Thing is, we HAD a solid PK that saved our season. Through dumb luck, Wilcox found himself a walk-on that stabilized the program after the scholarship kicker that he himself had recruited blew kicks that cost them games…but Wilcox said “nah, I’m good”, only to grab another scholarship kicker that he himself had recruited who blew kicks that cost them games.
The coaching staff knew Luckhurst was not returning to the football team. Coe was brought in after the Mateen decision. And Coe was a competent PK at his previous stops…only after he came to Cal did he start missing kicks at a troubling rate. Almost as if there is systemic rot at the top of this coaching staff.
Wilcox did not view Mateen as a full-scholarship player at this level, as he had concerns about returnable kick offs. In that regard, Coe has been a major plus, as he has the leg to force touchbacks. But the accuracy has been severely lacking.
It’s odd because statistically, Coe’s been a solid enough college kicker at his previous stops (2 years at Delaware, 1 in Cincinnati and a couple of games at UNC before he was injured). And then poof!!…. things immediately go south once he joins the Cal program.
Is that just bad luck, variance, whatever you want to call it? Or is it the byproduct of coaching, or a lack thereof? In a vacuum, you could argue it’s the former, but when you look at all the other factors that point to an unhealthy football program, it’s more likely the latter.
Maybe, though I'm not convinced that Pitt or NC State couldn't have come back and beaten us on a last-second FG of their own if we had made those. Again, see how bad the defense has been in 4th quarters.
Pitt especially. Their PK showed he had the leg to knock it stiff from 60, yet here’s Wilcox playing for a field goal first and 10 from the 20 with 2 minutes left. His feel for the game leaves so much to be desired.
maybe true, but why did we miss those field goals? Why do we do worst on D on their and fourth down? Why are there so many mental mistakes in the red zone?
Wilcox is clenched up tighter than a frozen walnut, and I think it affects the players. He should watch some tape of Pete Carroll from 2004 or so.
Which is the madness of Wilcox. Does a coach so close to a 7-2 or even flawless record still lay an egg like last Saturday? How is it that this is the same coach and the same team that fell 9 points short of a 9-0 record?
Good summation Avi, similar in many ways to your, Cal football loses everything at Colorado, October 16, 2022, summation. Nothing improves until we have a different head coach and crew. That change will not happen, too expensive. One more game at home this season. Watch the rest on tv. I still love this team; these guys have played hard all year. Gotta beat Stanford.
That’s what Cal did…they invested in the NIL, made some changes to the coaching staff and hoped Wilcox could figure it out. He absolutely didn’t…in fact, with more talent, a weaker schedule, and the GameDay/Calgorithm momentum, he showed beyond any reasonable doubt that he has no business being a head coach at the FBS level.
There is no legitimate football-reason to defend the continued employment of Justin Wilcox. He is only returning because of the status of Jim Knowlton…you can not let the incompetent Colorado Springs resident make this hire, so Wilcox gets another year as a lame duck HC atop a roster that will be thoroughly gutted by transfers, with an NIL budget that will suffer because donors have seen the foolishness of putting their dollars in Wilcox’s hands. Maybe we go 6-6, and he’ll be fired by December 2026.
Of course, by then the football program is basically on life support and we’re well on our way to the FCS.
But let’s beat Stanford and at least get a 2nd consecutive bowl. And then worry about 2025 next fall.
Once again, a heartbreaking work of staggering genius here Avi. I'm in that small percentage of eternal sunshine pumpers, so I'm left with nothing to add, other than, GO Bears!
Maybe so. The last game was abysmal. It looked less then flat.
Here is what I know. If the Bears win out they will have 8 wins. 8 wins is very doable.
This team has the ability to do great things. That can only be accomplished with great heart.
The team didn't have that.
When I played for the bears we went down to USC and won on heart. We lost to Washington State the next week and it broke our heart. Coach Mariucci made us believe. Then we lost that.
Football works like that.
If the team can find its heart it will win out.
Mendoza - leading with heart.
The defense - leading with heart
A commitment to one another that no one will hit the portal until after the bowl game - coaches included.
Unfortunately chancellor Christ caused a decade of damage to Cal athletics with that baffling extension to Knowlton. Despite all the good she did, that could very well be her legacy. I’m a big believer in Rich Lyons but it will take time.
