It is time for bold action and a statement from Lyons and RR about the future of Cal football by firing Wilcox. I had been a defender of Wilcox but can no longer do so. Timing is exceedingly important and will show the Cal community that the university is determined to excel in football.
Napa Bear: You are right but nothing will happen until the end of the season. Don't forget that when you fire a coach, there is an automatic 30 day window when any player can transfer out. I imagine that Riverboat Ron is doing everything he can to keep JKS from bolting. He is the building block of the future and we really can't afford to lose him. Football gods, pray for us.
While it’s true that the portal opens as soon as a coach leaves, under NCAA rules players leaving mid season cannot play for their new team until the next season.
So Ron could fire Wilcox at any time and JKS would be held in place until a new coach was hired. And it’s still the case that a mid-season firing followed by the hiring of a new coach would mean that a player transferring to a new team under those circumstances still could not play for the new team until the following season.
As bad as that game was, we could have won it with better clock management at the end of the 4th quarter, needed to spike the ball and save nearly 25-30 seconds, squeezed a couple more plays, and possibly could have made it a 30 something field goal instead of a near 50 yard one.
I mean, yeah, but piss poor clock management has been a foundational element of the Justin Wilcox experience. This game was like a greatest hits album.
Everyday Ron doesn’t fire Wilcox decreases my faith in Rivera. He has all the data he needs on Wilcox for the past 9 years to make a decision. Last thing we need is someone who has the power to fire to waffle and do nothing. It won’t be easy but it has to be done now.
Have faith in Ron, Wilcox will be moved he just doesn't want to do it in season. Ron only got here 5 months ago, be patient he'll bring in his guy soon and with JKS they'll do great things
The one thing Rivera probably does not have is a better replacement lined up. With the other openings in FBS, most of which are better situations, and the number of additional ones likely coming, its not going to be easy to lure an improvement to Berkeley.
The train has already veered off the tracks and it's not getting back on. Turning into a dismal season. That was one of Cal's worst performances in game planning execution on both sides of the ball and putting the game away (scoring 20 straight points and then giving up 17 in a row?). I'm afraid Cal is going to have to rebuild everything.
There is no “rebuilding” in the transfer portal world. Players don’t stick around long enough for you to do that.
I’m as staunch a Wilcox critic as there is, and feel he should have been terminated after the loss at Folsom Field in ‘22. And I have little time for the parade of excuses given to justify all the reasons why he can’t win.
However, it is absolutely fair to say that he was, in fact, building some momentum until the BS COVID season. It’s not an excuse, per se, because all he’s done since is show he is simply not a D1 HC…but who knows what happens if 2020 is a normal season, with Garbers back off an 8-5 year plus a bowl win in a pre-NIL/portal world.
Exactly. In its current state, every season is a new build of sorts. Gone are the days where you can really RS a guy and then watch him develop over time.
Which makes system and culture vitally important, especially at a school like Cal, where you are not getting 5-star kids who can win individual one-on-one battles consistently.
It is in this area where Cal is so obviously lacking under Justin Wilcox - the program is not healthy, and has not been for half a decade. Poor preparation, poor adjustments, poor execution. Week in, week out.
You are absolutely right! The VT game was pathetic. For Cal to have a winning program will require a complete rebuild from the ground up, starting with the obvious, hiring a new coach and new assistants. This season is over. Cal is about to get crushed by ranked Virginia and Louisville going into Big Game at 5-5 with the very real possibility of losing to Stanford and almost assuredly to SMU.
I’m betting Cal comes out of Big Game 5-6. What more incentive does Stanford need than to win back the axe after losing it for 4 years in a row AND at the same time deny Cal a bowl bid?
Watch the highlights from the Miami game and I think you’ll see that while they lost badly, their pass rush wasn’t bad and their offense certainly good enough to make Big Game a toss up.
You are absolutely correct. Wilcox is so adamant (stubborn) about “run fits” that he fails to adjust his defense to account the opponent’s offense. Conversely, with so many dropped passes there is no excuse for not to bringing in second or third team receivers in an attempt to correct the pass catching deficiency.
