I already posted this on a different but older thread. Repeating hear so people can see it. Well, Chris Brooks is leaving, Tevis is leaving, Remigio is leaving, Clark is leaving and Tonges is leaving. Meanwhile, all of our previous 4 star commits de-committed. Next we will hear that Chase is leaving. And today Wilcox interviewed for the Oregon HC job whereas two years ago he told them a flat out no. What does that tell you? Knowlton better have a good fucking back up plan.
Ideally for Cal they’d all stay (besides Clark, who is out of eligibility and declaring for the draft). However, they are all in positions of relative strength, and there have been hints that younger guys will be ready to step up.
The RB room was arguably too deep this year, taking snaps away from Chris, and Moore was the clear #1 until his fumble bug hit.
The DL room is the best recruited and best coached of the past few years, so the new guys (and healthy Brett) are going to explode next year. No worries there.
Nikko has been an exemplary student athlete representative for Cal, which is hard to replace. But Toler has also recruited and coached up the WR room well, so there are young guys ready to see the field there.
For TEs, we are clearly going with Terry and Latu as our main guys. The seniors have done admirably, but I don’t blame them for not wanting to step back into supporting roles as the young guys (with their ideal physical frames and skill sets) take over.
Plenty of issues around the team and the coaching staff, but all the announcements so far have been bummers but not devastating.
He told them no to an interview early on in his time at CAL. He promised to give us 5 years. He kept his word. I'm not sure CAL has recently done for him what is required to build a successful program. Maybe Knowlton was going to fire him but he's given Wilcox a chance to land another job before giving him the ax. I don't know. I do know that the absence of a public vote of confidence and contract extension has neutered Wilcox's ability to recruit, and this really limits the upside of the program. When I see so many of our stars with another year of eligibility leaving I ask myself what do they know that we don't know?
I'm torn on the transfers....Makai Polk last year was a rough one (and possibly quite telling), but the recent collection of grad transfers, tho disappointing, has fit the graduate trend in CFB of late. The COVID mess of a season gave all these guys and extra go at it in Berkeley.
But hearing that Wilcox basically had a 5 year window is interesting. With that in mind, if Knowlton is not operating under some sort of plan for HC, then we've got serious troubles.
Unless he already has a replacement picked out and he's being a gentleman to Wilcox. If he doesn't then he has fucked this up royally if Wilcox leaves.
Are you reading the writing on the wall!? Maybe, unless Wilcox doesn’t get hired by Oregon or another school, in which case it’s going to be pretty rough sledding at least for a couple of years.
All the folks who dumped hard on Wilcox… I bet you a cookie the next coach won’t be as good as him. Cal is a rough place to try to coach football these days.
I hope he stays around for program/coaching continuity, but I'll take that bet in an f-ing heartbeat. Plenty of coaches can lose more than they win, including 10 games below .500 in conference when the P12 has been dogschitt....
Gotta side w/ Jimmy on this one, no picket fence play here, my friends.
Wilcox was meh, still is meh, maybe he stays, but if not, Cal's history of 'meh' hires will continue. BTW, has anyone noticed that way too many coaches (including OC/DC) have been fired this season following 1 bad game or 1 bad season, let alone 5 mediocre years. I know I'm old-school, but a decade of my life has been spent the same way for Dykes & now Wilcox: hoping for the best, expecting the worst.
Well, if they interviewed him, he would surely impress them. Wilcox is a great all around human. I now think if they want him, and he wants them, it's a done deal. Bummer. But for all of us that want to see Cal stop being a 6-7 win team every year, we have no choice but to hope Knowlton and our donors have the moxy to bring in a coach that will recruit better and coach better. I'd hate to play against Wilcox, as I truly do like him, but there you go. It's a big pants world.
Troy Taylor is a solid offensive mind. But going from a winning high school coach, OC of a FCS national champion school with a record breaking QB (Eastern Washington), to a FBS school that did very well with him in the OC spot (Utah), to a rapid turnaround specialist as the HC of Sac State, does not mean he will enjoy the same success or a rapid turnaround as a HC at a school in the P5 (CAL). However, he would have Kai Milner to work with. That would be great for both Kai and Troy.
Always a big believer in 'fit' -- if Taylor wants to be in Berkeley, fine by me. Apparently, not all coaches Cal's hired in the recent past have felt the same way. [smirk emoji intentionally omitted]
Can’t blame Wilcox. What makes this troubling for Cal is the timing and evidence that Knowlton would likely botch hiring his replacement. Hope I’m wrong though.
P5 is different than any other college football division. You can have a coach who has a great offensive or defensive mind, but if they can't compete in the recruiting wars, then its tough to build a program that can regularly win 10+ games.
