Of the 25 ranked teams, only two, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt, are anywhere near Cal’s academic ranking. It might be useful to look at ND to see how they do it. BTW, UofO ranks 106th.
Depends what academic ranking you use, but last year’s CFP included Michigan, Texas, and UW—all public schools not far behind Cal in academic prestige.
Knowlton first, then Wilcox. If the rumor that Knowlton is spending most of his time out of state is true, Lyons should demand he return to office 100% or resign.
I could see Wilcox being successful with a fresh start somewhere else (Sark is sitting pretty in Texas despite his crappy years at UW, Sonny made the NCG). But is there an example of someone running a mediocre team for a decade and then suddenly producing a world-beater?
We need to roll the dice on an up-and-comer and hope we find a diamond in the rough. And we need to be prepared to let them go promptly if they don’t get results.
There's the ficitious Wossamotta U from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show in the early 1960s. WU Board decides that in order to bring in more money, they need to have a good football team.
In order to afford a good football team, they fire a "bunch of English professors". And recruit Bullwinkle.
I truly appreciate all the thoughtful dialog here but the bottom line for me is that I will simply not renew by season tickets of 30+ years unless some very bold action is taken to give me even a glimmer of hope that Cal football will improve.
Donate to the aquatics program. All 4 of them win, or compete, for national championships every year. Why donate to any other program? You might say "well, they need it". But let's be real, a few $100 of donations is a drop in the bucket compared to the millions they're already spending every year.
...aaaaand there it is. The commentary that reflects the desires of the anti-athletics faculty and administration. Athletic success to those folks is measured in Olympic medals and nowhere else.
I wish the faculty and administration staff so inclined would simply come right out and say it: revenue sports (football and basketball) are not what we want at this university.
Football (and basketball) is tolerated only because it pays the bills. Otherwise, they'd be happy to be rid of it.
I get the frustration and feel it as much as anyone out there. But having been involved in the interworking's of this Athletic Department as a student in the 80s and having contacts that remained through the 2019 season, the department is run like the DMV, a disorganized clusterfarce.
The reality is that we won't get a name coach here. No chance in hell - unless they are overcoming a scandal and have no other options. The perception is that Cal's administration has historically not been committed to winning, just checking the boxes of fielding teams to fill out the schedule for the revenue sports. They are the John Fisher Oakland A's, living off the teat of a conference/league. Look where that got us, on the verge of relegation in 4 or 5 years when the TV Networks blow up Major College Football and create two super leagues of 40 to 60 teams. Whatever that number is, starting over is only going to set us back and we are going to be on the outside looking in. The only option we will have is some O/D Coordinator getting their first HC job. And in all likelihood, before they master the "nuances" of the Cal Athletics Department, he will use Cal as a steppingstone (Sonny Dykes anyone?).
Like it or not, with his contract’s buyout being far more sizeable than Cal can digest at this time, this is going to be a marriage of convenience for the next 2-3 years. Cal simply can’t afford to pay 8 figures to buy him out (not without be detrimental to something else; NIL, facilities, assistant coaching salaries, etc.)
The positive of this is that we know what we have with Wilcox (a great man and a good football mind who is still mastering the CEO role of being a major college football coach). He knows the self-imposed roadblocks that the uniqueness this University imposes. He has also proved his loyalty to Cal and is not “stone stepping” to a better job (turning down Oregun and Mississippi HC jobs).
While the season had the real potential to be 7-0 at this point, we have to accept where the past 80 years of Cal Athletics has put us. Turning this ship around is a First In, First Out situation. MAYBE with the new Chancellor, the first one in decades that cares about sports (and maybe the only one that might be able to do anything to improve the situation) can do something to fix this. I don’t even know if getting a new AD will immediately fix things. But if the masses are clamoring for some type of change, it needs to be Knowlton and not Wilcox.
Whether it’s palatable or not, Wilcox isn’t going anywhere before the 2025 season, unless it’s his choice (personally, considering all factors, I like it)
I don't think it needs to be about Cal getting a "name" coach, more about just not locking ourselves in to bad or mediocre ones for too long. That's been the issue. Holmoe shouldn't have lasted 5 years. Wilcox shouldn't be here for 8.
Sure the administration hasn’t been the most supportive but they didn’t tell or make Wilcox go for two in the first TD drive last week against Pitt.
The administration isn’t stopping Wilcox from finding a competent FG kicker or hire a decent special teams coach or OL coach. These are all issues that Wilcox has failed at on his own and you can’t pin the blame for these failures on the administration or athletic department.
