Kalen DeBoer hired by Washington, Sonny Dykes hired by TCU, Jeff Tedford wants to coach again
Around and around the Pac-12 coaching carousel turns.
The Washington Huskies have found their man to replace Jimmy Lake after a disastrous 4-8 campaign. Fresno State head coach Kalen DeBoer is taking over in Montlake.
DeBoer has won a lot as a head coach, primarily at Sioux Falls, where his team went 67-3. DeBoer then journeyed to multiple stops as an offensive coordinator for the past decade, bouncing from Southern Illinois to Eastern Michigan to Fresno State (under Jeff Tedford, where the Bulldogs won the Mountain West). He then helped Indiana football to its most successful campaign ever in 2019 with a dynamic offense. Last year was his first major head coaching gig at a Division 1 job (he went 3-3 in the 2020 COVID season), and he helped situate the Bulldogs at 9-3, second in the Mountain West Western division.
With USC hiring Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley and Washington State removing the interim tag from Jake Dickert, all the Pac-12 coaching vacancies are now filled.
Tedford reportedly was a strong reference for DeBoer. Tedford has also indicated he is interested in returning to coach at some capacity on the college level, according to Pete Thamel of the New York Times.
You have to wonder with the Fresno job now reopened, will Tedford be able to step back to the head coaching mantle with a strong Bulldogs squad in place?
(Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics)
In less surprising former Cal coaching news, Sonny Dykes has a new job! Dykes is moving across Dallas from SMU to TCU. An official announcement is coming tonight, but TCU all but confirmed things this morning.
That begs the question: How quickly can Cal reschedule their 2020 cancelled home game with TCU? It would be quite a hot ticket to see the former Cal head coach return to Berkeley. Cal has some vacancies in their home schedule starting in 2025.
Lots of discussion here about DeBoer and Hoke, and earlier about Jay Norvell, all successful head coaches from the Mountain West and making about $1 million a year or less. Does anyone think that Cal would have beaten Fresno or San Diego State this year after losing the way they did to Nevada? It makes you realize what a terrible return on investment Cal is getting with the $3 million a year they are paying Wilcox. The fan base is utterly apathetic, and it shows in the stadium attendance this year. The networks don't care about Cal, either, with more than half the games on the Pac 12 channel. The only people who truly care are on this blog, all 100 of us.
You had to know the rumors that Wilcox was high on Washington's consideration list was all smoke. Shame on Wilner for starting them. There is absolutely no way a university with those resources and money would hire a guy with a 14-26 record in conference. Wilcox is Cal's specific problem, and I think he is only going to leave when he is shown the exits.