Attendance at yesterday’s game was abysmal. Barely any students (TG for the Cal Band) and lots of empty seats even in the Alumni section. Discussion at Tailgate Town and in our Section noted this and we came up with some solutions, at least for the “non-marquee” games.
1) Bring back the Family Ticket Package. Two adults, 3 kids (or inexperienced adult & 4 kids) for one price in the end zone sections. The South End Zone is covered with tarps, so those seats are available.
2) Bring back the “Cub Club,” with activities for kids. Make Cal Football an affordable family activity and introduce the next generation to Cal football and the Campus. In fact, more family-friendly activities and food pre-game would be good.
3) Offer a “Sports Clinic” activity at Tailgate Town pregame Jeff Kent did something like this with Cal Women’s Sports before a SF Giants Game back in the 1990’s. Ask some former Cal stars to help out. (What’s Steve Bartowski doing these days? Or Jay Torchio?) (Yes, I’m old)
4) Bring back the Joe Roth Memorial Game. Maybe tie it in with Homecoming? Or a former Pac6/8/10/12 opponent? Get the local TV stations to talk about Joe.
So that’s what we came up with off the top of our heads over soda and beer. I’m sure the #Calgorithm and the Cal Community have more ideas!
They are poor playcalling, poor strength and conditioning, poor leadership in sticking up for players and this great university, poor adaptability, poor clock management, poor recruiting (especially of offensive lineman), and huge amounts of apathy that don’t exist anywhere else on earth but Berkeley…
All but the huge amounts of apathy are Wilcox’s fault.
It would be one thing if he adapted and changed.
But he doesn’t.
He beats a dead horse over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over (hopefully only 8 overs) again…
He plays a style of football predicated on a pro style bore you to death offense and a prevent bend but don’t break defense. These concepts don’t work anymore. It’s not 2006.
And while we certainly play man coverage and bring pressure, and run rpo schemes we always (like clockwork) switch back to zone coverage plus no pressure and run on 1st and second and throw an out route well short of the sticks on 3rd like clockwork anytime we have a second half lead for the entire duration of Wilcox.
He simply cannot adapt.
And it has cost us immensely,
The momentum he sqwandered by giving away these games after the community gave so much to bring that momentum to him on a silver platter is unforgivable due to the fact that it was his stubborn resolve to stick to a broken strategy that cost us those games (primarily the defensive coverage and lack of blitzing switch he has made in each of our games this season).
The common denominator is Wilcox.
You catch your kids with drugs on 8 separate occasions with different friends each time it’s time to start looking for the common denominators and take the blinders off.
As for the financials I personally believe we would be far better off firing Wilcox now.
The difference in revenue between 31k attendance and 20k attendance is more than enough to pay Wilcox’s severance.
And with the right coach at 3 mil a year I think we could finally turn a profit if we got to 40k attendance even with the 30 percent share.
Let me present an alternative perspective which I think may be unpopular.
I'm gonna go against the common perspective here and suggest that Wilcox can be successful. The biggest problems have been a bit of bad luck but mainly IMHO just a lack of killer instinct. This manifests at times offensively in playing not to lose when we hold a lead or to try to play it safe so we become very predictable. Anyway, my point is that if the objective for Cal football is 8-4, we already have our guy.
We're already competitive with the top teams in the ACC. I mean seriously there are a lot of 90%+ plays that didn't go our way, like short FGs, etc. Unfortunately, we just play in a style that keeps games close.
Also, the best way to not lose close games... is don't let the games be close. Stop taking the foot off the gas pedal. Play to win always. Stop playing to the level of competition so when we get ahead to not turtle up and become super predictable.
Many of us old Cal alumni love Wilcox for being a man of character and teaching our guys in the right way. I also feel that having adversity is good for these kids to learn from. So there's also that going for him and one of the reasons I'd still love to see us be successful with Wilcox.
Having said all of that, at the end of the day, this is Wilcox's fault. If I were him, the biggest move he can make would be to donate his 2023 salary to NIL matching new donations for 2 superstar OL and a FG kicker.