I don't believe this can't be changed. A full scale revolt of alums, students and backers is what is needed and should be done. That youre still making excuses for wilcox re the admin is a bridge too far. We've all watches the games. We lose because of his coaching decisions not.bc the athletic depth is run like the DMV. This blame admin mindset is a virus that too many continue to use as a buffer...we have always had the talent the last 5 years...he loses games over and over again
Well, there’s always a chance this season is his real deal “come to jeebus” failure with the previous versions being lighter weight in comparison. And he could take more to heed in his options to correct his starkly patent short comings given what’s left on the contract.
Trying to find a way to 3 wins to reach bowl eligibility, but I am just not seeing it with this current O-line.
We should have beat that team yesterday by 3 tuddy’s…NC State is baaaaddd…their true FR backup QB straight beat us.
Oregon State will be a dog fight, and a vintage Wilcox coin toss. Maybe a W?
At Wake on a Friday night? I mean, again, maybe….but doubtful the way our O and ST’s simply can not execute.
Syracuse is 5-1 and can score…big game for them this weekend at Acrisure.
Furd? Hell, anything can happen.
SMU blows us out.
I mean, the way we are playing the last month, there are simply not 3 wins there with this completely overmatched coaching staff. Maybe they rally and figure things out on the OL, or the D single-handedly WINS a game for them…but there’s been very little in 7.5 years to give you confidence that Wilcox can get this team ready to play a consistent 60-minutes of football.
Nothing changes until the AD is gone and which donors want to pony up for the buyout that Knowlton set up by extending JW? I wouldnt want to chip in for current AD to bungle a new hire…
Tom Holmoe was known as an outstanding mentor and actually a pretty good recruiter. After leaving Cal he went on to a fine career at BYU as their athletic director. But it took bringing in Jeff Tedford to realize what the talent that Holmoe recruited might accomplish. Wilcox isn't as disastrous as Holmoe, but when you've stuck with a coach eight years and this is what you get, this is what you're going to get. If fairness we might take out the COVID seasons. Cal actually seems OK at the "skill" offensive positions, and has a generally good defense. What I don't understand is how a school who is actually one of the better colleges for placing kickers in the NFL (the Wersching brothers, Jim Breech, Ryan Longwell) has had such a hard recruiting a reliable kicker. The same for big tough linemen. That right tackle was getting lit up on Saturday. But it is what it is, and it isn't anything Cal hasn't been dishing up as long as I can remember, going back to the Marv Levy teams. With exceptions every ten or fifteen years they can be characterized as not especially disciplined resulting in beating themselves about as often as the other team does. Oh, well, Go Bears! In spite of it all.
I 100% agree with the sentiments expressed in this article. I really like Wilcox as a person, and always will. As such, I have likely held out hope for way too long that he could turn the program around. I have now, reluctantly, but firmly, come to the decision that he cannot. He is not a winning coach. His record in one score games is 5-21, I believe. He does not know what it takes to produce a winning team in these close games. We need to let him go and find a winner of a head coach who knows how to win these close games, of which there will be several in any given year, no matter how good or bad our team is. The OC/OL coach needs to go, too, with the new head coach bringing in a winner of an OC and a full time OL Coach. Justin is not a head coach. He needs to return to what he truly loves and is good at, being a DC for either a different major college program or in the NFL.
To the guy who claims “we don’t support football” can’t find your comment so here ya go…
I’m curious where you get this notion that Cal doesn’t support football…
It seems to be a common talking point of Wilcox apologists…
Do we pay coaches the highest tier in d1?
No, but we pay 9 and change mil a year for the staff collectively and that puts us in the top half of the 17 acc schools. Wilcox makes more himself than 8 other acc football coaches.
In terms of football NIL we are ranked 4th in the ACC despite having the only collective of those 4 that doesn’t operate illegally as a 501c.
We have the Simpson center.
We have the number one sports psychology program in the world,
We still draw 30-35k out of 58k despite having a perrenial loser for the last 15 years.
I’m not sure where anyone gets by saying we don’t support football,
We are in the upper half of literally every support metric I can think of despite being bottom 8th in wins and losses.
Fun fact the only other two d1 coaches in at least year 8 with a lower winning percentage are Creighton and Nue at EMU and Ball state. They both make 500k a year and unlike Wilcox they both have won a conference title and had a 10 win season in those 8 years.
Wilcox makes 4.6mm a year and is absolute dog doo at playcalling, recruiting, and defending his players.