Maybe there is an Option 4. Make it clear to Wilcox that there is no extension coming in the future, and he can ride out his contract as a lame duck or he can agree to a reduced buyout/take a plum job as a DC somewhere.
Or an Option 5 - the campus funds the buyout the same way they’re funding other AD shortfalls right now. A bitter pill to swallow for sure, but the status quo is untenable and that may be an investment the university needs to make to win back donors who have been burned too many times by the ineptitude of this athletics department.
Carol Christ has done a lot of good financial and revenue work for the university and it will pay dividends in the years to come. Sadly, that skillset doesn't entirely crossover to the modern world of college sports.
She clearly focused on the academic funding and as a Cal Alum, I have been impressed by that and am very proud to see all the advancements and additions. But as an avid football fan, we are blowing big opportunities time after time to help the financial woes of the football team. I don’t have an answer with all the dynamics in play sadly. I love our team and the players. I will continue to support them as much as I can. I love being at memorial stadium on a beautiful fall day pulling for our team. I feel I have become numb when we lose when we should have won. It is very frustrating. And if I remember last year our O-line was the problem and we all said if we fix that, then…yet here we are saying the same thing. What happened?
Also, if there is any proof that a good oline with a good QB can change a team’s trajectory, look no further than the Detroit Lions…at the Rams, Goff got pummeled and had to scramble all the time. Once at the Lions, he has flourished becoming the QB in the NFL that we Cal fans knew he could be. I forever despise the Rams for throwing Goff under the bus…love seeing him thrive to his potential without scrambling for his life. We need to do this for Mendoza. He is a special kid and I want him to flourish too. Wilcox has to be him an oline to protect him…
See you Saturday at memorial to pummel Furd…Go Bears!
IMO that good financial and revenue foundation for the university more broadly needs to be used to save the athletics department from itself, knowing that investment will pay off for the university in turn
I'm not saying this from a place of hubris because I recognize there are people that disagree with me who care just as much about Cal football, if not way more than me. And there are definitely people that understand football and the dynamics of the program more than me. Having said that I am genuinely confused how people could look at option 2 (keeping Wilcox and hope for a change) as anything other than the definition of insanity. The irony to this is if someone could go into the future and tell me we will have two more 7-5/6-6/5-7, type seasons and have a fresh start I would grudgingly accept that considering the financial situation. At this point though I actually think the bottom falling out of the program as a greater likelihood than a Wilcox turnaround. What if Mendoza transfers and we are back to square one with a quarterback? What would this season look like without his frankly, heroic play? We would be completely dead in the water. I think a jump into the unknown with a poorly paid HC (for power 4 standards) because we had to buyout Wilcox and dealing with the potential NIL and transfers is preferable than doing this for another two years while hoping this can somehow get better when it's just as likely it can get worse.
If Justin had the saintlike character that his reputation and defenders suggest, he would thank us for making him a millionaire and resign with some honor intact.
Unpopular and perhaps careless opinion: I think this year is a win. Agreed that another Wilcox joke job of a season could not have come at a worse time, but this program--despite itself--has entered the public consciousness for the first time in a long time. It's unfortunate it's not because of our football success. But because of the #calgorithm, extra tv exposure, College Game Day, and introducing our programs and traditions to the other side of the country, we have a national identity now. That's more than can be said for half the P4 schools. Of course this doesn't take us off the chopping block, but football fortunes aside, I think we may be in a slightly better place than we were this time last year. But I might also be a fool.
I think it's a small win and I'm grateful for everything we've done as a community. But this is a results-driven business. We need big wins after a decade plus of big losses. We need new donors to write big checks and our football stadium to be filled up. We cannot sustain a movement from the basement.
I'm also of the opinion that we need to deal with Knowlton before we deal with Wilcox. Hiring a new HC is always a gamble, but especially for us given the timeline and our inability to simply write over our financial mistakes. So if you were to offer a 1.5 option: fire Knowlton but retain Wilcox and keep or spend slightly under NIL, I'd take it. I'm also gambling that a new AD brings with them new fundraising streams to tap.
I actually think being in an East Coast conference has been huge for exposure and with the notable exception of the Syracuse game, we've been at least competitive in those games.
