Can’t recruit or develop an offensive line. Can’t develop a quarterback. For the sake of his future nfl prospects, he’s probably making the right decision. Really tough to blame him given this dumpster fire of a coaching staff and the absolute refusal by the worthless assclowns running the athletic department to make any changes.
This is embarrassing for the program. We're getting outspent in NIL by UCLA. A program with the same academic requirements, same school system, and same conference (for now). This is nothing more than abject failure of leadership.
With Knowlton at the helm we're heading for the sky, the Big Sky. Fire him now.
There is nothing about UCLA that is comparable to Cal in athletic dollars spent, academic restrictions (Cal chose to limit non-qualifiers above and beyond in ways that UCLA did not) or NIL dollars.
It is also absurd. For one, well off people do better on standardized tests and in school (the things those standards look at) so you are locking in some inequity there. But also, these guys have special skills. Would you vet the SAT scores of a music prodigy if he wanted to go to the music school?
This is one of the reasons why most schools no longer look at SAT scores, as they are far from the best evaluation tool of a prospective student's capabilities, potential, OR needs. and therefore likelihood of success.
And why would any educational institution, especially one that tax payers and the general public pay for, be intentionally trying to exclude those most in need of additional education in the first place? Proper placement is one thing; exclusion discrimination is another.
The challenges are real, but the last two AD’s have been borderline incompetent. Williams put us on a steep downward decline, basically to the edge…buffoon Knowlton pushed us off it.
Because they *will* eventually be fired - it's inevitable at Cal. It's not like Cal Athletics will ever have the quality to provide the sort of lifetime tenure that Gene Smith essentially has at Ohio State, for instance. They will have to have a next gig.
Plus, we all know the job sucks. Even if they are reasonably successful and don't get fired, they're going to want to go someplace else.
You could say the same about the cal football head coaching job, but guys will still take that one when it’s open. Of course we’re not going to compete with the Ohio states of the world, but jobs with that level of security and donor commitment are few and far between.
Heavy on the admin side. The headhunters look for what the customer (admin) defines as what they are looking for. And that once again circles back to the fundamental problem at Cal.
Knowlton's job is to fix this, but he (or anyone else) has only so much rope to work with, within the resource limitations and other restrictions & obstacles, and methodologies required.
As long as Cal and the community its a part of continue to not address and continue to create obstacles to success its unreasonable to actually expect anything other than localized temporary successes at best.
That’s my bet. I actually thought initially he might be a good hire. Navigating the challenges of a service academy (academic requirements, government bureaucracy, etc.) might translate well to Cal. *Insert Charlie Murphy “wrong” gif here*
I get that the offense is in transition, but Spavital is going to run a fast-paced offense that throws the ball a lot. Seems like that would be a good system for Sturdivant and others. Bummer.
It would seem that way but our offense is a big question mark. I like Spav and think that is a great hire but JMike doesn’t know him, doesn’t know who our QB is going to be, doesn’t see an improvement at OL and being offered a bunch of money. It is easy to see why he wants out. Compare that with ucla who has a known offense that can put up yards and points and is stacked at QB.
For those of you blaming Wilcox and the bad year...stop. J Mike is getting money whipped, reportedly 2x his current NIL haul. Now that he is in the portal, Miami and others have jumped in so his price is getting jacked even higher. I suspect the Cal backers are passing the hat to see if they can hold onto him but until we find a Casey Wasserman, who is single handedly bankrolling UCLA's NIL, this kind of stuff will happen. If we want a bright side? WR is the easiest position to fill with talented replacements. Maybe not J Mike good but not FCS level either.
In a vacuum, sure, blaming Wilcox for this transfer is the wrong move. But this transfer, combined with all of the other transfers, combined with all of the losing post-covid, combined with the continued failures at OC, combined with the recruiting that's fallen off a cliff, combined with the poor player development at crucial positions (namely QB and OL), all kiiiiiinda makes me want to blame Wilcox. And as I write this, Jermaine Terry has hit the portal. How's that '21 class lookin now? Yeah I'm gonna go ahead and keep blaming Wilcox given he's in charge of all of this.
