"...[T]he massive turnaround he helped engineer early in his tenure, taking a group of players who struggled so badly under Sonny Dykes and immediately transforming them into a stifling defense."
I am worried that the quality of our coaching has deteriorated. We lost a great DB coach who coached the Takers and ended up with two DB coaches who have a load of talent from the portal. Wilcox wanted two coaches because he wanted our secondary to play well and not give up the big plays or the big third down conversions. I have concerns about how good they are because I see to many busted coverages, and really shitty tackling (if you could even call what they do tackling). Some of the guys in our secondary are playing tough, others look like they want to avoid physical contact. Also, with respect to our O-Line and D-Line, they are big and tough, but I don't sense any nasty. We need guys who are determined to win one on one battles or go down fighting. I just don't see that.
Again, I'm not equipped to judge details of line play, only the results. Our guys seem as physically big as their guys, so the difference is either talent or coaching.
I was thinking this morning, why do none of the reporters ask Wilcox some version of: "Justin, you've been at Cal seven years now, and so when you note that your team is not as strong, physical, or capable as the teams beating you, what does that say about your recruiting or coaching?" Besides that is, that they might be fired.
When I listened to Wilcox's presser and heard him say that I was begging a reporter to ask Wilcox that exact question. Alas none of them did. Perhaps one will as a follow-up later this week.
There seems to be a lack of player development all around - I wouldn't worry about talent from the portal it goes where the money pays ... and apparently there's plenty of that ("we raised $2MM in one weekend" one reported said) - so far that's been a bust. But what we are really talking about is development. Young talent will go where they can be trained up and developed into players not participants.
Thoughtful. Thank you. I can't disagree with anything. Hive Mind. Bear Mind. I'm starting to call this my great withdrawal. Not posting, not caring, not making the trip down from Seattle to Berkeley. I've become an Old Blue. I don't want to be an Old Blue. I want to be a Bright Blue and be able to cheer for a well coached team that plays at least equal to the talent they have, and that occasionally punches above our weight, instead of consistently under.
Dude, I've got some self respect! The only other team I can take pleasure in cheering for is the Beavs, as I've said here before my wife did her MS at OSU and we enjoyed living in Corvallis. And the Beavs are the perfect example of a team doing more with less. The Fuskies are a great team, to my chagrin, but I will never, never root for them. They are like $C to me.
There's a new place on Cannery Row that serves "gourmet" themed doughnuts for about $7 each. Smart marketing gimmick for tourists but all the locals know the best doughnuts are not there. LOL
We’ve probably all encountered obnoxious fans of ALL Pac 12 teams, no, OD? For me, U of A and Oregon take the cake, after fUCLA and the University of Sycopathic Cillers, of course.
I just really like Michael Penix, I like Deboer…good team.
Most definitely. I just so happened to have encountered rude UW fans, plus my older daughter went to Oregon so on her behalf I root against UW and OSU. From what I gather most everyone has come across obnoxious U$C fans, it's a universal truth.
U of A? I lived in AZ for 5 years and don't think I ever came across an obnoxious U of A fan. The worst thing they were known for was looking down on ASU for being less academically selective.
I lived in AZ for 5 years as well, and through the years have attended a number of football and basketball games in Tucson, as well as in Berkeley v the Wildcats. Even went to the regional in Providence, RI when they played Wichita St.
Not all of the fans, of course - plenty are delightful, but some are incredibly obnoxious…specifically the ugly 2010 football game at U of A. Some real asshats.
At the end of the season, Jackson Sirmon will run out of eligibility and this will be a natural time to part ways with Coach Sirmon. Wilcox needs to pull the trigger on this. His next immediate phone call should be to Alexander to discuss his return as DB coach if not DC. Both current DB coaches need to be fired.
Sadly, during this bye week I expect only Nando will measurably improve. With 2 games under his belt and tape to review and learn from I feel he comes into game 3 a much improved QB. Unfortunately he will still be behind a very poor OL.