Now's the time to improve our stock, not keep watching it's value drop through the floor.
and we're not creating a pipeline for new cash. Cal needs to get as many students into the stadium as possible now, so we have a donor class with an actual attachment to Cal Football in the future.
I remember in the late 80s we paid for fall (FB) and spring (BB) sports. Got a little colored reflective sticker on our student ID. Same colors as the Nutrigrain bar wrappers so I think some people just cut little rectangles out and stuck them on the ID card. The security guards could never see the stickers that well with everyone trying to rush into Harmon to get to the good student seats.
They had an orange AP card which cost like $25 per semester good for all sports. AP stood for athletic privilege. I remember from freshman year. We also had the ACE automated enrollment system for registration. Just a couple of years before they were still using punch cards.
I have another solution. First, relieve Knowlton of any responsibility over football. He can be AD (pursuant to his ill advised contract) but will have no authority over that program. Second, relieve Wilcox of authority over offense and special teams. He will be head coach in name (and in salary) but hire other people to take on those responsibilities. (Essentially, this would be similar to the deal that Oregon purportedly offered him twice). It is not a perfect solution but might allow our program to survive for a couple of years until we can get rid of a coach who at best is mediocre. If Wilcox has any self-respect (not outweighed by greed) he would see the handwriting on the wall and negotiate a settlement with a buyout. Maybe we can get Ron Rivera to come in as a “consultant” to help with the personnel and transition.
It's a nice idea, but I don't think it's very practical. Demoting Wilcox is just not a feasible solution and would make every future potential college football coach raise their eyebrows at ever coaching here.
Any serious coach would look at this situation and understand why Cal did whatever they could to cut loose with Wilcox lol. The trick is to not be a historically bad coach that drove your football program DOWN a FBS level.
I'm not saying we should demote him, though. We should be begging him to step down of his own accord, hopefully for a reduced buyout. He can't seriously be so stubborn that he's willing to make this his potential legacy.
Cmon Troy, put us out of our misery. If it doesn’t happen Saturday, it will start happening next year. He’s simply a better coach and better program builder. Wilcox has been aided by years of laughably bad furd football under David Shaw. I’m afraid that era is ending and the “well at least he beats our rival” narrative will die with it.
Despite this great write up, showing all of Wilcox’s flaws and inability to beat P4 teams, people are still in here defending him. That is why Cal will never win, because Cal fans are fine with loser coaches like Wilcox because “they get Cal”. Maybe we will finally fire Wilcox in 2029, just in time before we are sent down to the Mountain West or PacState12.
It is ludicrous and why I won’t go to another Cal football game or donate another dollar to the program as long as Wilcox is our head coach. I won’t even waste my time watching another Cal game while Wilcox is the HC, it isn’t worth wasting my time and day to set aside 3 hours to watch this program with Wilcox as the HC. Having Wilcox fire and rehire staff is a waste of time and money as well, since he has proven worthless and terrible at identifying competent staff.
I am moving back to the Bay so I am up here all this week. Went to the Syracuse disaster, and am going with Newellbany and the WFC crew to Big Game…but am likely done after that. My CALegends donations will go to entirely go to Madsen.
All else being the same, if we had made all of our field goals this season, Cal would be 7-2 and Wilcox would be awesome.
Sigh.
Thing is, we HAD a solid PK that saved our season. Through dumb luck, Wilcox found himself a walk-on that stabilized the program after the scholarship kicker that he himself had recruited blew kicks that cost them games…but Wilcox said “nah, I’m good”, only to grab another scholarship kicker that he himself had recruited who blew kicks that cost them games.
Wasn't Coe in after Luckhurst moved to soccer over the summer?
The coaching staff knew Luckhurst was not returning to the football team. Coe was brought in after the Mateen decision. And Coe was a competent PK at his previous stops…only after he came to Cal did he start missing kicks at a troubling rate. Almost as if there is systemic rot at the top of this coaching staff.
Wilcox did not view Mateen as a full-scholarship player at this level, as he had concerns about returnable kick offs. In that regard, Coe has been a major plus, as he has the leg to force touchbacks. But the accuracy has been severely lacking.
Leg strength means nothing without accuracy.
Agreed.