We are very close to greatness. Some injuries, some bad luck, and a few key pieces away from success.
Wilcox has also shown he can be aggressive e.g., the 2 point failed conversion, which I know is not popular, but was likely the right statistical and aggressive play to make. To play to win. If Wilcox and Bloesch can become even more aggressive, stop turtling/becoming predictable and we solve those other issues, then we could be dominating in the ACC with Wilcox.
One thing I want to add. I think we have to give Wilcox credit for making the team better. This year's team is better than last year. What was more depressing: 1. Blowing a huge lead against a top 10 team to eventually barely lose - and arguably because of bad officiating or 2. Not even being close last year to Oregon State, Oregon, or Texas Tech - where it wasn't even competitive?
Some interesting quotes from Wilcox about negativity. I wonder who his coaching friends are. I hope they are giving him honest advices because Wilcox is still our HC.
Regarding negativity from the outside, have you received any input from friends, players, coaches that’s inspiring that’s helped lift you?
Wilcox: Listen, our job as coaches, when things don’t go well, you really kind of know who’s who. I have a group of coaches that I talk to, regardless of the outcome of our games, and some of those coaches are still coaching. Some of them are in college, some are in the NFL, some are out of football now, are retired, maybe one or two is on TV. I talk to them, and I always get great feedback. If there’s something that they have that’s a nugget, that’s constructive criticism. That’s who I listen to. I understand (our fans) are disappointed. We want to give them wins so they can enjoy those wins, but they care. And there is negativity around sport when things aren’t going well, and that’s what we all sign up for. But to immerse yourself in negativity, it really doesn’t help. It doesn’t help you get you results. So I do seek counsel and small group of people that are very knowledgeable and know what they’re talking about.
It all starts at the top. Fire Knowlton and Wilcox now! Eight years, even if subtracting the COVID years has given us more than enough time to see Wilcox is not capable of taking the program any further than where they are now and that is not going to change this year, next year or the year after. Keeping him another year or two will without a doubt hinder our chances of being well positioned for the next realignment whenever that might be and that will cost us more in the long run than buying out Wilcox. Of course all this is based on the premise that the next AD and Head Coach are successful hires and that’s on the administration to get right. I feel for the players. But after almost 50 years of this I’m done. Life is too short to waste time watching such incompetence by Wilcox. It would be one thing if they were just plain being beat by better teams but they are losing the games on their own accord and not being beaten by their opponents. Which is COACHING, go for 2 points on the first touchdown of the game, not appreciating the importance of good special teams, not hiring an offensive line coach, not focusing on technique or coaching up players, poor play calling, poor recruiting up until the NIL. The list goes on and on. Cal fans have proven it time and again over the decades they will fill the stadium when there’s a good product on the field. I for one will not reward what is currently be produced by Cal on the football field.
I appreciate the hard work and passion Avi. But I feel like the administration (Chancellor, AD, etc) for decades and even now, doesn't want to do what it takes to really be successful at the P4 level anyway. If they don't, then why should fans support keeping them there? I agree with all the comments that the university has to show us something. The problem is structural and goes deep. If the university isn't willing or able to address that then let the chips fall.
I guess the existential question for fans is, do we really need a high level athletic program? There are plenty of institutions out there, including the Ivies, that do just fine without feeling the need to compete on the athletic front.
The Alabama's and the Oregon's of the world need football to be relevant on the national stage. I think the major sticking point for us is that UCLA seems to be pulling away, but I seriously doubt that they are going to do well in the B10, they face a lot of the same institutional road blocks that we do, and I am not sure being the Rutgers of the West coast is really going to create much separation for them.
In a perfect world, there would be some sort of Ivy League of the West coast that we could escape to. I think big institutions on the west coast are always going to be attractive for Olympic sports, largely because of the weather. So as long as we can find a way to keep that going, does it really matter what level are football team is playing at? Personally, I kinda like my sports teams to be lower key affairs. It is why I was a fan of the A's before they left. Cheap seats, easy going tailgates. From what I read, ticket prices at some of these SEC games are starting to hit $1000+ mark. How is that good for fans?