You are assuming the 2nd & 3rd team receivers are better. What if performance in practice demonstrates that the starters are the best bets on the Cal roster? As would be the normal assumption.
It reminded me of the game when Colin Kaepernick and Nevada ran all over Tedford's team. But I don't think you'll be seeing Drones in the NFL anytime soon.
That game was a lot like this one. I don't think the plan was actually to defend against read options by ignoring the qb and dogpiling on the rb, but it's on the coaches for not correcting that almost immediately. As it was, we did nothing and kept falling for the same thing over and over again.
Giving up 357 yards on standard rushing and QB option plays was embarrassing - Cal didn't adjust and tackled like a high school team. The OL got dominated again and the receivers could not create space or catch the ball. And now we look forward to 3 good teams and furd to finish the season. Cal will be 6-6 at best in 2025, just like every JW team. Rich Lyons and RR need to take bold action or we lose JKS at the end of the season. Let's not have "Cal is Cal and will always be Cal" going forward. Go Bears.
Wilcox is a really nice guy but he hires terrible assistants. Our O and D coordinators are just plain awful. I won't go into specifics because they are too many instances of really stupid play calling on both sides of the ball. I can say this from my 41 years of coaching. 36 of which were as a successful head coach.
I worry that it just might not be possible to attract the type of top notch coaches that are needed. The best bet might be to hire a young, well regarded HC and hope he can bring in qualified assistants (and players). BUT, I think that's a big "if". It could be a long term project to attract the type of coaches and players to Berkeley that are needed to be competitive at the Power 5 level.
In terms of the offense when running backs can’t make basic reads, linemen can’t make basic blocks and receivers can’t make basic catches is it really a offensive coordinator issue? Don’t get me wrong I didn’t love the playcalling, especially in the 1st quarter but I think this team has way deeper problems then play design and playcalling.
Yes. the deeper issue is lack of athletic talent in the players left after the mass exodus after last season. What is left is 2 and 3 star athletes who transferred because they weren't playing at their previous schools because they were 3rd or 4th stringers and raw freshmen.
Given the fact that during the Wilcox regime, Cal has a winning percentage of 33 % in Conference victories, the team is in free fall, with a cupcake schedule.
I have been a Cal gridiron fan for over 50 years , and with the perspective that the University of California management ( such as they are) have not expressed a consistent sense (and cents) of urgency , specific to the revenue producing sports of Men’s College Basketball, and Football. Clearly, in a Utopian world of Title IX, where all sports should be given equal consideration and weighting, the reality is revenue producing sports move the economic needle , the other sports, not so much. There used to be a long standing joke on the campus, that if you asked the Chancellor of Cal Berkeley, to name the Men’s College Basketball and Football coaches, that within the realm of possibility, the Chancellor might not be answer the inquiry with any moral certainty.
The reality in Cal football, is that Cal recruits principally 3 star athletes in an athletic environment, where the competition of teams of consequence have a veritable plethora of 4-5 star athletes. Simply expressed, the definition of being competitive might include at least winning half of your respective conference games. Cal Football wins 33% of their games in conference play under Coach Wilcox, in the nine years that he has been Cal’s Football Coach. It is time for the Athletic Department and Chancellor to exhibit a compelling sense of urgency, to change this mediocre trajectory of Cal Football . If the University of Indiana Football can turn their historically deplorable 50 year record of losing, certainly Cal can at least make incremental improvements toward football competitiveness .
Bowlesman: Yes, Metallica to open the game was pretty awesome. To add insult to injury, Metallica used to LIVE IN BERKELEY (I think that they all still live in the Bay Area)!!!!! I used to see Lars Ulrich (the drummer) buying cigarettes at the newstand down on. Durant across the street from Yogurt Park. Using our local rock band to fire up THEIR CROWD! is just another kick in the balls (among many) for Cal Football. We need something to fire up the crowd like that as well.
Virginia Tech is not a good team. We are not a good team. We were gifted an easy schedule this year that we should be romping through, not struggling through.
