaches generally compliment Wilcox for doing what he did while in the situation he's in. He had to not only play an uneven conference schedule where Cal just plays better teams on a yearly basis than anyone in the South, but for a school that places strict academic requirements on his recruits that other schools don't, and for an AD that's MIA and hasn't really done anything positive for Cal since we've hired him. Even the Madsen hiring was *despite* Knowlton.
Do I want more from Wilcox? Sure. Do I think we're done with him after we get a new AD? Most likely. But he played a very thankless job in our rebuild, and I think part of his extension was the realization that we wouldn't really find anyone better within the confines that we have. With Lyons taking over, hopefully they do a full review on recruiting strategies for our revenue sports and considering giving them more academic support than we normally do. I know Cal prides itself on having students that can succeed independently of institutional support, but the reality is that if we want to compete in the revenue sports we will need to provide better academic support for incoming players.
USC and Stanford being private chicken liver schools don’t disclose salaries but the average salary for the other 10 Pac-12 schools last year was about $4.8 million so the out of wack salaries are across the board.
Agreed, I don't think this gets enough attention. Some day I'll have to check the team's performance as a function of point spread, ie are we less likely to beat the spread when we are favored?
Oregon State and SMU seem a bit inflated here. OSU will not be fielding the same team, and SMU has to be facing a bit of a climb when coming out of a G5 to a P5 conference.
I really think it's a strong possibility for this Cal team. If they are just EXACTLY as good as they were last year they can probably get 8 wins, entirely from the schedule being easier.
It seems to me that all depends on the success of our passing game, to liberate an effective running game. If we have an offensive line that helps keep our defense off the field, perhaps this could be Coach Wilcox's breakout season. The question remains, is the ACC as strong as the former Pac-12?
I'm not saying to take anything for granted, but we're about to see a major dip in the level of competition. We were playing UW / UO / USC / UCLA every year, where even USC / UCLA got to swap the PNW teams every other year. With WSU / OSU peaking independently, and Utah being scheduled every other year, that's 6 ranked teams and 2-3 top 10 teams.
The ACC just doesn't have that level of depth. That doesn't mean we can't play down to their level, which is what I'm kind of scared of.
There is no statistic for what is inside a person's heart. I think the football team will take this personally and I hope they do. I'm glad they ranked us where they did so these guys don't feel like they've arrived. They may have did as a favor.
I really appreciate the game-by-game analysis. Very well done. And this line: “Still, I will never underestimate Oregon State. Not in this lifetime.” I see Tedford’s broken clipboard every time.
Some Bears just can't wait.
BTW- Is this a recruiter Bear?
"Bear joins football practice at Truckee High-school
https://x.com/i/status/1798885075578204512
Not sure if I can take another Wilcox season, forth and one........arms wrap, deep thought.....I know, hand the ball off to Ott six yards back against Florida State and Auburn. Never mind that I have a 6'5" qb that can fall forward or slide off center or guard for 2yds.
Definitely want to see more creativity at times and other times to not be satisfied with herd mentality.
What kind of organization (AD, Chancellor) rewards someone this kind of money with these stats:
Record 36–43
Annual salary $4.4 million (2023)
That salary really isn't that high. It's what's required to compete for any coach worth his salt in college football. There's a reason all the other coaches generally compliment Wilcox for doing what he did while in the situation he's in. He had to not only play an uneven conference schedule where Cal just plays better teams on a yearly basis than anyone in the South, but for a school that places strict academic requirements on his recruits that other schools don't, and for an AD that's MIA and hasn't really done anything positive for Cal since we've hired him. Even the Madsen hiring was *despite* Knowlton.
Do I want more from Wilcox? Sure. Do I think we're done with him after we get a new AD? Most likely. But he played a very thankless job in our rebuild, and I think part of his extension was the realization that we wouldn't really find anyone better within the confines that we have. With Lyons taking over, hopefully they do a full review on recruiting strategies for our revenue sports and considering giving them more academic support than we normally do. I know Cal prides itself on having students that can succeed independently of institutional support, but the reality is that if we want to compete in the revenue sports we will need to provide better academic support for incoming players.
Would you consider a 1MM a lot of money?
Of course. But not as the salary for the HC of P5 program.
USC and Stanford being private chicken liver schools don’t disclose salaries but the average salary for the other 10 Pac-12 schools last year was about $4.8 million so the out of wack salaries are across the board.
Sounds about right. 6-7 wins with a critical game late to try to get into a bowl is most likely outcome.
I think that if Bears cannot get more than 7 wins, it’s time to move on from Wilcox. He’s a good person but seems to be snake bitten.
If the Bears can break their habit of playing down to inferior opponents, they'll be fine and exceed expectations. Bring the A-game against B-teams!
Agreed, I don't think this gets enough attention. Some day I'll have to check the team's performance as a function of point spread, ie are we less likely to beat the spread when we are favored?
Seems about right but we may take a roundabout way to get there. Just so many variables.
Oregon State and SMU seem a bit inflated here. OSU will not be fielding the same team, and SMU has to be facing a bit of a climb when coming out of a G5 to a P5 conference.
OSU’s projection based on their easier schedule doesn’t have much of a bearing on Bears’ ability to beat the Beavs.
I want 8 wins this season. We need to get over that hump.
I really think it's a strong possibility for this Cal team. If they are just EXACTLY as good as they were last year they can probably get 8 wins, entirely from the schedule being easier.
The Pac 12 schedule was tough but it didn't end up as tough as we expected. Washington State and UCLA ended up being average teams.
I think they looked average because they were in a tough league.
Surely that should be an early projection of six or seven wins in our first eight games.
It seems to me that all depends on the success of our passing game, to liberate an effective running game. If we have an offensive line that helps keep our defense off the field, perhaps this could be Coach Wilcox's breakout season. The question remains, is the ACC as strong as the former Pac-12?
It is not
I would like to believe that, but having followed Cal football since 1967, I take nothing for granted.
I'm not saying to take anything for granted, but we're about to see a major dip in the level of competition. We were playing UW / UO / USC / UCLA every year, where even USC / UCLA got to swap the PNW teams every other year. With WSU / OSU peaking independently, and Utah being scheduled every other year, that's 6 ranked teams and 2-3 top 10 teams.
The ACC just doesn't have that level of depth. That doesn't mean we can't play down to their level, which is what I'm kind of scared of.
Understood.
Especially the last Pac-12 season, which was absolutely brutal.
There is no statistic for what is inside a person's heart. I think the football team will take this personally and I hope they do. I'm glad they ranked us where they did so these guys don't feel like they've arrived. They may have did as a favor.
I really appreciate the game-by-game analysis. Very well done. And this line: “Still, I will never underestimate Oregon State. Not in this lifetime.” I see Tedford’s broken clipboard every time.