Anyways just a rant. I wouldn't mind a successful team, but I also hope we don't kill the spirit of college ball chasing the giants.
I was an Ivy undergrad, and Ivy football can be fun: show up to play your rival and sing the century-old fight songs, etc. But the appeal is niche; attendance is poor outside rivalry games. Definitely won’t fill Memorial or pay off the debt…
I think Lyons getting that chancellor seat is an acknowledgement by the University that a foundational change is needed to save athletics. Whether he can actually help turn around the culture and our athletics fortunes, and do so quickly enough to save us is another matter altogether.
If we are indeed stuck with Wilcox, I hope he takes this as an inflection time and figures something out. I like the guy personally, aside from coaching. I’ll continue going to the games as I have my whole life (my dad has had season tix for decades that I’ll continue as long as I can). Cal is Cal and I had high hopes for this year but it is what it is. I do not like Knowlton from any perspective, not sure I understand why we hired him as he doesn’t seem to fit into the Cal culture.
On the transfer/recruiting I really hope we can keep Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele. I am stoked that he committed to Cal. But we cannot treat him like we treated Mendoza (where Mendoza should have started first game past two seasons based on practice observations and him being a high school commit that, similar to Ott doesn’t seem to want to transfer but rather help build the program). We need to trust them, put them in the game early, expect the, to make mistakes but watch if they learn. We should have replaced Coe way earlier and given Morris more game time, earlier. If coaches played Mendoza as starter and replaced Coe earlier, maybe we would be in a better position.
Wilcox has been big on the transfer portal, but he needs to also see the potential in the freshman class. Give them playing time and let them learn instead of this “mid season, I don’t know who the F is the starter is” BS.
I also saw we have the interest of Bangally Kamara. I don’t know much about him aside from his stats and HS recruiting profile but at least at this point there’s some interest from him for Cal.
If we lose Jaron, then we also might lose a few other commits as I believe some or all the other Hawaii commits came after and followed Jaron.
Yeah I saw that.. his stock went up a lot after a summer showcase with the offer from Oregon too. Good timing by Georgia after that ugly Texas performance..
Our only hope is that he thinks he's the type of QB that can Jared Goff our program back into relevance. But even then, why would he pick us over Georgia in the modern landscape of CFB? In the 00's and early 10's I would get it. But there is just too much money in the sport now to turn that down.
Oh and it’s Berkeley, right? We can go to the games still but maybe we make a little bit of noise by way of a protest before the game starts with chants? Keep up the burner accounts to show our support and Calgorithm but use it to protest the out of place AD? I recall Sandy Barbour would walk the tailgaters and talk to fans but haven’t seen Knowlton or Williams (ok, Williams wasn’t really committed) do that? We’ve shown the noise we can make, why not make noise to protest and show our discontent?
Why did Knowlton give Wilcox the fire-proof extension and not to Mark Fox? I like BB, but is this a signal to phase out or deemphasize football, in favor of the more manageable. UOP did this, even after a major stadium renovation.
Sandy Barbour fired Jeff Tedford. That was what started the terrible string of hires. She was TERRIBLE. Tedford was the most successful football coach in Cal's history.
Tedford was NOT Cal's most successful coach. Andy Smith (1916 - 1925) was. National champions in 1920, 1921, 1922, and 1923. Not even close. Second was Pappy Waldorf (1947 - 1956) with his top seasons being 1947 - 1952. Look up the record of all Cal coaches.
Now make the same argument to the players. Yeah, no, I didn’t think so. This offseason is going to involve new depths of terrible. Whatever psychic adjustments I make to pretend the trauma of the last 3 weeks didn’t happen, they’ll be torn asunder when the portal opens and sucks up 50% of our team.
I believe you vote with your dollar and my dollar is not going near this dumpster fire anymore until wholesale changes are made (i.e. Knowlton and Wilcox & Co.). Burn the boats or let it die and sell the parts. Cal and its alumnus (the donor class at least) needs to flex their muscles and show everyone they are serious. Otherwise, let it die.