It’s odd because statistically, Coe’s been a solid enough college kicker at his previous stops (2 years at Delaware, 1 in Cincinnati and a couple of games at UNC before he was injured). And then poof!!…. things immediately go south once he joins the Cal program.
Is that just bad luck, variance, whatever you want to call it? Or is it the byproduct of coaching, or a lack thereof? In a vacuum, you could argue it’s the former, but when you look at all the other factors that point to an unhealthy football program, it’s more likely the latter.
Maybe, though I'm not convinced that Pitt or NC State couldn't have come back and beaten us on a last-second FG of their own if we had made those. Again, see how bad the defense has been in 4th quarters.
Pitt especially. Their PK showed he had the leg to knock it stiff from 60, yet here’s Wilcox playing for a field goal first and 10 from the 20 with 2 minutes left. His feel for the game leaves so much to be desired.
I considered that missed field goal poetic justice for the absolutely awful strategy of that final sequence.
maybe true, but why did we miss those field goals? Why do we do worst on D on their and fourth down? Why are there so many mental mistakes in the red zone?
Wilcox is clenched up tighter than a frozen walnut, and I think it affects the players. He should watch some tape of Pete Carroll from 2004 or so.
Which is the madness of Wilcox. Does a coach so close to a 7-2 or even flawless record still lay an egg like last Saturday? How is it that this is the same coach and the same team that fell 9 points short of a 9-0 record?
8-2!
Good summation Avi, similar in many ways to your, Cal football loses everything at Colorado, October 16, 2022, summation. Nothing improves until we have a different head coach and crew. That change will not happen, too expensive. One more game at home this season. Watch the rest on tv. I still love this team; these guys have played hard all year. Gotta beat Stanford.
Thanks Avi. Great work.
Pretty sure 2024 WAS option 2.
That’s what Cal did…they invested in the NIL, made some changes to the coaching staff and hoped Wilcox could figure it out. He absolutely didn’t…in fact, with more talent, a weaker schedule, and the GameDay/Calgorithm momentum, he showed beyond any reasonable doubt that he has no business being a head coach at the FBS level.
There is no legitimate football-reason to defend the continued employment of Justin Wilcox. He is only returning because of the status of Jim Knowlton…you can not let the incompetent Colorado Springs resident make this hire, so Wilcox gets another year as a lame duck HC atop a roster that will be thoroughly gutted by transfers, with an NIL budget that will suffer because donors have seen the foolishness of putting their dollars in Wilcox’s hands. Maybe we go 6-6, and he’ll be fired by December 2026.
Of course, by then the football program is basically on life support and we’re well on our way to the FCS.
But let’s beat Stanford and at least get a 2nd consecutive bowl. And then worry about 2025 next fall.
Sums it up perfectly.
Thanks OD.
Let’s get the win and make back to back bowls…probably as good as we can really hope for now.
Facts and truth
Once again, a heartbreaking work of staggering genius here Avi. I'm in that small percentage of eternal sunshine pumpers, so I'm left with nothing to add, other than, GO Bears!
Maybe so. The last game was abysmal. It looked less then flat.
Here is what I know. If the Bears win out they will have 8 wins. 8 wins is very doable.
This team has the ability to do great things. That can only be accomplished with great heart.
The team didn't have that.
When I played for the bears we went down to USC and won on heart. We lost to Washington State the next week and it broke our heart. Coach Mariucci made us believe. Then we lost that.
Football works like that.
If the team can find its heart it will win out.
Mendoza - leading with heart.
The defense - leading with heart
A commitment to one another that no one will hit the portal until after the bowl game - coaches included.
Those things happen and this team can win out.
Thanks for your perspective and service to the Bears Chris! Hopefully they can figure this out.
Unfortunately chancellor Christ caused a decade of damage to Cal athletics with that baffling extension to Knowlton. Despite all the good she did, that could very well be her legacy. I’m a big believer in Rich Lyons but it will take time.
Unfortunately Lyons does not have time.
Maybe there is an Option 4. Make it clear to Wilcox that there is no extension coming in the future, and he can ride out his contract as a lame duck or he can agree to a reduced buyout/take a plum job as a DC somewhere.