With all due respect, we just finished a putrid 4-8 season that included a loss to Colorado. Our recruiting class is dead last in the conference, and would barely crack the top half of the group of 5. The top two qbs on our depth chart just bailed. Our head coach is 0 for 2 on offensive coordinator hires. What evidence do we have that we’re going to be anything other than a steaming pile of dogshit, let alone anything close to ok?
we're going to be ok because our stars will leave due to NIL, our average players are going to leave for the opportunity to start, and we can only recruit talent from mediocre G5 schools?
Honorable mention, not first team. And saying this is just because of NIL really dismisses the multitude of legitimate reasons a skill position player would want to leave here.
To be fair, our issues with offense wasn't at the talent level but at the coaching level. We still have good WRs in the group even though losing Sturdivant really hurts because of how good he is individually. When he joined, we were a program on an exciting upward trend. That doesn't exist anymore, so I don't blame him for getting that NIL.
I think it's a mix of both, though I suspect our coaching and scheme were poorly suited for our OL personnel. Better coaching might give us big improvement (say, from abysmal to bad) but still need talent to get from bad to competent. But, absolutely, we have some very good "skill position" players and even an "ok" QB can win games if he has an average amount of protection.
You lose good players every year to graduation and now to the Portal. Someone new always steps up. It the way of the world. I don't like losing JMike one bit, but we have a really good freshman arriving and we'll pick up some talent in the Portal. What we really need right now is a QB!
Yes we lose good players every year, but Cal is not a team that can reload each season. Especially in the current situation where our recruiting class ranks last in the conference.
Exactly. We’re not a plug and play…there’s no system currently in place, no winning culture, no identity….Wilcox is gonna be the Head Coach at Cal for almost 10 years and it’s debatable whether he’ll ever have, as Rugbear said, that toughness instilled.
Whittingham sure as hell does at Utah…let’s get that!
You think they would’ve fired a guy with Kyle’s record? Respectfully disagree, sir... Whittingham won the Fiesta bowl after Urban Meyer bolted for Florida, and then made a bowl game in each of his 1st seven seasons, winning six…he suffered back-to-back 5-7 years in ‘12-‘13 as the Utes acclimated to the P12, and then started another streak of 8 straight bowl appearances, interrupted only by COVID, tho they were in fact 3-2 that year. Incidentally, the Utes have lost 4 straight bowl games.
Wilcox has not, and will never, sniff that type of success. I think the only way Cal would’ve parted ways with him is if the academic stats had suffered, like Tedford.
We've picked up three 4*'s in the portal: Nohl Williams, Byron Cardwell and Sergio Allen. As far as I can tell we've lost one (J-Mike who has not yet transferred). I'd say we're doing ok.
Yes and no. I'd always like to see additional quality big uglies added to our roster, but I think we have some solid athletes that can play if they are coached up. It will be the first test of our new o-line coach.
For players that leave via poaching...err the portal, teams should receive a transfer fee like they have for pro soccer in Europe. Yeah, that's the ticket!!
There is no good way to spin this, only mitigating factors for the upcoming season... WR is the deepest room on the team, and Hunter is our best WR (although JMike will likely eclipse him once it's all said and done). This makes us worse, but likely doesn't mean much in the W-L column.
The worse news is the reality check that we are officially a farm team and we are going to hemorrhage our halfway decent players every single year. It will be near impossible to be competitive under those circumstances.
You can survive the loss of J Mike, as next year’s tough schedule will be made or broken by the O and D lines, not a WR, even one as talented as Sturdivant.
But what losing a player of his caliber represents, and that of Latu, on the heels of Mettauer bolting last year, is just a really bad sign all around. Wilcox’s program doesn’t have the culture in place to simply reload each year with portal guys…there’s no system he can rely on to plug and play guys…this isn’t Alabama, tOSU or UGA…he’s simply not a winner.
