105 Comments

Seriously, what the hell was THAT? Favored at home with a chance to clinch a bowl game and you're completely flat on both sides of the ball? Seen it too often under this coach.

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Worst game in a long time. Terrible offensive and defensive game plans, team not ready to play. All with bowl eligibility on the line. A real low in the Wilcox era.

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Wilcox is an awful gameday coach. There is nothing his teams are better coached at in Year 8 than they were in Year 1. Cal football needs new leadership.

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I like Wilcox. I really do. I’ve said it before. He is generally a nice guy and he knows what he wants to coach. But being nice and knowing what you want to coach is not sufficient to win games in the ACC. We have 18-25 year old players who are young enough that they need to learn repetition and discipline to be able to execute plays on every drive consistently. They need to be able to do these things well enough that even if the other team knows exactly what we are about to do, that they still cannot stop it. Coaches who try to hide injuries and scheme and plays are just hiding the fact that they do not have a winning hand. Cal cannot afford stalled drives. Each time the offense takes possession of the ball, they must convert points. There’s no way around it. Winning cures all, and you cannot win without scoring. If your defense happens to score or your special teams kick returner happens to score, that is not a moment to breathe a sigh of relief and ease up on the gas pedal. The team must still go out there and produce positive yards on every play. The mindset must be that there is no mercy. If your opponent gets the impression that you will stop at nothing to win, they will give up. We do not project that mindset on the field.

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He’s actually not a “nice guy”. He’s a control freak who can not inspire his players to play up to their potential. He holds them back with his negative/perfectionist attitude. These are young, inexperienced in life athletes who need a real leader. Wilcox should resign.

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Well, the reality is nobody is always a nice guy all the time and usually nobody is a mean person 100 percent of the time (unless you count some mother in laws). Regardless, my intro wording of attributing niceness was not crucial to the rest of my comment, it was merely a throwaway backdrop phrase. Other than that we seem to agree that there is some ineffectiveness going on.

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If the "nice guy" characterization of Wilcox were true..then we could use another catch phrase..."nice guys finish last".

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If he had any integrity he would resign.

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Quit all the nice bullshit. He gets paid 4M+ a year. Any other school would have fired him years ago. He knows he has no business coaching this team...he's just collecting checks as long as he can....sad part is he gets away with blameing the.players when I'd say 75% of our losses in the last 8yrs have been coaching failure losses...

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No, he is a nice guy and his players really like him, BUT, as the saying goes, "nice guys don't win".

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His inadequacies as a Head football Coach were actually readily apparent throughout the COVID season of ’20, at U of A in ‘21 for an L to the worst P5 conference team in the nation, and at Colorado in ‘22 for yet another L to the worst P5 conference team in the nation. Oh, and his ’24 L to Florida State, one of the worst Power conference teams in the nation. His teams have consistently been unprepared and poorly coached.

Wilcox apologists made excuse after excuse for him over the years, and have continued to do so up until today, when their silence is deafening. The crux of the matter is he is woefully overmatched as the leader of a D1 football team, and the fact that he is STILL employed after 8 years despite winning just 34% of his 64 conference games says that Cal is a helluva lot closer to shuttering it’s entire football program than they are continuing as a relevant, Power conference team.

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Preach! Wilcox might not even be a competent DC anymore. When he eventually gets fired he might have to be a LB coach for a few years to rehab his profile.

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That first half was some of the worst football I've seen and I attended during the Holmoe era. It looked like Syracuse knew our playbook better than us.

Sometimes teams just have bad days but this was hard to watch. We really need to find some way to replace Wilcox.

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Yep. I've got no heart to say much these days. But this is it. As bad as I've seen too. The Holmoecaust had a worse record, but not worse play than today. Wilcox is a great man, and runs a solid program, and does everything I want except win and get the best from his players.

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He makes terrible decisions on coordinators. They are the ones who draw up game plans. They are the ones who make decisions during live play, ie: play calling, both offense and defense. That has been terrible with the present coordinators.