The much maligned Oline didn’t miss those field goals. And it’s not the fault of the Oline that the OC calls runs into the heart of the opposing defense in the red zone when short passes to our tight end, WR and backs got us there…..with our field goal kicker watching all this unfold as the pressure on him mounts to win the game mounts.
I mean does he really need a coach to tell him to practice and get ready while it's going on...vs shitting his pants...well we don't have a special teams coach...hee who's fault is that. Oh yeah.
Avi: Great article. As a die-hard Golden Bear for life, I am willing to give Wilcox another chance if no Phil Knight type donor is going to step up with the buyout money. Wilcox's teams (for the most part) play solid defense, which is the foundation of any successful football program (look at what Georgia's defense did to Texas' offense. That was why they won the game). He just needs to find the right hires who can field a capable offense and special teams. Come on Justin! We are all rooting for you to be successful! Find those additional coaches who can take us over the top!
The foundation of any college football time is HS recruiting. We don't have a reload coming in. We can't just rely on transfers to fill the roster every year.
Also, the most important pillar in any roster is the trenches. And we have never been able to recruit the DL or the OL under Wilcox. He excelled with Dykes' recruits and then we have never recovered.
Mrjpark: Good point. We need to recruit and develop these players but, more importantly, in the new reality of the transfer portal and NIL, we need to hang on to them.
Except he doesn’t play solid defense in the 4th quarter and he has had multiple chances to hire a capable OC, OL coach and special teams coach and has failed every single time.
The special teams have a superior punting team and record. Kickoffs are very good also. It's not the coach who misses field goals. It's the fact that we have poor place kickers on the roster.
OTOH, and certainly not defending the staff, but it is clear that Coe has a big enough leg to force touchbacks on a majority of the KO’s, which helps the field position game AND prevents some injuries on a play where they tend to happen more often. That certainly entered the equation. And, looking at his stats from his precious two schools, he’s never had a year as bad as this one.
That unfortunately is the issue: the guy is a fine PK UNTIL he signed on with this staff…almost as if these issues are systemic.
And kicks very well, I might add. Mateen straight up earned a D1 job.
Honestly, this ALONE is a fireable offense for Wilcox, and how Cal fans can at all justify this staff returning is just baffling. Your placekicking was an absolute DISASTER last season, including a preposterously embarrassing performance on national TV that cost your team a signature win v a major SEC brand. By a stroke of dumb luck, you somehow managed to land a better PK as a walk-on, who then proved he belonged at this level. But then your knucklehead HC says “nah” to the scholarship and voila…said knucklehead finds himself in an even WORSE position the following year, tho this time it’s cost you 2 wins…on national TV.
Why more people aren’t livid with this particular wrinkle is beyond me. This is prima facie cause for termination.
Attendance at yesterday’s game was abysmal. Barely any students (TG for the Cal Band) and lots of empty seats even in the Alumni section. Discussion at Tailgate Town and in our Section noted this and we came up with some solutions, at least for the “non-marquee” games.
1) Bring back the Family Ticket Package. Two adults, 3 kids (or inexperienced adult & 4 kids) for one price in the end zone sections. The South End Zone is covered with tarps, so those seats are available.
2) Bring back the “Cub Club,” with activities for kids. Make Cal Football an affordable family activity and introduce the next generation to Cal football and the Campus. In fact, more family-friendly activities and food pre-game would be good.
3) Offer a “Sports Clinic” activity at Tailgate Town pregame Jeff Kent did something like this with Cal Women’s Sports before a SF Giants Game back in the 1990’s. Ask some former Cal stars to help out. (What’s Steve Bartowski doing these days? Or Jay Torchio?) (Yes, I’m old)
4) Bring back the Joe Roth Memorial Game. Maybe tie it in with Homecoming? Or a former Pac6/8/10/12 opponent? Get the local TV stations to talk about Joe.