We got lucky against a bad UNC team. We did not get lucky enough against a bad VT team to win.
Good summation of a very poor performance. One of many over the years. Cal could not run the ball, could not catch the ball, could not play without penalties that kill drives, could not transfer the ball from center to QB, could not tackle, was out of position way too often in the DL gaps, could not defend the pass, and could not make a field goal when it was clutch time. Hard to watch it, must have been sickening to live it. Much of this is not on the players. Time to move on. Get through the season and get a new head coach. Go Bears.
I was absolutely furious postgame but now that I’ve had a couple days I’m almost glad we lost. If we were 6-2 I would have allowed my heart to get involved, and done things I really shouldn’t be doing right now like book a flight to Louisville. Now I can treat the rest of the season with equanimity knowing this is not a good football team and that there is a very good chance we lose the rest of our games and make any kind of tough questions about the state of the program, moot.
I’ll say this about the Wilcox era. Being hit by reality the minute you think about going all in emotionally is a really good life lesson that Wilcox has taught all of us fans.
The season is done. Its time for a change. Remove Wilcox now. Try Harsin now move Rolovich to OC. Try to keep qb, ol and dl. Next season portal 4/5 * wr's and rb.
It is time for bold action and a statement from Lyons and RR about the future of Cal football by firing Wilcox. I had been a defender of Wilcox but can no longer do so. Timing is exceedingly important and will show the Cal community that the university is determined to excel in football.
Napa Bear: You are right but nothing will happen until the end of the season. Don't forget that when you fire a coach, there is an automatic 30 day window when any player can transfer out. I imagine that Riverboat Ron is doing everything he can to keep JKS from bolting. He is the building block of the future and we really can't afford to lose him. Football gods, pray for us.
While it’s true that the portal opens as soon as a coach leaves, under NCAA rules players leaving mid season cannot play for their new team until the next season.
This is no longer true. The transfer portal now opens 5 days after a new permanent coach is hired, not when the old one is fired.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ncaa-officially-adopts-new-transfer-portal-rules-including-major-adjustment-for-players-after-coaching-change/
So Ron could fire Wilcox at any time and JKS would be held in place until a new coach was hired. And it’s still the case that a mid-season firing followed by the hiring of a new coach would mean that a player transferring to a new team under those circumstances still could not play for the new team until the following season.
As bad as that game was, we could have won it with better clock management at the end of the 4th quarter, needed to spike the ball and save nearly 25-30 seconds, squeezed a couple more plays, and possibly could have made it a 30 something field goal instead of a near 50 yard one.
I mean, yeah, but piss poor clock management has been a foundational element of the Justin Wilcox experience. This game was like a greatest hits album.
Everyday Ron doesn’t fire Wilcox decreases my faith in Rivera. He has all the data he needs on Wilcox for the past 9 years to make a decision. Last thing we need is someone who has the power to fire to waffle and do nothing. It won’t be easy but it has to be done now.
Have faith in Ron, Wilcox will be moved he just doesn't want to do it in season. Ron only got here 5 months ago, be patient he'll bring in his guy soon and with JKS they'll do great things
The one thing Rivera probably does not have is a better replacement lined up. With the other openings in FBS, most of which are better situations, and the number of additional ones likely coming, its not going to be easy to lure an improvement to Berkeley.
The train has already veered off the tracks and it's not getting back on. Turning into a dismal season. That was one of Cal's worst performances in game planning execution on both sides of the ball and putting the game away (scoring 20 straight points and then giving up 17 in a row?). I'm afraid Cal is going to have to rebuild everything.
When is Cal NOT rebuilding?
One could argue that Cal has been stuck in neutral for the last 9 years — nothing happening, same old, same old!
There is no “rebuilding” in the transfer portal world. Players don’t stick around long enough for you to do that.
I’m as staunch a Wilcox critic as there is, and feel he should have been terminated after the loss at Folsom Field in ‘22. And I have little time for the parade of excuses given to justify all the reasons why he can’t win.