So the portal by itself is not evil, but the portal + NIL is going to destroy football at many schools. If you support this as a Cal fan you are a masochist.
I have entered the transfer portal. *receives no offers.
Well shit
I’ll give you an NIL deal. $5 dollars and a ham sandwich is my offer.
$7 and a Double-Double, Animal style…
have to accept jimmys, im an in n out burger addict.......
Can’t recruit or develop an offensive line. Can’t develop a quarterback. For the sake of his future nfl prospects, he’s probably making the right decision. Really tough to blame him given this dumpster fire of a coaching staff and the absolute refusal by the worthless assclowns running the athletic department to make any changes.
This is embarrassing for the program. We're getting outspent in NIL by UCLA. A program with the same academic requirements, same school system, and same conference (for now). This is nothing more than abject failure of leadership.
With Knowlton at the helm we're heading for the sky, the Big Sky. Fire him now.
There is nothing about UCLA that is comparable to Cal in athletic dollars spent, academic restrictions (Cal chose to limit non-qualifiers above and beyond in ways that UCLA did not) or NIL dollars.
Yes, THIS.
Cal’s self-imposed, heightened admission requirements costs them many players.
It is also absurd. For one, well off people do better on standardized tests and in school (the things those standards look at) so you are locking in some inequity there. But also, these guys have special skills. Would you vet the SAT scores of a music prodigy if he wanted to go to the music school?
This is one of the reasons why most schools no longer look at SAT scores, as they are far from the best evaluation tool of a prospective student's capabilities, potential, OR needs. and therefore likelihood of success.
And why would any educational institution, especially one that tax payers and the general public pay for, be intentionally trying to exclude those most in need of additional education in the first place? Proper placement is one thing; exclusion discrimination is another.
They wouldn't finish in the top half of the Big Sky
The problem is that no prospective AD of quality would ever join this dumpster fire.
Disagree. There 60 power 5 jobs and they don’t turnover often. Maybe 2-3 major university AD jobs are open a year. Of course there would be interest.
Knowlton was simply a dreadful hire. His experience at RPI and a service academy in no way could have prepared him for the challenges of Cal.
Who was the last *good* Cal AD? Sandy (for a while)?
John Kasser, Steve Gladstone. Sandy was fine.
The challenges are real, but the last two AD’s have been borderline incompetent. Williams put us on a steep downward decline, basically to the edge…buffoon Knowlton pushed us off it.
Sandy was great. She hired a HC that has his team playing in the NC game.
Seriously? Over a mil year and virtually no standards? I’m pretty sure you have to murder someone to get fired. Who wouldn’t want that job?
Because they *will* eventually be fired - it's inevitable at Cal. It's not like Cal Athletics will ever have the quality to provide the sort of lifetime tenure that Gene Smith essentially has at Ohio State, for instance. They will have to have a next gig.
Plus, we all know the job sucks. Even if they are reasonably successful and don't get fired, they're going to want to go someplace else.
Same reason Sturdivant went to the portal...
You could say the same about the cal football head coaching job, but guys will still take that one when it’s open. Of course we’re not going to compete with the Ohio states of the world, but jobs with that level of security and donor commitment are few and far between.
Then how/why did we wind up with Knowlton? Or is that just a case of admin/headhunter incompetence?
Heavy on the admin side. The headhunters look for what the customer (admin) defines as what they are looking for. And that once again circles back to the fundamental problem at Cal.
Knowlton's job is to fix this, but he (or anyone else) has only so much rope to work with, within the resource limitations and other restrictions & obstacles, and methodologies required.
As long as Cal and the community its a part of continue to not address and continue to create obstacles to success its unreasonable to actually expect anything other than localized temporary successes at best.