Nick: That is one of the most depressing articles about Cal Football that I've read in quite some time but you aren't wrong. All we can really hope for at this point is, barring an unforeseen turnaround either this year or next, a new coach who can do a better job and turn things around and this does give me some hope. There could be another Kalen DeBoer or Jeff Tedford out there somewhere who can restore Cal Football to its former glory (or at least not make us such an easy win for other programs). Hell, considering how successful Tedford has been at Fresno State and that DeBoer is from his coaching tree, we might want to start there first. We just have to find these under the radar coaches (and a new AD). Every single program in the Pac-12 has spent some time bottom-feeding but there was always an eventual turnaround and someday this will happen to Cal as well. Am I high right now? Absolutely not. I'm just old enough to know that the pendulum always swings back so this is what I'm hanging onto.
IMO Wilcox is a capable program builder but lost all of his momentum after COVID. He had a chance this year to pick things back up, but that has not worked out. A change is required to restore recruiting and fan morale.
It is becoming more apparent that those good defenses in the early years were built around Sonny Dykes recruits that came in with a different mindset over the Wilcox recruits that followed. You always hear that a head coach can only be properly judged when he is molding and coaching the players that he brought in. Bruce Snyder certainly showed that when he started winning big in seasons four and five with his recruits. But applying the same standard, Wilcox is a big fail. I don't see him getting another chance at the P5 level when he is finally shown the door.
I like that the program has no off-field drama, but he hasn't done a very good job of picking assistants. When it doubt, he usually goes with one of his Oregon buddies.
THE ONLY CHANCE REMAINING FOR CAL VS, USC IS THAT WE ENJOY AN ALL OUT EFFORT TO PROTECT FERNANDO! THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE FOR TODAY. GERBEAR GO BEARS!!!
After twenty-five years, I got to divorce this nasty bitch. I can't deal with this addiction anymore. It is too debilitating. Nothing will ever change with this football program. I wish everyone on this board and the Write for California staff the very best of everything. Go Bears!
Only 25 years? I'm on year........~50? I don't know; cheering for a team is something you do because you love them, not because it's good for you or healthy.....
I did not even go to Cal, and I cannot pull that trigger. Can you imagine how great we would all feel as Cal fans if Cal had gone into that mosh pit in Colorado this weekend and pulled off the upset after being down 29-0? I am convinced that Troy Taylor is truly special and will make great things happen on the Farm in due time. I still cannot make the switch, though in my rational mind I am still having the conversation with my heart.
I don't hate them. They were the one team that consistently stuck up for us during all the conference negotiations. I reserve the right to make fun of their team, band, and pretty much everything else about them until the cows come home, though.
"For the first time under Justin Wilcox the Cal defense is actively bad, and I don't think I understand why." I sort of do, and it has to with a fairly well documented history of bad head coaches getting worse with time. It's the reason why savvy AD's pull the trigger on these guys sooner than later......Except at Cal and maybe Indiana. It looks like Wilcox will be competing with Indiana's Tom Allen for the most losses at the P5 level over the past three seasons. Indiana AD Scott Dolson will likely pull the trigger on Allen at the end of the season. Cal is stuck with Wilcox for several more seasons, and Wilcox knows he can appease the fan base by firing a few guys - most likely Sermon and the two D back coaches - at the end of each season. Really sad.
A large portion of the fanbase refuses to hold Wilcox and Cal football accountable simply because he has managed to beat Stanford a few times. (See below post as evidence).
This seems to be a lost year, but if we can win Big Game and then roll into next year with an increasingly improving QB in Mendoza, that will give me something to hang onto. Oh and just fire Sirmon and have JW take over D for rest of year! That seems like our best chance for in season improvement
You realize you are enabling the true source of the problem by saying that Wilcox just needs to fire another coach to fix things. Nothing is going to get better while he remains at the helm. Seven losses in 2021, eight in 2022 and at least eight or maybe nine this year. The few guys making NIL cake might stick around, but there are going to be a lot of dudes jumping ship at the end of this season.
I feel you but I have three kids and a mortgage so I don’t have the funds to pony up to kick his ass out, and am guessing with the contract situation and changeover at Chancellor none of that happens until after next year
If so, Wilcox's buyout is $3.75M this year. Seems like it might be a small price to pay to avoid another year of declining interest (and more importantly, to avoid getting surpassed once again by currently laughable furd team).