Does anyone know if Knowlton/Cal donors are playing any defense here in an effort to retain Wilcox if Oregon makes him an offer? I was reading a blog post by John Canzano of the Oregonian this morning that mentioned that UCLA donors were preparing to play defense and keep Chip Kelly at UCLA if possible. Regardless of the mixed opinion about Wilcox's potential departure that is presented in these comments, it would be pretty telling on Cal's end if the Cal donors and higher ups were to just let Wilcox walk.
So here's a question for everyone. If Wilcox gets the Oregon job does Musgrave and Sirmon go with him and does Garbers to a grad transfer and head to Oregon as well. And, all those other seniors who entered the grad transfer portal, do they go to Oregon? Wilcox is a man of integrity and would never encourage it, but if he goes their and installs a system the kids already know, they might look at it as a chance of a lifetime.
Oregon really seems to be at a major crossroad. Other than the few flashes in the national spotlight, they’ve historically been like a middling MWC school. Given their location, not even a metro area like Portland, they couldn’t get the recruits to compete with the big boys, especially on the line. That’s why they latched onto what was the gimmicky Kelly system. Spread out and fast paced. Which was exciting while it was new. Outside of the 5 or 6 year run they’ve had, they were perennially bad. Looks like they might be dropping back down to their norm. Money can’t always buy everything.
I wish I had more confidence that Knowlton was working on a contingency plan if Wilcox is somehow offered the Oregon job.
I have the sneaking feeling that he would nonetheless be caught flatfooted and have to hire a search firm, despite these machinations being in the works for a week now.
I already posted this on a different but older thread. Repeating hear so people can see it. Well, Chris Brooks is leaving, Tevis is leaving, Remigio is leaving, Clark is leaving and Tonges is leaving. Meanwhile, all of our previous 4 star commits de-committed. Next we will hear that Chase is leaving. And today Wilcox interviewed for the Oregon HC job whereas two years ago he told them a flat out no. What does that tell you? Knowlton better have a good fucking back up plan.
Ideally for Cal they’d all stay (besides Clark, who is out of eligibility and declaring for the draft). However, they are all in positions of relative strength, and there have been hints that younger guys will be ready to step up.
The RB room was arguably too deep this year, taking snaps away from Chris, and Moore was the clear #1 until his fumble bug hit.
The DL room is the best recruited and best coached of the past few years, so the new guys (and healthy Brett) are going to explode next year. No worries there.
Nikko has been an exemplary student athlete representative for Cal, which is hard to replace. But Toler has also recruited and coached up the WR room well, so there are young guys ready to see the field there.
For TEs, we are clearly going with Terry and Latu as our main guys. The seniors have done admirably, but I don’t blame them for not wanting to step back into supporting roles as the young guys (with their ideal physical frames and skill sets) take over.
Plenty of issues around the team and the coaching staff, but all the announcements so far have been bummers but not devastating.
I thought Clark had one more year of eligibility?
If Knowlton doesn't have a plan, Cal fans have a great plan. We all become Huskies fan.
Thanks, Rug....totally agree....wish I had confidence that Knowlton was working the phones right now....
I was, however, unaware that Wilcox turned down the Oregon job...can't imagine he ever said no to his Uncle Phil...
He told them no to an interview early on in his time at CAL. He promised to give us 5 years. He kept his word. I'm not sure CAL has recently done for him what is required to build a successful program. Maybe Knowlton was going to fire him but he's given Wilcox a chance to land another job before giving him the ax. I don't know. I do know that the absence of a public vote of confidence and contract extension has neutered Wilcox's ability to recruit, and this really limits the upside of the program. When I see so many of our stars with another year of eligibility leaving I ask myself what do they know that we don't know?
I'm torn on the transfers....Makai Polk last year was a rough one (and possibly quite telling), but the recent collection of grad transfers, tho disappointing, has fit the graduate trend in CFB of late. The COVID mess of a season gave all these guys and extra go at it in Berkeley.
But hearing that Wilcox basically had a 5 year window is interesting. With that in mind, if Knowlton is not operating under some sort of plan for HC, then we've got serious troubles.
Unless he already has a replacement picked out and he's being a gentleman to Wilcox. If he doesn't then he has fucked this up royally if Wilcox leaves.
Are you reading the writing on the wall!? Maybe, unless Wilcox doesn’t get hired by Oregon or another school, in which case it’s going to be pretty rough sledding at least for a couple of years.
All the folks who dumped hard on Wilcox… I bet you a cookie the next coach won’t be as good as him. Cal is a rough place to try to coach football these days.
I too will take this bet.
I hope he stays around for program/coaching continuity, but I'll take that bet in an f-ing heartbeat. Plenty of coaches can lose more than they win, including 10 games below .500 in conference when the P12 has been dogschitt....
Gotta side w/ Jimmy on this one, no picket fence play here, my friends.