So that’s what we came up with off the top of our heads over soda and beer. I’m sure the #Calgorithm and the Cal Community have more ideas!
The biggest problems here are not bad luck.
They are poor playcalling, poor strength and conditioning, poor leadership in sticking up for players and this great university, poor adaptability, poor clock management, poor recruiting (especially of offensive lineman), and huge amounts of apathy that don’t exist anywhere else on earth but Berkeley…
All but the huge amounts of apathy are Wilcox’s fault.
It would be one thing if he adapted and changed.
But he doesn’t.
He beats a dead horse over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over (hopefully only 8 overs) again…
He plays a style of football predicated on a pro style bore you to death offense and a prevent bend but don’t break defense. These concepts don’t work anymore. It’s not 2006.
And while we certainly play man coverage and bring pressure, and run rpo schemes we always (like clockwork) switch back to zone coverage plus no pressure and run on 1st and second and throw an out route well short of the sticks on 3rd like clockwork anytime we have a second half lead for the entire duration of Wilcox.
He simply cannot adapt.
And it has cost us immensely,
The momentum he sqwandered by giving away these games after the community gave so much to bring that momentum to him on a silver platter is unforgivable due to the fact that it was his stubborn resolve to stick to a broken strategy that cost us those games (primarily the defensive coverage and lack of blitzing switch he has made in each of our games this season).
The common denominator is Wilcox.
You catch your kids with drugs on 8 separate occasions with different friends each time it’s time to start looking for the common denominators and take the blinders off.
As for the financials I personally believe we would be far better off firing Wilcox now.
The difference in revenue between 31k attendance and 20k attendance is more than enough to pay Wilcox’s severance.
And with the right coach at 3 mil a year I think we could finally turn a profit if we got to 40k attendance even with the 30 percent share.
Agreed. Well said. He does not adapt. That is intelligence problem
Let me present an alternative perspective which I think may be unpopular.
I'm gonna go against the common perspective here and suggest that Wilcox can be successful. The biggest problems have been a bit of bad luck but mainly IMHO just a lack of killer instinct. This manifests at times offensively in playing not to lose when we hold a lead or to try to play it safe so we become very predictable. Anyway, my point is that if the objective for Cal football is 8-4, we already have our guy.
We're already competitive with the top teams in the ACC. I mean seriously there are a lot of 90%+ plays that didn't go our way, like short FGs, etc. Unfortunately, we just play in a style that keeps games close.
Also, the best way to not lose close games... is don't let the games be close. Stop taking the foot off the gas pedal. Play to win always. Stop playing to the level of competition so when we get ahead to not turtle up and become super predictable.
Many of us old Cal alumni love Wilcox for being a man of character and teaching our guys in the right way. I also feel that having adversity is good for these kids to learn from. So there's also that going for him and one of the reasons I'd still love to see us be successful with Wilcox.
Having said all of that, at the end of the day, this is Wilcox's fault. If I were him, the biggest move he can make would be to donate his 2023 salary to NIL matching new donations for 2 superstar OL and a FG kicker.
We are very close to greatness. Some injuries, some bad luck, and a few key pieces away from success.
Wilcox has also shown he can be aggressive e.g., the 2 point failed conversion, which I know is not popular, but was likely the right statistical and aggressive play to make. To play to win. If Wilcox and Bloesch can become even more aggressive, stop turtling/becoming predictable and we solve those other issues, then we could be dominating in the ACC with Wilcox.
One thing I want to add. I think we have to give Wilcox credit for making the team better. This year's team is better than last year. What was more depressing: 1. Blowing a huge lead against a top 10 team to eventually barely lose - and arguably because of bad officiating or 2. Not even being close last year to Oregon State, Oregon, or Texas Tech - where it wasn't even competitive?
There's a big difference bt being aggressive and being stupid.
I’ll make it short and sweet. Fire Knowlton. Fire Wilcox. DONE.
Some interesting quotes from Wilcox about negativity. I wonder who his coaching friends are. I hope they are giving him honest advices because Wilcox is still our HC.