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We left the Pac12 and went to a weaker ACC conference and have played even worse. Wikcox is on track to produce his worse conference record while at Cal. He might go winless in ACC at home. He is more than likely going 2-6 or 1-7 in one of the weakest years of the ACC in recent memory.

Wilcox needs to be fired at the end of the season and if he isn’t, no one should donate another dollar or go to another Cal football game while he is the head coach. Give all your money and support to Cal mens bball.

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Better roster and easier schedule and we are at best .500 again. Mind-boggling.

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We won’t be .500 in ACC play, we are guaranteed a losing season in ACC play with the loss today. We could some how beat both Stanford and SMU and still have a losing conference record.

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I am aware.

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Won’t beat anybody with the game we played vs Scuse.

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The NIL support this offseason allowed Cal to assemble the most talented roster of Wilcox’s 8 season.

Same results.

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And against one of the easiest schedules of his 8 seasons.

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Except for O linemen.

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Yep, they certainly haven’t played very well… I wonder how much of the issue with OL is that they are just so poorly coached. The general technique and execution are awful. Rugbear has had some great insight on the issues.

Cal did go out and add a couple of P4 O-linemen, including Wyckoff from A&M…plus McDonald, who played 5-seasons worth of games on a pretty decent Coastal Carolina team…no one is expecting them to be prime Barry Alvarez-Wisconsin, but they should at least be passable. Which they are not.

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It’s almost as if we should have a dedicated OL coach.

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Yup, and this is not hindsight being 20/20.

It was a bad idea from the start.

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Disagree. Money and support should go equally to men's AND women's basketball.

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Men’s bball is more important

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Excuse me but...bullshit. Men are no more important than woman and to think or say otherwise is sexism.

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Men are not more important than women, but men's basketball is more important than women's basketball as it is one of the two sports that support the athletic department financially.

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They should both be supported equally. Highly successful women's programs have started drawing huge crowds. That could happen here. There's no reason to prioritize one over the other. I'm shocked anyone would suggest such a thing today. Then again given the recent election results nothing much should shock anyone.,

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It's not any different than saying football program is more important than soccer.

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This game was just another nail in the coffin for Wilcox. Anyone have a spare 15 million so we don't have to wait until 2026 for a new coach?

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SD23: The bad news is that we are going all the way to 2026 with Wilcox. We don't have any Phil Knight type super donors who will pony up the money to buy him out. Howver, the good news is that there are excellent, undiscovered coaches out there who can turn a program around. Just look at Indiana and Syracuse! The big question is if Knowlton is the kind of AD who can make a move like that.

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Not true.

They know they can’t wait until 2026.

He ends up 5-7 with a loss to Furd and say goodnight.

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He goes 6-6, with a win against Stanford and it should be goodbye to him.

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Golden: It should be but it won't happen. To quote Jon Wilner; "Cal can't afford a ham sandwich."

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Wilner is hardly an unimpeachable source, especially as it relates to Cal.

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After Bears’ performance yesterday and furd’s game vs Louisville I doubt 6-6 is more than a mirage.

Another year 5-7.

Justin, it was nice knowing you.

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Absolutely.

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From your lips to Oski’s ears.

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Remember that time College Game Day came to Berkeley? That was cool.

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The amount of excitement and goodwill that has been squandered this year is hard to fathom.

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Wilcox squandered that momentum in 2 weeks. That was the glorious morning of October 5…by the time we lost to NC State on October 19, that momentum was POOF…Kiser Soze gone…

2. Weeks.

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CMS seemed less than half full.

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and that is pushing it. I woudl have guessed a quarter.

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There were plenty of Orange fans. Just saying.

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It honestly feels like 5 years ago

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Half-assed effort. Crappy game plan. Poor execution.

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So.

Bad.

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This game didn't hurt or make me angry. I just don't care anymore. Wilcox needs to go before I even think of contributing to the program in donations or attendance again.

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Honestly, I was fine during the game and even into the early evening. I left after they kicked the FG to cut it to 13….Newellbany told me Cal got a stop and got the ball back so I grabbed a seat on the walk back to the car to check the iPhone and watch their pathetic 3 & out in less than 90-seconds where bonehead Bloesch ran Ott up the middle for no gain on 2nd and 10 despite trailing by 2 TDs and not having been able to run the ball in literally a full calendar year.