That’s my bet. I actually thought initially he might be a good hire. Navigating the challenges of a service academy (academic requirements, government bureaucracy, etc.) might translate well to Cal. *Insert Charlie Murphy “wrong” gif here*
I get that the offense is in transition, but Spavital is going to run a fast-paced offense that throws the ball a lot. Seems like that would be a good system for Sturdivant and others. Bummer.
I wouldn’t be too fired up about the QB or OLine right now if I was a receiver regardless of OC play style.
It would seem that way but our offense is a big question mark. I like Spav and think that is a great hire but JMike doesn’t know him, doesn’t know who our QB is going to be, doesn’t see an improvement at OL and being offered a bunch of money. It is easy to see why he wants out. Compare that with ucla who has a known offense that can put up yards and points and is stacked at QB.
For those of you blaming Wilcox and the bad year...stop. J Mike is getting money whipped, reportedly 2x his current NIL haul. Now that he is in the portal, Miami and others have jumped in so his price is getting jacked even higher. I suspect the Cal backers are passing the hat to see if they can hold onto him but until we find a Casey Wasserman, who is single handedly bankrolling UCLA's NIL, this kind of stuff will happen. If we want a bright side? WR is the easiest position to fill with talented replacements. Maybe not J Mike good but not FCS level either.
In a vacuum, sure, blaming Wilcox for this transfer is the wrong move. But this transfer, combined with all of the other transfers, combined with all of the losing post-covid, combined with the continued failures at OC, combined with the recruiting that's fallen off a cliff, combined with the poor player development at crucial positions (namely QB and OL), all kiiiiiinda makes me want to blame Wilcox. And as I write this, Jermaine Terry has hit the portal. How's that '21 class lookin now? Yeah I'm gonna go ahead and keep blaming Wilcox given he's in charge of all of this.
Well said, FS.
Mason Starling for a full season would be solid news as well...he can help.
Congrats UCLA. say hi to Femi.
Yup.
He's going to UCLA?
He was All PAC12 First Team....wants that NIL money. We're gonna be ok.
With all due respect, we just finished a putrid 4-8 season that included a loss to Colorado. Our recruiting class is dead last in the conference, and would barely crack the top half of the group of 5. The top two qbs on our depth chart just bailed. Our head coach is 0 for 2 on offensive coordinator hires. What evidence do we have that we’re going to be anything other than a steaming pile of dogshit, let alone anything close to ok?
we're going to be ok because our stars will leave due to NIL, our average players are going to leave for the opportunity to start, and we can only recruit talent from mediocre G5 schools?
Honorable mention, not first team. And saying this is just because of NIL really dismisses the multitude of legitimate reasons a skill position player would want to leave here.
True.
But without NIL money, he’s still a Cal Bear.
I think we're somehow worse at every offensive position but RB as it stands?
As it sits today, you’re absolutely correct. Which is a terrifying thought considering our schedule is much tougher next year.
Much tougher. 4-8 is likely, unfortunately.
To be fair, our issues with offense wasn't at the talent level but at the coaching level. We still have good WRs in the group even though losing Sturdivant really hurts because of how good he is individually. When he joined, we were a program on an exciting upward trend. That doesn't exist anymore, so I don't blame him for getting that NIL.
I think it's a mix of both, though I suspect our coaching and scheme were poorly suited for our OL personnel. Better coaching might give us big improvement (say, from abysmal to bad) but still need talent to get from bad to competent. But, absolutely, we have some very good "skill position" players and even an "ok" QB can win games if he has an average amount of protection.
Now you jinxed us….
Why is it okay?
You lose good players every year to graduation and now to the Portal. Someone new always steps up. It the way of the world. I don't like losing JMike one bit, but we have a really good freshman arriving and we'll pick up some talent in the Portal. What we really need right now is a QB!
Yes we lose good players every year, but Cal is not a team that can reload each season. Especially in the current situation where our recruiting class ranks last in the conference.
Exactly. We’re not a plug and play…there’s no system currently in place, no winning culture, no identity….Wilcox is gonna be the Head Coach at Cal for almost 10 years and it’s debatable whether he’ll ever have, as Rugbear said, that toughness instilled.