NIL, the Calgorithm, GameDay . . . this is not the year to say people don’t support Cal football. They’re out there, just being let down by a poorly run program.
Count me out for now. Love Cal football. I and many other fans will be back once the Admin shows it wants to field a winner - not in words but in actions. The answer is staring them in the face. Lyons needs to negotiate a buyout and move on from Knowlton and Wilcox now so they can get a new AD in place to make the new coaching hire before the end of the season. I'm tired of the mediocrity and acceptance of the same. There is no reason for Cal to be consistently mediocre in baseball, basketball, and football for decades (with a couple of fleeting exceptions) except for the "Want to". They need to be bold and think like a winner. If you want sold out stadiums and to compete for conference titles you have to go out and GET IT. If you don't really care about that then OK but don't wonder why people are not on board.
Baseball was 36-19 overall and 17-13 in the tough Pac12 this year. That’s hardly “mediocre”. But it’s true that a mediocre/bad football team reflects poorly on all sports
Last year. And no CWS, again. When was the last time Cal baseball won their conference? Even came close? What did Esquer do right after he left for Stanford?
And btw, Cal baseball has had 4 1St round MLB draft picks in just the past 4 years, and at least 20 MLB draft picks in those same 4 years. And Esquire inherited a team recruited by the previous 30 year coach at Stanford and Stanford came in next to last this year in PAC. So stick to ur angry comments about football: they are very insightful.
Of the 25 ranked teams, only two, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt, are anywhere near Cal’s academic ranking. It might be useful to look at ND to see how they do it. BTW, UofO ranks 106th.
How many of the top ten academic institutions are in the top echelon of football?
Depends what academic ranking you use, but last year’s CFP included Michigan, Texas, and UW—all public schools not far behind Cal in academic prestige.
Knowlton first, then Wilcox. If the rumor that Knowlton is spending most of his time out of state is true, Lyons should demand he return to office 100% or resign.
I could see Wilcox being successful with a fresh start somewhere else (Sark is sitting pretty in Texas despite his crappy years at UW, Sonny made the NCG). But is there an example of someone running a mediocre team for a decade and then suddenly producing a world-beater?
We need to roll the dice on an up-and-comer and hope we find a diamond in the rough. And we need to be prepared to let them go promptly if they don’t get results.
How many of the universities in the top ten academically have a football profile nationally?
There's the ficitious Wossamotta U from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show in the early 1960s. WU Board decides that in order to bring in more money, they need to have a good football team.
In order to afford a good football team, they fire a "bunch of English professors". And recruit Bullwinkle.
the football culture has to change n starts from the AD who shows zero enthusiasm and leadership for football at all. enough is enough
Demote Wilcox to defensive coordinator to avoid having to buy him out. Hire a new head coach that has a good offensive mind and proven success.
I truly appreciate all the thoughtful dialog here but the bottom line for me is that I will simply not renew by season tickets of 30+ years unless some very bold action is taken to give me even a glimmer of hope that Cal football will improve.
Completely understandable, Dana.
My donations are going straight to Mark Madsen and his crocs…
Donate to the aquatics program. All 4 of them win, or compete, for national championships every year. Why donate to any other program? You might say "well, they need it". But let's be real, a few $100 of donations is a drop in the bucket compared to the millions they're already spending every year.
...aaaaand there it is. The commentary that reflects the desires of the anti-athletics faculty and administration. Athletic success to those folks is measured in Olympic medals and nowhere else.
I wish the faculty and administration staff so inclined would simply come right out and say it: revenue sports (football and basketball) are not what we want at this university.
Football (and basketball) is tolerated only because it pays the bills. Otherwise, they'd be happy to be rid of it.
Food for thought:
I get the frustration and feel it as much as anyone out there. But having been involved in the interworking's of this Athletic Department as a student in the 80s and having contacts that remained through the 2019 season, the department is run like the DMV, a disorganized clusterfarce.
The reality is that we won't get a name coach here. No chance in hell - unless they are overcoming a scandal and have no other options. The perception is that Cal's administration has historically not been committed to winning, just checking the boxes of fielding teams to fill out the schedule for the revenue sports. They are the John Fisher Oakland A's, living off the teat of a conference/league. Look where that got us, on the verge of relegation in 4 or 5 years when the TV Networks blow up Major College Football and create two super leagues of 40 to 60 teams. Whatever that number is, starting over is only going to set us back and we are going to be on the outside looking in. The only option we will have is some O/D Coordinator getting their first HC job. And in all likelihood, before they master the "nuances" of the Cal Athletics Department, he will use Cal as a steppingstone (Sonny Dykes anyone?).