However, it is absolutely fair to say that he was, in fact, building some momentum until the BS COVID season. It’s not an excuse, per se, because all he’s done since is show he is simply not a D1 HC…but who knows what happens if 2020 is a normal season, with Garbers back off an 8-5 year plus a bowl win in a pre-NIL/portal world.
Just saying.
Yes. 'Rebuilding' in the era of NIL is a built-in, permanent feature of college coaching. A new word is needed to describe this state of affairs.
Exactly. In its current state, every season is a new build of sorts. Gone are the days where you can really RS a guy and then watch him develop over time.
Which makes system and culture vitally important, especially at a school like Cal, where you are not getting 5-star kids who can win individual one-on-one battles consistently.
It is in this area where Cal is so obviously lacking under Justin Wilcox - the program is not healthy, and has not been for half a decade. Poor preparation, poor adjustments, poor execution. Week in, week out.
Good point. We've been doing that ever since the Tedford glory years.
You are absolutely right! The VT game was pathetic. For Cal to have a winning program will require a complete rebuild from the ground up, starting with the obvious, hiring a new coach and new assistants. This season is over. Cal is about to get crushed by ranked Virginia and Louisville going into Big Game at 5-5 with the very real possibility of losing to Stanford and almost assuredly to SMU.
Cal 'should' beat Stanford. They are playing miserable football on The Farm. How they beat Florida State is inexplicable.
Yes we should beat them. But if there’s one thing we know about Wilcox, it’s that he can lose to anyone.
I’m betting Cal comes out of Big Game 5-6. What more incentive does Stanford need than to win back the axe after losing it for 4 years in a row AND at the same time deny Cal a bowl bid?
Watch the highlights from the Miami game and I think you’ll see that while they lost badly, their pass rush wasn’t bad and their offense certainly good enough to make Big Game a toss up.
True that. Every year, regardless of each team's W/L record, isn't the Big Game almost always a toss up?
And why is that, one might ask?
See Comment by OldSoCal below....definitely applies today. Ancient rivalries are hard to predict. Anything can happen.
The lack of adjustment to the QB running was, to say it nicely, puzzling.
You are absolutely correct. Wilcox is so adamant (stubborn) about “run fits” that he fails to adjust his defense to account the opponent’s offense. Conversely, with so many dropped passes there is no excuse for not to bringing in second or third team receivers in an attempt to correct the pass catching deficiency.
You are assuming the 2nd & 3rd team receivers are better. What if performance in practice demonstrates that the starters are the best bets on the Cal roster? As would be the normal assumption.
It reminded me of the game when Colin Kaepernick and Nevada ran all over Tedford's team. But I don't think you'll be seeing Drones in the NFL anytime soon.
That game was a lot like this one. I don't think the plan was actually to defend against read options by ignoring the qb and dogpiling on the rb, but it's on the coaches for not correcting that almost immediately. As it was, we did nothing and kept falling for the same thing over and over again.
I was at that game. This was much worse.
Giving up 357 yards on standard rushing and QB option plays was embarrassing - Cal didn't adjust and tackled like a high school team. The OL got dominated again and the receivers could not create space or catch the ball. And now we look forward to 3 good teams and furd to finish the season. Cal will be 6-6 at best in 2025, just like every JW team. Rich Lyons and RR need to take bold action or we lose JKS at the end of the season. Let's not have "Cal is Cal and will always be Cal" going forward. Go Bears.
Wilcox is a really nice guy but he hires terrible assistants. Our O and D coordinators are just plain awful. I won't go into specifics because they are too many instances of really stupid play calling on both sides of the ball. I can say this from my 41 years of coaching. 36 of which were as a successful head coach.
I worry that it just might not be possible to attract the type of top notch coaches that are needed. The best bet might be to hire a young, well regarded HC and hope he can bring in qualified assistants (and players). BUT, I think that's a big "if". It could be a long term project to attract the type of coaches and players to Berkeley that are needed to be competitive at the Power 5 level.