Regarding negativity from the outside, have you received any input from friends, players, coaches that’s inspiring that’s helped lift you?
Wilcox: Listen, our job as coaches, when things don’t go well, you really kind of know who’s who. I have a group of coaches that I talk to, regardless of the outcome of our games, and some of those coaches are still coaching. Some of them are in college, some are in the NFL, some are out of football now, are retired, maybe one or two is on TV. I talk to them, and I always get great feedback. If there’s something that they have that’s a nugget, that’s constructive criticism. That’s who I listen to. I understand (our fans) are disappointed. We want to give them wins so they can enjoy those wins, but they care. And there is negativity around sport when things aren’t going well, and that’s what we all sign up for. But to immerse yourself in negativity, it really doesn’t help. It doesn’t help you get you results. So I do seek counsel and small group of people that are very knowledgeable and know what they’re talking about.
https://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/2024/10/what-california-coach-justin-wilcox-said-about-saturdays-game-against-oregon-state.html
Existential DeBear
https://i.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExY2E4dmg2YTV1aTFrcTdoeWlsaTZiZnBoeDRwdjFzeDQ3Zjh1OWtoNCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/7sN1E4GmLMqebhc8wL/giphy.gif
It all starts at the top. Fire Knowlton and Wilcox now! Eight years, even if subtracting the COVID years has given us more than enough time to see Wilcox is not capable of taking the program any further than where they are now and that is not going to change this year, next year or the year after. Keeping him another year or two will without a doubt hinder our chances of being well positioned for the next realignment whenever that might be and that will cost us more in the long run than buying out Wilcox. Of course all this is based on the premise that the next AD and Head Coach are successful hires and that’s on the administration to get right. I feel for the players. But after almost 50 years of this I’m done. Life is too short to waste time watching such incompetence by Wilcox. It would be one thing if they were just plain being beat by better teams but they are losing the games on their own accord and not being beaten by their opponents. Which is COACHING, go for 2 points on the first touchdown of the game, not appreciating the importance of good special teams, not hiring an offensive line coach, not focusing on technique or coaching up players, poor play calling, poor recruiting up until the NIL. The list goes on and on. Cal fans have proven it time and again over the decades they will fill the stadium when there’s a good product on the field. I for one will not reward what is currently be produced by Cal on the football field.
I appreciate the hard work and passion Avi. But I feel like the administration (Chancellor, AD, etc) for decades and even now, doesn't want to do what it takes to really be successful at the P4 level anyway. If they don't, then why should fans support keeping them there? I agree with all the comments that the university has to show us something. The problem is structural and goes deep. If the university isn't willing or able to address that then let the chips fall.
I guess the existential question for fans is, do we really need a high level athletic program? There are plenty of institutions out there, including the Ivies, that do just fine without feeling the need to compete on the athletic front.
The Alabama's and the Oregon's of the world need football to be relevant on the national stage. I think the major sticking point for us is that UCLA seems to be pulling away, but I seriously doubt that they are going to do well in the B10, they face a lot of the same institutional road blocks that we do, and I am not sure being the Rutgers of the West coast is really going to create much separation for them.
In a perfect world, there would be some sort of Ivy League of the West coast that we could escape to. I think big institutions on the west coast are always going to be attractive for Olympic sports, largely because of the weather. So as long as we can find a way to keep that going, does it really matter what level are football team is playing at? Personally, I kinda like my sports teams to be lower key affairs. It is why I was a fan of the A's before they left. Cheap seats, easy going tailgates. From what I read, ticket prices at some of these SEC games are starting to hit $1000+ mark. How is that good for fans?
Anyways just a rant. I wouldn't mind a successful team, but I also hope we don't kill the spirit of college ball chasing the giants.
I was an Ivy undergrad, and Ivy football can be fun: show up to play your rival and sing the century-old fight songs, etc. But the appeal is niche; attendance is poor outside rivalry games. Definitely won’t fill Memorial or pay off the debt…
I think Lyons getting that chancellor seat is an acknowledgement by the University that a foundational change is needed to save athletics. Whether he can actually help turn around the culture and our athletics fortunes, and do so quickly enough to save us is another matter altogether.