Yep. If you read the SI link, he has a $275,000 base salary, and an increasing "talent fee" per year. And the contract seems fully guaranteed, with no buyout, so we'll be on the hook for the whole thing if we fire him. That means we would have to pay him:
2024: $275,000 + $4,075,000 = $4,350,000
2025: $275,000 + $4,275,000 = $4,550,000
2026: $275,000 + $4,475,000 = $4,750,000
2027: $275,000 + $4,675,000 = $4,950,000
So that's $18.9M to fire him. If we fire him at the end of *next* year, it'll be $14.55M. That may be the nugget that donors have to swallow. Unless he suddenly manages to figure things out, I don't think we can tolerate sticking it out for 2 and a half more seasons at this rate. The opportunity cost is just too great. Hopefully the powers that be are starting to pass the hat to raise that $15M plus whatever a new coaching staff is gonna cost.
What if we started a Write For California lottery group and everyone donated to collectively buy lottery tickets which we would win to then become a de facto activist investor? Money = Wins right?
I've now figured out what needs to happen this offseason in order for Cal Football to be turned around. First Knowlton needs to be fired and replaced. Then Wilcox needs to have a offseason identical to Bob Huggins so he can be fired for cause. This will allow Cal to avoid his lengthy buyout and finally get a real coach in the building. Obviously Cal hasn't done great with finding good coaching but the writing is on the wall with Wilcox, need somebody new
I've been meaning to get to this, but based on everything I've seen Brett is just another dude along the line. Good to have him back for depth purposes but he's not been much better than the other guys that played last year, if at all. And we'll be left wondering what he might have played like without two season ending injuries that may have sapped his effectiveness.
Just thought of how Cal is missing guys like Cam Goode. Kind of a hybrid linebacker D end guy who could be disruptive on the pash rush with 21.5 career sacks. Oh wait a minute....another Sonny Dykes recruit.
Cam as I recall came in at 6'4 and 200 pounds. He added 30 pounds in the weight room and became a stud after his pick six against Ole Miss. Not happening these days unless your name is Kaleb.
The players on UW, OSU, and Utah simply play with an explosiveness and physicality that is not matched by our team. This seems to be part talent and part will to power.
Sirmon was never coordinator level. Pretty sure he got promoted so we didn't lose his recruiting abilities (for whatever they're worth beyond his own kin). JT always had trouble relinquishing the reins of the offense and functioning as a football CEO - I wonder if Wilcox was feeling the same. Either way, we'll once again be turning dreams of 7-8 wins into a 4-win turd sandwich.
We’ve really regressed on the fundamentals. Our blocking and tackling just isn’t very good. You can’t execute game plans when you can’t get the basics right.
Knowlton really killed the entire athletic department. He can’t be replaced soon enough.
Great summary and insight, Nick.
"...[T]he massive turnaround he helped engineer early in his tenure, taking a group of players who struggled so badly under Sonny Dykes and immediately transforming them into a stifling defense."
DeRuyter: "I did that!"
I am worried that the quality of our coaching has deteriorated. We lost a great DB coach who coached the Takers and ended up with two DB coaches who have a load of talent from the portal. Wilcox wanted two coaches because he wanted our secondary to play well and not give up the big plays or the big third down conversions. I have concerns about how good they are because I see to many busted coverages, and really shitty tackling (if you could even call what they do tackling). Some of the guys in our secondary are playing tough, others look like they want to avoid physical contact. Also, with respect to our O-Line and D-Line, they are big and tough, but I don't sense any nasty. We need guys who are determined to win one on one battles or go down fighting. I just don't see that.
Again, I'm not equipped to judge details of line play, only the results. Our guys seem as physically big as their guys, so the difference is either talent or coaching.
I was thinking this morning, why do none of the reporters ask Wilcox some version of: "Justin, you've been at Cal seven years now, and so when you note that your team is not as strong, physical, or capable as the teams beating you, what does that say about your recruiting or coaching?" Besides that is, that they might be fired.
I must say, despite it being a thoroughly awful football weekend, seeing this level of snark from you CB91 literally warms my heart.
I'm glad I've helped! A little heart warmth as winter approaches is a good thing.
Winter is coming.
Our outlook is stark.
I for one think Arya Stark should be our next head coach.
When I listened to Wilcox's presser and heard him say that I was begging a reporter to ask Wilcox that exact question. Alas none of them did. Perhaps one will as a follow-up later this week.