Or an Option 5 - the campus funds the buyout the same way they’re funding other AD shortfalls right now. A bitter pill to swallow for sure, but the status quo is untenable and that may be an investment the university needs to make to win back donors who have been burned too many times by the ineptitude of this athletics department.
If Chancellor Lyons taught us anything it’s that we should Question the Status Quo.
Dirks too.
Dirks and Mike Williams put us on the path of this.
Carol Bader Christberg
Carol Christ has done a lot of good financial and revenue work for the university and it will pay dividends in the years to come. Sadly, that skillset doesn't entirely crossover to the modern world of college sports.
She clearly focused on the academic funding and as a Cal Alum, I have been impressed by that and am very proud to see all the advancements and additions. But as an avid football fan, we are blowing big opportunities time after time to help the financial woes of the football team. I don’t have an answer with all the dynamics in play sadly. I love our team and the players. I will continue to support them as much as I can. I love being at memorial stadium on a beautiful fall day pulling for our team. I feel I have become numb when we lose when we should have won. It is very frustrating. And if I remember last year our O-line was the problem and we all said if we fix that, then…yet here we are saying the same thing. What happened?
Also, if there is any proof that a good oline with a good QB can change a team’s trajectory, look no further than the Detroit Lions…at the Rams, Goff got pummeled and had to scramble all the time. Once at the Lions, he has flourished becoming the QB in the NFL that we Cal fans knew he could be. I forever despise the Rams for throwing Goff under the bus…love seeing him thrive to his potential without scrambling for his life. We need to do this for Mendoza. He is a special kid and I want him to flourish too. Wilcox has to be him an oline to protect him…
See you Saturday at memorial to pummel Furd…Go Bears!
IMO that good financial and revenue foundation for the university more broadly needs to be used to save the athletics department from itself, knowing that investment will pay off for the university in turn
I'm not saying this from a place of hubris because I recognize there are people that disagree with me who care just as much about Cal football, if not way more than me. And there are definitely people that understand football and the dynamics of the program more than me. Having said that I am genuinely confused how people could look at option 2 (keeping Wilcox and hope for a change) as anything other than the definition of insanity. The irony to this is if someone could go into the future and tell me we will have two more 7-5/6-6/5-7, type seasons and have a fresh start I would grudgingly accept that considering the financial situation. At this point though I actually think the bottom falling out of the program as a greater likelihood than a Wilcox turnaround. What if Mendoza transfers and we are back to square one with a quarterback? What would this season look like without his frankly, heroic play? We would be completely dead in the water. I think a jump into the unknown with a poorly paid HC (for power 4 standards) because we had to buyout Wilcox and dealing with the potential NIL and transfers is preferable than doing this for another two years while hoping this can somehow get better when it's just as likely it can get worse.
Especially because we know Wilcox will not turn it around. He has proven he can’t do it.
Avinash - you are the voice of the LSBFs. Option 2 seems like the likely path.
If Justin had the saintlike character that his reputation and defenders suggest, he would thank us for making him a millionaire and resign with some honor intact.
He can’t actually be enjoying this.
The press conferences are painful to watch and completely repetitive.
Unpopular and perhaps careless opinion: I think this year is a win. Agreed that another Wilcox joke job of a season could not have come at a worse time, but this program--despite itself--has entered the public consciousness for the first time in a long time. It's unfortunate it's not because of our football success. But because of the #calgorithm, extra tv exposure, College Game Day, and introducing our programs and traditions to the other side of the country, we have a national identity now. That's more than can be said for half the P4 schools. Of course this doesn't take us off the chopping block, but football fortunes aside, I think we may be in a slightly better place than we were this time last year. But I might also be a fool.
I think it's a small win and I'm grateful for everything we've done as a community. But this is a results-driven business. We need big wins after a decade plus of big losses. We need new donors to write big checks and our football stadium to be filled up. We cannot sustain a movement from the basement.
I'm also of the opinion that we need to deal with Knowlton before we deal with Wilcox. Hiring a new HC is always a gamble, but especially for us given the timeline and our inability to simply write over our financial mistakes. So if you were to offer a 1.5 option: fire Knowlton but retain Wilcox and keep or spend slightly under NIL, I'd take it. I'm also gambling that a new AD brings with them new fundraising streams to tap.
A very slight net positive and a humongous swing and miss at the time.