Yes, 4th quarter collapse is not new. It's reared it's head time and time again for 50 years.
If we are indeed stuck with Wilcox, I hope he takes this as an inflection time and figures something out. I like the guy personally, aside from coaching. I’ll continue going to the games as I have my whole life (my dad has had season tix for decades that I’ll continue as long as I can). Cal is Cal and I had high hopes for this year but it is what it is. I do not like Knowlton from any perspective, not sure I understand why we hired him as he doesn’t seem to fit into the Cal culture.
On the transfer/recruiting I really hope we can keep Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele. I am stoked that he committed to Cal. But we cannot treat him like we treated Mendoza (where Mendoza should have started first game past two seasons based on practice observations and him being a high school commit that, similar to Ott doesn’t seem to want to transfer but rather help build the program). We need to trust them, put them in the game early, expect the, to make mistakes but watch if they learn. We should have replaced Coe way earlier and given Morris more game time, earlier. If coaches played Mendoza as starter and replaced Coe earlier, maybe we would be in a better position.
Wilcox has been big on the transfer portal, but he needs to also see the potential in the freshman class. Give them playing time and let them learn instead of this “mid season, I don’t know who the F is the starter is” BS.
I also saw we have the interest of Bangally Kamara. I don’t know much about him aside from his stats and HS recruiting profile but at least at this point there’s some interest from him for Cal.
If we lose Jaron, then we also might lose a few other commits as I believe some or all the other Hawaii commits came after and followed Jaron.
Jaron got offer from Georgia yesterday
Yeah I saw that.. his stock went up a lot after a summer showcase with the offer from Oregon too. Good timing by Georgia after that ugly Texas performance..
I wouldn’t get too emotionally attached to Jaron.
Yup, probably best to just say your good-byes now…it was already looking dicey way before the 4 game losing streak, unfortunately.
Our only hope is that he thinks he's the type of QB that can Jared Goff our program back into relevance. But even then, why would he pick us over Georgia in the modern landscape of CFB? In the 00's and early 10's I would get it. But there is just too much money in the sport now to turn that down.
Oh and it’s Berkeley, right? We can go to the games still but maybe we make a little bit of noise by way of a protest before the game starts with chants? Keep up the burner accounts to show our support and Calgorithm but use it to protest the out of place AD? I recall Sandy Barbour would walk the tailgaters and talk to fans but haven’t seen Knowlton or Williams (ok, Williams wasn’t really committed) do that? We’ve shown the noise we can make, why not make noise to protest and show our discontent?
Something bothers me.
Why did Knowlton give Wilcox the fire-proof extension and not to Mark Fox? I like BB, but is this a signal to phase out or deemphasize football, in favor of the more manageable. UOP did this, even after a major stadium renovation.
Sandy Barbour fired Jeff Tedford. That was what started the terrible string of hires. She was TERRIBLE. Tedford was the most successful football coach in Cal's history.
Tedford was NOT Cal's most successful coach. Andy Smith (1916 - 1925) was. National champions in 1920, 1921, 1922, and 1923. Not even close. Second was Pappy Waldorf (1947 - 1956) with his top seasons being 1947 - 1952. Look up the record of all Cal coaches.
Those late Tedford seasons were grim, man.
Should have given him a sabbatical. He needed a break. But boy could he jump start a program
Sandy was way better than two ADs after her.
Yes, and his program was losing steam because of administrative hobbling and static about graduation rates.
Now make the same argument to the players. Yeah, no, I didn’t think so. This offseason is going to involve new depths of terrible. Whatever psychic adjustments I make to pretend the trauma of the last 3 weeks didn’t happen, they’ll be torn asunder when the portal opens and sucks up 50% of our team.
The likelihood of this happening is unfortunately very real.
A rather sizable roster rebuild, coupled with the return of Wilcox and Knowlton….dooommmm.