I wonder if having two DB coaches is actually making the secondary less cohesive and more prone to busts. Two-chefs-in-the-kitchen effect?
I wonder if one of them knows something about STs?
There seems to be a lack of player development all around - I wouldn't worry about talent from the portal it goes where the money pays ... and apparently there's plenty of that ("we raised $2MM in one weekend" one reported said) - so far that's been a bust. But what we are really talking about is development. Young talent will go where they can be trained up and developed into players not participants.
Thoughtful. Thank you. I can't disagree with anything. Hive Mind. Bear Mind. I'm starting to call this my great withdrawal. Not posting, not caring, not making the trip down from Seattle to Berkeley. I've become an Old Blue. I don't want to be an Old Blue. I want to be a Bright Blue and be able to cheer for a well coached team that plays at least equal to the talent they have, and that occasionally punches above our weight, instead of consistently under.
You should cheer for UW….at least get something out of this year.
Dude, I've got some self respect! The only other team I can take pleasure in cheering for is the Beavs, as I've said here before my wife did her MS at OSU and we enjoyed living in Corvallis. And the Beavs are the perfect example of a team doing more with less. The Fuskies are a great team, to my chagrin, but I will never, never root for them. They are like $C to me.
I agree. In terms of teams I will never root for, UW is only behind Stanford, USC and Ucla.
I ain't never had Voo Doo Doughnuts.
To me they're nothing special. All flash no substance.
That's what I figured.
There's a new place on Cannery Row that serves "gourmet" themed doughnuts for about $7 each. Smart marketing gimmick for tourists but all the locals know the best doughnuts are not there. LOL
No thanks. I've encountered too many obnoxious Husky fans. One former and one current boss. Only root for them against our three rivals.
We’ve probably all encountered obnoxious fans of ALL Pac 12 teams, no, OD? For me, U of A and Oregon take the cake, after fUCLA and the University of Sycopathic Cillers, of course.
I just really like Michael Penix, I like Deboer…good team.
Most definitely. I just so happened to have encountered rude UW fans, plus my older daughter went to Oregon so on her behalf I root against UW and OSU. From what I gather most everyone has come across obnoxious U$C fans, it's a universal truth.
Can't swing a dead cat and not hit an obnoxious $C fan.
The best team money can buy has loads of "dirt road alumni" who never went there, but just want fame by association.
U of A? I lived in AZ for 5 years and don't think I ever came across an obnoxious U of A fan. The worst thing they were known for was looking down on ASU for being less academically selective.
U of A excels in astronomy. One of the best in that field. Not as good as Cal but almost.
Welp. Less light pollution in AZ. There's quite a few observatories down there, as I understand it.
I lived in AZ for 5 years as well, and through the years have attended a number of football and basketball games in Tucson, as well as in Berkeley v the Wildcats. Even went to the regional in Providence, RI when they played Wichita St.
Not all of the fans, of course - plenty are delightful, but some are incredibly obnoxious…specifically the ugly 2010 football game at U of A. Some real asshats.
Anyone else see that Cal hasn’t recorded a sack in a month?
0 sacks in Conference play. From a defensive minded Head Coach.
He should be fired for this stat alone.
At the end of the season, Jackson Sirmon will run out of eligibility and this will be a natural time to part ways with Coach Sirmon. Wilcox needs to pull the trigger on this. His next immediate phone call should be to Alexander to discuss his return as DB coach if not DC. Both current DB coaches need to be fired.
Sadly, during this bye week I expect only Nando will measurably improve. With 2 games under his belt and tape to review and learn from I feel he comes into game 3 a much improved QB. Unfortunately he will still be behind a very poor OL.
What do we do with SJV?
Not sure why Finley subbed in for mildly injured Nando.
Nick: That is one of the most depressing articles about Cal Football that I've read in quite some time but you aren't wrong. All we can really hope for at this point is, barring an unforeseen turnaround either this year or next, a new coach who can do a better job and turn things around and this does give me some hope. There could be another Kalen DeBoer or Jeff Tedford out there somewhere who can restore Cal Football to its former glory (or at least not make us such an easy win for other programs). Hell, considering how successful Tedford has been at Fresno State and that DeBoer is from his coaching tree, we might want to start there first. We just have to find these under the radar coaches (and a new AD). Every single program in the Pac-12 has spent some time bottom-feeding but there was always an eventual turnaround and someday this will happen to Cal as well. Am I high right now? Absolutely not. I'm just old enough to know that the pendulum always swings back so this is what I'm hanging onto.