Like it or not, with his contract’s buyout being far more sizeable than Cal can digest at this time, this is going to be a marriage of convenience for the next 2-3 years. Cal simply can’t afford to pay 8 figures to buy him out (not without be detrimental to something else; NIL, facilities, assistant coaching salaries, etc.)
The positive of this is that we know what we have with Wilcox (a great man and a good football mind who is still mastering the CEO role of being a major college football coach). He knows the self-imposed roadblocks that the uniqueness this University imposes. He has also proved his loyalty to Cal and is not “stone stepping” to a better job (turning down Oregun and Mississippi HC jobs).
While the season had the real potential to be 7-0 at this point, we have to accept where the past 80 years of Cal Athletics has put us. Turning this ship around is a First In, First Out situation. MAYBE with the new Chancellor, the first one in decades that cares about sports (and maybe the only one that might be able to do anything to improve the situation) can do something to fix this. I don’t even know if getting a new AD will immediately fix things. But if the masses are clamoring for some type of change, it needs to be Knowlton and not Wilcox.
Whether it’s palatable or not, Wilcox isn’t going anywhere before the 2025 season, unless it’s his choice (personally, considering all factors, I like it)
I don't think it needs to be about Cal getting a "name" coach, more about just not locking ourselves in to bad or mediocre ones for too long. That's been the issue. Holmoe shouldn't have lasted 5 years. Wilcox shouldn't be here for 8.
Sure the administration hasn’t been the most supportive but they didn’t tell or make Wilcox go for two in the first TD drive last week against Pitt.
The administration isn’t stopping Wilcox from finding a competent FG kicker or hire a decent special teams coach or OL coach. These are all issues that Wilcox has failed at on his own and you can’t pin the blame for these failures on the administration or athletic department.
“…a great man and a good football mind who is still mastering the CEO role…”
Lol. That’s awesome. Kinda like I’m still mastering the role of NBA center. And I’m 5’ 6”.
That's kind of like the old joke about the drunk and the old battle axe. Eventually Wilcox will be a great Head Coach...
I don't believe this can't be changed. A full scale revolt of alums, students and backers is what is needed and should be done. That youre still making excuses for wilcox re the admin is a bridge too far. We've all watches the games. We lose because of his coaching decisions not.bc the athletic depth is run like the DMV. This blame admin mindset is a virus that too many continue to use as a buffer...we have always had the talent the last 5 years...he loses games over and over again
Two things can be true:
1. The administration sucks and needs to be overhauled to take revenue sports more seriously.
2. Wilcox doesn’t have it either.
With the new Chancellor things will change. He's an avid sports fan whereas the previous knew nothing about intercollegiate sports.
Here's hoping!
I agree.
The notion of another year of Wilcox is depressing. Two or three years is unthinkable. Getting rid of Knowlton should be the top priority.
Well, there’s always a chance this season is his real deal “come to jeebus” failure with the previous versions being lighter weight in comparison. And he could take more to heed in his options to correct his starkly patent short comings given what’s left on the contract.
Trying to find a way to 3 wins to reach bowl eligibility, but I am just not seeing it with this current O-line.
We should have beat that team yesterday by 3 tuddy’s…NC State is baaaaddd…their true FR backup QB straight beat us.
Oregon State will be a dog fight, and a vintage Wilcox coin toss. Maybe a W?
At Wake on a Friday night? I mean, again, maybe….but doubtful the way our O and ST’s simply can not execute.
Syracuse is 5-1 and can score…big game for them this weekend at Acrisure.
Furd? Hell, anything can happen.
SMU blows us out.
I mean, the way we are playing the last month, there are simply not 3 wins there with this completely overmatched coaching staff. Maybe they rally and figure things out on the OL, or the D single-handedly WINS a game for them…but there’s been very little in 7.5 years to give you confidence that Wilcox can get this team ready to play a consistent 60-minutes of football.
Sigh…
Nothing changes until the AD is gone and which donors want to pony up for the buyout that Knowlton set up by extending JW? I wouldnt want to chip in for current AD to bungle a new hire…
Nice work, TD. Great analysis.
Thank you.
Cal opens as a 9 1/2 point favorite against Oregon State. Oddsmakers impressed with the Wilcox juggernaut.
Down 28-29, Detroit kicks 44 yard FG for the win at 0:19.
I'm glad Goff is rewarded. I want game winning FGs. Matt Anderson was good at them.
Watching Detroit lead 28-10, and then fall behind 29-28 late in the 4th, reminded me of Cal games. Except that Detroit managed to win.