If and when Cal football is destroyed.. it will be the fault of these two.
Maybe that was the hidden agenda, all along.
Yikes! Could it be?
I believe you vote with your dollar and my dollar is not going near this dumpster fire anymore until wholesale changes are made (i.e. Knowlton and Wilcox & Co.). Burn the boats or let it die and sell the parts. Cal and its alumnus (the donor class at least) needs to flex their muscles and show everyone they are serious. Otherwise, let it die.
The much maligned Oline didn’t miss those field goals. And it’s not the fault of the Oline that the OC calls runs into the heart of the opposing defense in the red zone when short passes to our tight end, WR and backs got us there…..with our field goal kicker watching all this unfold as the pressure on him mounts to win the game mounts.
I mean does he really need a coach to tell him to practice and get ready while it's going on...vs shitting his pants...well we don't have a special teams coach...hee who's fault is that. Oh yeah.
O line has played like shit. Hold them accountable
I feel like this article is trying to gaslight me
Liked your post/article in regards to your take on the subject, but as to the thought of more Justin torture in the future, not so much.
If 0-7, a true Cal fan would still support the team.
Sure, but not the coach or AD. I trust that this is the distinction you were making, right?
Absolutely.
Avi: Great article. As a die-hard Golden Bear for life, I am willing to give Wilcox another chance if no Phil Knight type donor is going to step up with the buyout money. Wilcox's teams (for the most part) play solid defense, which is the foundation of any successful football program (look at what Georgia's defense did to Texas' offense. That was why they won the game). He just needs to find the right hires who can field a capable offense and special teams. Come on Justin! We are all rooting for you to be successful! Find those additional coaches who can take us over the top!
The foundation of any college football time is HS recruiting. We don't have a reload coming in. We can't just rely on transfers to fill the roster every year.
Also, the most important pillar in any roster is the trenches. And we have never been able to recruit the DL or the OL under Wilcox. He excelled with Dykes' recruits and then we have never recovered.
Mrjpark: Good point. We need to recruit and develop these players but, more importantly, in the new reality of the transfer portal and NIL, we need to hang on to them.
Except he doesn’t play solid defense in the 4th quarter and he has had multiple chances to hire a capable OC, OL coach and special teams coach and has failed every single time.
The special teams have a superior punting team and record. Kickoffs are very good also. It's not the coach who misses field goals. It's the fact that we have poor place kickers on the roster.
How are our punt return or kickoff return teams?
We had a good FG kicker on our roster last season, which Wilcox let go because he wouldn’t give him a scholarship. He now kicks for UCLA.
Golden: I had a bad feeling when that announcement was made. In hindsight, one of the dumber decisions made by Wilcox or someone on his staff.
OTOH, and certainly not defending the staff, but it is clear that Coe has a big enough leg to force touchbacks on a majority of the KO’s, which helps the field position game AND prevents some injuries on a play where they tend to happen more often. That certainly entered the equation. And, looking at his stats from his precious two schools, he’s never had a year as bad as this one.
That unfortunately is the issue: the guy is a fine PK UNTIL he signed on with this staff…almost as if these issues are systemic.
And kicks very well, I might add. Mateen straight up earned a D1 job.
Honestly, this ALONE is a fireable offense for Wilcox, and how Cal fans can at all justify this staff returning is just baffling. Your placekicking was an absolute DISASTER last season, including a preposterously embarrassing performance on national TV that cost your team a signature win v a major SEC brand. By a stroke of dumb luck, you somehow managed to land a better PK as a walk-on, who then proved he belonged at this level. But then your knucklehead HC says “nah” to the scholarship and voila…said knucklehead finds himself in an even WORSE position the following year, tho this time it’s cost you 2 wins…on national TV.
Why more people aren’t livid with this particular wrinkle is beyond me. This is prima facie cause for termination.
1000% agree. Wilcox is a fool who has no clue what he's doing...
Except he doesn't hire special team coordinator
travers family, can we get $16m to swap out the HC
We risk killing our whales.