In terms of the offense when running backs can’t make basic reads, linemen can’t make basic blocks and receivers can’t make basic catches is it really a offensive coordinator issue? Don’t get me wrong I didn’t love the playcalling, especially in the 1st quarter but I think this team has way deeper problems then play design and playcalling.
Yes. the deeper issue is lack of athletic talent in the players left after the mass exodus after last season. What is left is 2 and 3 star athletes who transferred because they weren't playing at their previous schools because they were 3rd or 4th stringers and raw freshmen.
Given the fact that during the Wilcox regime, Cal has a winning percentage of 33 % in Conference victories, the team is in free fall, with a cupcake schedule.
I have been a Cal gridiron fan for over 50 years , and with the perspective that the University of California management ( such as they are) have not expressed a consistent sense (and cents) of urgency , specific to the revenue producing sports of Men’s College Basketball, and Football. Clearly, in a Utopian world of Title IX, where all sports should be given equal consideration and weighting, the reality is revenue producing sports move the economic needle , the other sports, not so much. There used to be a long standing joke on the campus, that if you asked the Chancellor of Cal Berkeley, to name the Men’s College Basketball and Football coaches, that within the realm of possibility, the Chancellor might not be answer the inquiry with any moral certainty.
The reality in Cal football, is that Cal recruits principally 3 star athletes in an athletic environment, where the competition of teams of consequence have a veritable plethora of 4-5 star athletes. Simply expressed, the definition of being competitive might include at least winning half of your respective conference games. Cal Football wins 33% of their games in conference play under Coach Wilcox, in the nine years that he has been Cal’s Football Coach. It is time for the Athletic Department and Chancellor to exhibit a compelling sense of urgency, to change this mediocre trajectory of Cal Football . If the University of Indiana Football can turn their historically deplorable 50 year record of losing, certainly Cal can at least make incremental improvements toward football competitiveness .
Not sure what to think, but we could sure learn a Hell of a lot from VT and some other diehard fanbases.
Bowlesman: Yes, Metallica to open the game was pretty awesome. To add insult to injury, Metallica used to LIVE IN BERKELEY (I think that they all still live in the Bay Area)!!!!! I used to see Lars Ulrich (the drummer) buying cigarettes at the newstand down on. Durant across the street from Yogurt Park. Using our local rock band to fire up THEIR CROWD! is just another kick in the balls (among many) for Cal Football. We need something to fire up the crowd like that as well.
Virginia Tech is not a good team. We are not a good team. We were gifted an easy schedule this year that we should be romping through, not struggling through.
We got lucky against a bad UNC team. We did not get lucky enough against a bad VT team to win.
Good summation of a very poor performance. One of many over the years. Cal could not run the ball, could not catch the ball, could not play without penalties that kill drives, could not transfer the ball from center to QB, could not tackle, was out of position way too often in the DL gaps, could not defend the pass, and could not make a field goal when it was clutch time. Hard to watch it, must have been sickening to live it. Much of this is not on the players. Time to move on. Get through the season and get a new head coach. Go Bears.
Thanks TD.
Everyone here knows what needs to be done. Nothing changes in any way until that happens.
Nothing.
A stupid/frozen in their heads coaching staff reflects poorly on an intelligent student body and the supposed #1 public university in the world.
I was absolutely furious postgame but now that I’ve had a couple days I’m almost glad we lost. If we were 6-2 I would have allowed my heart to get involved, and done things I really shouldn’t be doing right now like book a flight to Louisville. Now I can treat the rest of the season with equanimity knowing this is not a good football team and that there is a very good chance we lose the rest of our games and make any kind of tough questions about the state of the program, moot.
I’ll say this about the Wilcox era. Being hit by reality the minute you think about going all in emotionally is a really good life lesson that Wilcox has taught all of us fans.
Jugs machine won’t help? The hell it won’t: https://youtu.be/vRUFxuFun3M?si=dnkk4hYmPTSdWrCn
The season is done. Its time for a change. Remove Wilcox now. Try Harsin now move Rolovich to OC. Try to keep qb, ol and dl. Next season portal 4/5 * wr's and rb.