Oh haha I missed that part. I tuned into the game right at the FG.
Tom Holmoe was known as an outstanding mentor and actually a pretty good recruiter. After leaving Cal he went on to a fine career at BYU as their athletic director. But it took bringing in Jeff Tedford to realize what the talent that Holmoe recruited might accomplish. Wilcox isn't as disastrous as Holmoe, but when you've stuck with a coach eight years and this is what you get, this is what you're going to get. If fairness we might take out the COVID seasons. Cal actually seems OK at the "skill" offensive positions, and has a generally good defense. What I don't understand is how a school who is actually one of the better colleges for placing kickers in the NFL (the Wersching brothers, Jim Breech, Ryan Longwell) has had such a hard recruiting a reliable kicker. The same for big tough linemen. That right tackle was getting lit up on Saturday. But it is what it is, and it isn't anything Cal hasn't been dishing up as long as I can remember, going back to the Marv Levy teams. With exceptions every ten or fifteen years they can be characterized as not especially disciplined resulting in beating themselves about as often as the other team does. Oh, well, Go Bears! In spite of it all.
There’s an idea—Wilcox should be moved into the AD position, opening up the head coach position.
I 100% agree with the sentiments expressed in this article. I really like Wilcox as a person, and always will. As such, I have likely held out hope for way too long that he could turn the program around. I have now, reluctantly, but firmly, come to the decision that he cannot. He is not a winning coach. His record in one score games is 5-21, I believe. He does not know what it takes to produce a winning team in these close games. We need to let him go and find a winner of a head coach who knows how to win these close games, of which there will be several in any given year, no matter how good or bad our team is. The OC/OL coach needs to go, too, with the new head coach bringing in a winner of an OC and a full time OL Coach. Justin is not a head coach. He needs to return to what he truly loves and is good at, being a DC for either a different major college program or in the NFL.
To the guy who claims “we don’t support football” can’t find your comment so here ya go…
I’m curious where you get this notion that Cal doesn’t support football…
It seems to be a common talking point of Wilcox apologists…
Do we pay coaches the highest tier in d1?
No, but we pay 9 and change mil a year for the staff collectively and that puts us in the top half of the 17 acc schools. Wilcox makes more himself than 8 other acc football coaches.
In terms of football NIL we are ranked 4th in the ACC despite having the only collective of those 4 that doesn’t operate illegally as a 501c.
We have the Simpson center.
We have the number one sports psychology program in the world,
We still draw 30-35k out of 58k despite having a perrenial loser for the last 15 years.
I’m not sure where anyone gets by saying we don’t support football,
We are in the upper half of literally every support metric I can think of despite being bottom 8th in wins and losses.
Fun fact the only other two d1 coaches in at least year 8 with a lower winning percentage are Creighton and Nue at EMU and Ball state. They both make 500k a year and unlike Wilcox they both have won a conference title and had a 10 win season in those 8 years.
Wilcox makes 4.6mm a year and is absolute dog doo at playcalling, recruiting, and defending his players.
He needs to go now!
NIL, the Calgorithm, GameDay . . . this is not the year to say people don’t support Cal football. They’re out there, just being let down by a poorly run program.
Count me out for now. Love Cal football. I and many other fans will be back once the Admin shows it wants to field a winner - not in words but in actions. The answer is staring them in the face. Lyons needs to negotiate a buyout and move on from Knowlton and Wilcox now so they can get a new AD in place to make the new coaching hire before the end of the season. I'm tired of the mediocrity and acceptance of the same. There is no reason for Cal to be consistently mediocre in baseball, basketball, and football for decades (with a couple of fleeting exceptions) except for the "Want to". They need to be bold and think like a winner. If you want sold out stadiums and to compete for conference titles you have to go out and GET IT. If you don't really care about that then OK but don't wonder why people are not on board.
Baseball was 36-19 overall and 17-13 in the tough Pac12 this year. That’s hardly “mediocre”. But it’s true that a mediocre/bad football team reflects poorly on all sports
Last year. And no CWS, again. When was the last time Cal baseball won their conference? Even came close? What did Esquer do right after he left for Stanford?
You must be a mediocre athlete to know so much
And btw, Cal baseball has had 4 1St round MLB draft picks in just the past 4 years, and at least 20 MLB draft picks in those same 4 years. And Esquire inherited a team recruited by the previous 30 year coach at Stanford and Stanford came in next to last this year in PAC. So stick to ur angry comments about football: they are very insightful.