I’m starting to get more fired up now, tho. This coaching staff is borderline incompetent.

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Awful might be a little harsh but the team’s strategies are off at the most important times or the overall strategies for the game seem off.

Syracuse dinks and dunks a lot and Cal’s DBs often were playing back.

If Coe is going to kick the 44 yarder in 2nd, why didn’t kick the one before halftime. Did they bench Morris because of the miss? It’s obvious who has the stronger leg.

If Endries can be so open on the two point conversion why couldn’t they have featured him more in the game plan?

And there’s more…

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I couldn’t believe we were still playing 5 yards off the WRs (while bringing no pressure) on critical 3rd and 4th downs. Complete loser strategy. They did whatever they wanted against that soft coverage.

Wilcox and his toxic conservatism are holding this roster back.

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Those are easy pitch and catch completions for a competent offense.

Way. Too. Easy.

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Stanford has more ACC wins this season than Cal and Wilcox. Let that sink in.

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I don’t even really have the energy to weigh in on this anymore.

The team is consistently so poorly prepared it’s ridiculous.

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I was just thinking the same. It's all been said. Plus I'm angry at myself for thinking we'd turned it around after beating OSU and WF. When it comes to Cal football I'm just a f*cking idiot.

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To my latter point, so is Wilcox.

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Same, my LA friend and I were thinking of doing family road trip for the Big Game. He is a family of 4 and I am a family of 4. After the loss today we texted and said the road trip was off, it wasn’t worth it. That’s 8 tickets that Cal just lost today due to Wilcox.

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There’s blame aplenty, here.

1. Cal has a longstanding reputation as “the coaches’ graveyard.” Why do you suppose that is? Notice many of the good coaches did not stay?

2. Our long drought is a history of middling and goes back 70+ years. Is this Justin Wilcox’s fault? There are historical tendencies that must be addressed, before expecting a new coach to change things to our satisfaction.

3. If your reaction to loss is to curl up in the fetal position and wait for the relegation squad, then, please, turn in your Bear card. Are you not entertained? This isn’t a pass time, this is a facet of a whole university, like Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, UNC, and more top academic schools that also excel in sports at levels comparable to their academic excellence. Because Michigan is in a down year, you won’t hear those fans talking about the inevitable relegation we must accept! F that!

4. Carry your own damned weight! This is directed at the passive fan who watches or attends just to sit like dead weight and expect Nando and company to entertain us. Such an approach is worse that giving our playbook to the opponent. You are wearing down the goodwill that exists between players and the fans. Get off your azz and cheer. Imagine our excellence into reality.

5. Stop whining and brainstorm real and practical solutions! If you happen to have the money for the buyout, then you can talk seriously about what chump change that would be.

But, would Nick Saban be successful, here, under the present circumstances? 70+ years and counting.

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The thing is that this season, the fan and donor base did about all it could to help the team get over the hump:

1. Huge NIL push after the ACC invite got a great portal class and helped hold onto a star like Ott.

2. Calgorithm got us trending on social media and helped get good TV windows, along with . . .

3. ESPN College GameDay came to town and Cal fans showed out with a great crowd, one that folks like Pat McAfee were still talking about weeks later.

Even given all of that, Wilcox’s team fell flat in all the typical ways. The problem is with him (and yes, with the AD too). They need to go.

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Yes. The exact same ways, sy.

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All good points.

I'm not saying that Wilcox has not hit his ceiling.

I just urge caution that we might be ignoring what our ceiling is, without changes being made.

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I don’t know what the ceiling is but getting manhandled at home to a mediocre Syracuse team is pretty close to the floor for me.

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They are better than mediocre. They are well-coached.

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Our ceiling should be better than 5 or 6 wins a year, I am confident of that.

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Not to mention such a dismal conference record.

Yeah. it's not right.

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My expectation is that a “good” Cal program should be getting 8 or 9 wins routinely (bowl game included), obviously above that in high-tide seasons. Occasionally when the stars align we can win the conference. I don’t expect consistent dominance, just consistent relevance.