I like the cut of your jib .....
I actually think being in an East Coast conference has been huge for exposure and with the notable exception of the Syracuse game, we've been at least competitive in those games.
Now's the time to improve our stock, not keep watching it's value drop through the floor.
Sadly, this is a great synopsis of the state of Cal football.
We just don't, and have not had the support of the University.
And we don't have the cash.
and we're not creating a pipeline for new cash. Cal needs to get as many students into the stadium as possible now, so we have a donor class with an actual attachment to Cal Football in the future.
Do the students get free admission? They used to.
I remember in the late 80s we paid for fall (FB) and spring (BB) sports. Got a little colored reflective sticker on our student ID. Same colors as the Nutrigrain bar wrappers so I think some people just cut little rectangles out and stuck them on the ID card. The security guards could never see the stickers that well with everyone trying to rush into Harmon to get to the good student seats.
They had an orange AP card which cost like $25 per semester good for all sports. AP stood for athletic privilege. I remember from freshman year. We also had the ACE automated enrollment system for registration. Just a couple of years before they were still using punch cards.
I never got free tix as a student, but the cost was really cheap in the mid-1970’s. Maybe $15 for the season, back when minimum wage was $2.75/hour.
same-ish in mid 80's
I have another solution. First, relieve Knowlton of any responsibility over football. He can be AD (pursuant to his ill advised contract) but will have no authority over that program. Second, relieve Wilcox of authority over offense and special teams. He will be head coach in name (and in salary) but hire other people to take on those responsibilities. (Essentially, this would be similar to the deal that Oregon purportedly offered him twice). It is not a perfect solution but might allow our program to survive for a couple of years until we can get rid of a coach who at best is mediocre. If Wilcox has any self-respect (not outweighed by greed) he would see the handwriting on the wall and negotiate a settlement with a buyout. Maybe we can get Ron Rivera to come in as a “consultant” to help with the personnel and transition.
It's a nice idea, but I don't think it's very practical. Demoting Wilcox is just not a feasible solution and would make every future potential college football coach raise their eyebrows at ever coaching here.
Any serious coach would look at this situation and understand why Cal did whatever they could to cut loose with Wilcox lol. The trick is to not be a historically bad coach that drove your football program DOWN a FBS level.
I'm not saying we should demote him, though. We should be begging him to step down of his own accord, hopefully for a reduced buyout. He can't seriously be so stubborn that he's willing to make this his potential legacy.
At least Cal isn’t Stanford
Did anyone notice the crowd at furd? they had less than 2000 and they won. They have a worse NIL going on than us but a great coach in Troy Taylor.
Things are gonna get very testy if TT beats Wilcox Saturday, Coach.
Very. Testy.
Cmon Troy, put us out of our misery. If it doesn’t happen Saturday, it will start happening next year. He’s simply a better coach and better program builder. Wilcox has been aided by years of laughably bad furd football under David Shaw. I’m afraid that era is ending and the “well at least he beats our rival” narrative will die with it.
Let’s just focus now on winning the Big Game……Go Bears!
It’s really all we have, NGO…
6-6, tho admittedly underwhelming, nonetheless gives Wilcox likely B2B bowl bids, which though disappointing in so many ways is not nothing.
Beat ‘Furd…the alternative is tough to stomach.
Despite this great write up, showing all of Wilcox’s flaws and inability to beat P4 teams, people are still in here defending him. That is why Cal will never win, because Cal fans are fine with loser coaches like Wilcox because “they get Cal”. Maybe we will finally fire Wilcox in 2029, just in time before we are sent down to the Mountain West or PacState12.
It’s simply ludicrous. This is not a serious program.
It is ludicrous and why I won’t go to another Cal football game or donate another dollar to the program as long as Wilcox is our head coach. I won’t even waste my time watching another Cal game while Wilcox is the HC, it isn’t worth wasting my time and day to set aside 3 hours to watch this program with Wilcox as the HC. Having Wilcox fire and rehire staff is a waste of time and money as well, since he has proven worthless and terrible at identifying competent staff.
I am moving back to the Bay so I am up here all this week. Went to the Syracuse disaster, and am going with Newellbany and the WFC crew to Big Game…but am likely done after that. My CALegends donations will go to entirely go to Madsen.