Whittingham sure as hell does at Utah…let’s get that!
Whittingham was given a lot of patience to get there. Cal would have likely fired him at some point.
You think they would’ve fired a guy with Kyle’s record? Respectfully disagree, sir... Whittingham won the Fiesta bowl after Urban Meyer bolted for Florida, and then made a bowl game in each of his 1st seven seasons, winning six…he suffered back-to-back 5-7 years in ‘12-‘13 as the Utes acclimated to the P12, and then started another streak of 8 straight bowl appearances, interrupted only by COVID, tho they were in fact 3-2 that year. Incidentally, the Utes have lost 4 straight bowl games.
Wilcox has not, and will never, sniff that type of success. I think the only way Cal would’ve parted ways with him is if the academic stats had suffered, like Tedford.
We've picked up three 4*'s in the portal: Nohl Williams, Byron Cardwell and Sergio Allen. As far as I can tell we've lost one (J-Mike who has not yet transferred). I'd say we're doing ok.
Well that's fair.
Unfortunately only one of these guys will likely play on Sundays, and that's Sturdivant.
Though J Mike was hardly going to be the difference between bowling v home for Christmas next year....
Does the lack of meaningful additions to the OL concern you?
Yes and no. I'd always like to see additional quality big uglies added to our roster, but I think we have some solid athletes that can play if they are coached up. It will be the first test of our new o-line coach.
I agree with one of those two statements.
Ugh I hate this. He's got legit star potential and we need him. Sigh.
For players that leave via poaching...err the portal, teams should receive a transfer fee like they have for pro soccer in Europe. Yeah, that's the ticket!!
Then our AD would be start selling all our good players to raise money for the department....
WHAT?? Hasn't he been fired yet??
Wouldn't that be nice, lol.
annnnnddddd Jermaine Terry to the portal
Whaaat
There is no good way to spin this, only mitigating factors for the upcoming season... WR is the deepest room on the team, and Hunter is our best WR (although JMike will likely eclipse him once it's all said and done). This makes us worse, but likely doesn't mean much in the W-L column.
The worse news is the reality check that we are officially a farm team and we are going to hemorrhage our halfway decent players every single year. It will be near impossible to be competitive under those circumstances.
Exactly.
You can survive the loss of J Mike, as next year’s tough schedule will be made or broken by the O and D lines, not a WR, even one as talented as Sturdivant.
But what losing a player of his caliber represents, and that of Latu, on the heels of Mettauer bolting last year, is just a really bad sign all around. Wilcox’s program doesn’t have the culture in place to simply reload each year with portal guys…there’s no system he can rely on to plug and play guys…this isn’t Alabama, tOSU or UGA…he’s simply not a winner.
This is a really bad news.
Who knows if Hunter will be at Cal next season
I need to just turn off my Substack notifications and come back in July.
Guess I won’t lose my bet with John Rauschenberg after all!
So the portal by itself is not evil, but the portal + NIL is going to destroy football at many schools. If you support this as a Cal fan you are a masochist.
This is a HUGE loss.
The NCAA should do what the republicans would do - put the transfer portal on a small server and have it open for 3 seconds per year.
Alright. Fire Wilcox.
Can we do the holy trinity of AD, football and basketball all at once?
Burn it all down and start over.
I agree. Worst case we just increase our airspeed in the dive - it won't make the trajectory any worse.
Knowlton is signed through 2029 and Christ doesn’t care about athletics…this combination has the potential to be catastrophic.
With Hayes and now JMike leaving, Cal has lost something you can't coach: speed.
I do wonder if teams were poaching JMike??
uhhhh, all of our best players are getting tampered with. That is happening at every school as well.
Rampant tampering.
White knuckle time until Jan 18. All eyes on Ott, Hunter, and Anderson.
Just when it looked like we had a shot of coming out unscathed....