And we shouldn’t give extensions to head coaches who haven’t proven they can do that.

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I like it and must agree.

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I agree with you on most of what you wrote except there was a period when Cal was really one of top teams in college football. That was the Tedford years. Sadly he had one bad year and another middling year and the AD, Sandy Barbour, fired him. We've never been more than average or worse since.

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Averaged over 70 + years, though.

Yes, the Tedford years are probably the only reason I have an unrealistic, sunshine-clinging attitude. I had tuned out long before the Tedford years and accepted an eternity of irrelevance

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You state that "many of the good coaches did not stay." In the last 100 years of Cal football only Pete Elliot left for greener pastures entirely of his own volition. Mike White was successful but an idiot AD Dave Maggard (the genius who hired Joe Kapp) didn't get along with White and fired him. White had wanted to stay. Bruce Snyder was also successful and also left but he could have been kept if another idiot AD, Bob Bockrath, had offered him the new contract he deserved. Andy Smith died while head coach. Every other Cal head football coach has been fired or resigned under pressure. BTW Elliot, White and Snyder all led other schools to the Rose Bowl.

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You failed to mention Jeff Tedford. He has the best record of any Cal football coach.

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And got moved along after being hamstrung by red tape and academic pushback.

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I was thinking of Marucci. Firings can be a factor. Pappy Waldorf had success but the I-hate-PE folks hamstrung him and pushed him out, because "We don't want to be a football factory." I'm not saying they leave on their own, but by hook or by crook, some are determined to put those coaches in their "place."

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I don’t blame Cal for him leaving. No CFB coach was turning down an opportunity to be a NFL HC, especially to be the HC of the Niners in the mid 90s.

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The real mistake was in hiring Gilbertson over him to replace Snyder in the first place.

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OTOH, good coaches win here.

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I do not disagree that Wilcox has not moved the needle, just pointing out that we may be continually disappointed, if we are not addressing the root.

BTW I made an edit

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These are desperate times, B…it will be interesting what comes about.

Things get murky if they beat ‘Furd next week…nobody wants Knowlton making a football hire as he’s on his way out.

But if you bring him back after losing to ‘Furd and SMU to finish 5-7, with the talent they assembled…you’re just wasting time.

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5-7 = last straw

Wait, is he for sure on the way out?

I would think after the really dubious decisions he made..

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I’m considering watching some Hallmark movies under sedatives instead of viewing the last two games.

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When people show who they are, believe them. And JW has proven he's a solid .500 coach. Great guy, but he is who is record says he is.

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He’s not even a .500 coach tho.

41-48 overall. 22-42 in conference.

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Fair enough, but I was thinking along the lines of Nick Kranz (from his post today):

"In seven full seasons as a head coach, Justin Wilcox has been within one game of .500 in six of them,..."

But perhaps I should have said, "at best, JW's a .500 coach")

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Agreed. It’s the typical Wilcox season - 6-6, + or - 1.

That’s what he is.

If Cal football, and the athletic department in general, are to survive, they need better than Justin Wilcox unfortunately.

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And for more happy news, Stanford just beat a good Louisville team. Next week's Big Game is not a guaranteed win.

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Syracuse, is a decent team with a top notch coaching staff that prepared well for Cal and dominated.

What kind of coach would come to Cal? it would seem like a less than ideal spot.

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So would Indiana.

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Well, you aren't giving any solutions to getting 20 million dollars to pay off Wilcox and paying enough to get a PROVEN head coach here. Please show us how that can be done.

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I have, in other posts. Mostly through high-level donors. The same way Texas A & M paid something like $80M to buy Jimbo Fisher out. Admittedly, there is a very real problem of Jim Knowlton though. That is likely a bigger hold-up than the dollar figure, TBH.

And unfortunately, the NIL then suffers.

But rolling with Wilcox for yet another disappointing season after an expected mass roster-exodus via the transfer portal while FSU/Clemson are another season closer to blowing up the ACC is basically a death sentence for the Cal program. That is what is at stake.

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