Wilcox was meh, still is meh, maybe he stays, but if not, Cal's history of 'meh' hires will continue. BTW, has anyone noticed that way too many coaches (including OC/DC) have been fired this season following 1 bad game or 1 bad season, let alone 5 mediocre years. I know I'm old-school, but a decade of my life has been spent the same way for Dykes & now Wilcox: hoping for the best, expecting the worst.
Yes, this!
Well, if they interviewed him, he would surely impress them. Wilcox is a great all around human. I now think if they want him, and he wants them, it's a done deal. Bummer. But for all of us that want to see Cal stop being a 6-7 win team every year, we have no choice but to hope Knowlton and our donors have the moxy to bring in a coach that will recruit better and coach better. I'd hate to play against Wilcox, as I truly do like him, but there you go. It's a big pants world.
Tough to look a parent in the eye and recruit them to Cal now, Justin.
Marshawn Lynch for HC. I bet he can recruit.
Cool. Maybe I can hitch a ride from Sac with Coach Taylor.
Troy Taylor is a solid offensive mind. But going from a winning high school coach, OC of a FCS national champion school with a record breaking QB (Eastern Washington), to a FBS school that did very well with him in the OC spot (Utah), to a rapid turnaround specialist as the HC of Sac State, does not mean he will enjoy the same success or a rapid turnaround as a HC at a school in the P5 (CAL). However, he would have Kai Milner to work with. That would be great for both Kai and Troy.
Always a big believer in 'fit' -- if Taylor wants to be in Berkeley, fine by me. Apparently, not all coaches Cal's hired in the recent past have felt the same way. [smirk emoji intentionally omitted]
Can’t blame Wilcox. What makes this troubling for Cal is the timing and evidence that Knowlton would likely botch hiring his replacement. Hope I’m wrong though.
Time to hit up Troy Taylor. ASAP. Or my personal favorite Mike MacIntyre.
MM, no thanks.
Mike MacIntyre?!?!?!? No way, yuck
I wanted him when Tedford was let go, but after seeing his stint at Colorado, not so sure.
P5 is different than any other college football division. You can have a coach who has a great offensive or defensive mind, but if they can't compete in the recruiting wars, then its tough to build a program that can regularly win 10+ games.
I’ve always wondered how different things would’ve been if we had hired MM instead of sonny dykes.
At Colorado he did take them to the Pac12 championship game.
What is MM up to these days?
Not being a backup plan for Cal I guess. https://www.denverpost.com/2021/12/09/mike-macintyre-fiu-panthers/
Agh he just took HC position at FIU
Is Saban happy at Alabama?
Sure never looks like it on the sideline;-)
Has Saban looked happy on the sidelines *anywhere*?
Asking for all college football fans.
Never
Does anyone know if Knowlton/Cal donors are playing any defense here in an effort to retain Wilcox if Oregon makes him an offer? I was reading a blog post by John Canzano of the Oregonian this morning that mentioned that UCLA donors were preparing to play defense and keep Chip Kelly at UCLA if possible. Regardless of the mixed opinion about Wilcox's potential departure that is presented in these comments, it would be pretty telling on Cal's end if the Cal donors and higher ups were to just let Wilcox walk.
Playing defense? Holy hell I hope they’re playing offense. “You know I hear Eugene is beautiful this time of year!”
The best defense is a good offense!
So here's a question for everyone. If Wilcox gets the Oregon job does Musgrave and Sirmon go with him and does Garbers to a grad transfer and head to Oregon as well. And, all those other seniors who entered the grad transfer portal, do they go to Oregon? Wilcox is a man of integrity and would never encourage it, but if he goes their and installs a system the kids already know, they might look at it as a chance of a lifetime.
Oregon really seems to be at a major crossroad. Other than the few flashes in the national spotlight, they’ve historically been like a middling MWC school. Given their location, not even a metro area like Portland, they couldn’t get the recruits to compete with the big boys, especially on the line. That’s why they latched onto what was the gimmicky Kelly system. Spread out and fast paced. Which was exciting while it was new. Outside of the 5 or 6 year run they’ve had, they were perennially bad. Looks like they might be dropping back down to their norm. Money can’t always buy everything.
ESPN reporting the push is for Kelly....
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32831822
Why do we have two articles on JW interviewing with Oregon? Avi already posted this, along with Oregon now wanting to interview Chip Kelly.
It's just THAT big a news...
A Troy Taylor hire would be consistent with head coaches returning to their alma mater. A nice symmetry.
I wish I had more confidence that Knowlton was working on a contingency plan if Wilcox is somehow offered the Oregon job.
I have the sneaking feeling that he would nonetheless be caught flatfooted and have to hire a search firm, despite these machinations being in the works for a week now.
This sucks
Seriously?