IMO Wilcox is a capable program builder but lost all of his momentum after COVID. He had a chance this year to pick things back up, but that has not worked out. A change is required to restore recruiting and fan morale.
It is becoming more apparent that those good defenses in the early years were built around Sonny Dykes recruits that came in with a different mindset over the Wilcox recruits that followed. You always hear that a head coach can only be properly judged when he is molding and coaching the players that he brought in. Bruce Snyder certainly showed that when he started winning big in seasons four and five with his recruits. But applying the same standard, Wilcox is a big fail. I don't see him getting another chance at the P5 level when he is finally shown the door.
The man got paid -- extend everybody during covid. Lost the fire in his belly.
I like that the program has no off-field drama, but he hasn't done a very good job of picking assistants. When it doubt, he usually goes with one of his Oregon buddies.
THE ONLY CHANCE REMAINING FOR CAL VS, USC IS THAT WE ENJOY AN ALL OUT EFFORT TO PROTECT FERNANDO! THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE FOR TODAY. GERBEAR GO BEARS!!!
After twenty-five years, I got to divorce this nasty bitch. I can't deal with this addiction anymore. It is too debilitating. Nothing will ever change with this football program. I wish everyone on this board and the Write for California staff the very best of everything. Go Bears!
Only 25 years? I'm on year........~50? I don't know; cheering for a team is something you do because you love them, not because it's good for you or healthy.....
Yes, I'm thinking therapist more than divorce. 😉
Who was your divorce lawyer? Because I too would like to use them to divorce Cal football.
This divorce would be far more cumbersome and problematic than my actual divorce.
Can Cal football pay me alimony? Hmm....
Calimony
That's it!
A class action suit for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
I did not even go to Cal, and I cannot pull that trigger. Can you imagine how great we would all feel as Cal fans if Cal had gone into that mosh pit in Colorado this weekend and pulled off the upset after being down 29-0? I am convinced that Troy Taylor is truly special and will make great things happen on the Farm in due time. I still cannot make the switch, though in my rational mind I am still having the conversation with my heart.
There's got to be a story, here, Steve.
I have temporarily suspended hatred of Furd while we navigate the P5 devolution/realignment.
I don't hate them. They were the one team that consistently stuck up for us during all the conference negotiations. I reserve the right to make fun of their team, band, and pretty much everything else about them until the cows come home, though.
LOL. Furd forever.
"For the first time under Justin Wilcox the Cal defense is actively bad, and I don't think I understand why." I sort of do, and it has to with a fairly well documented history of bad head coaches getting worse with time. It's the reason why savvy AD's pull the trigger on these guys sooner than later......Except at Cal and maybe Indiana. It looks like Wilcox will be competing with Indiana's Tom Allen for the most losses at the P5 level over the past three seasons. Indiana AD Scott Dolson will likely pull the trigger on Allen at the end of the season. Cal is stuck with Wilcox for several more seasons, and Wilcox knows he can appease the fan base by firing a few guys - most likely Sermon and the two D back coaches - at the end of each season. Really sad.
A large portion of the fanbase refuses to hold Wilcox and Cal football accountable simply because he has managed to beat Stanford a few times. (See below post as evidence).
We need to demand more, IMHO.
This seems to be a lost year, but if we can win Big Game and then roll into next year with an increasingly improving QB in Mendoza, that will give me something to hang onto. Oh and just fire Sirmon and have JW take over D for rest of year! That seems like our best chance for in season improvement
You realize you are enabling the true source of the problem by saying that Wilcox just needs to fire another coach to fix things. Nothing is going to get better while he remains at the helm. Seven losses in 2021, eight in 2022 and at least eight or maybe nine this year. The few guys making NIL cake might stick around, but there are going to be a lot of dudes jumping ship at the end of this season.
I feel you but I have three kids and a mortgage so I don’t have the funds to pony up to kick his ass out, and am guessing with the contract situation and changeover at Chancellor none of that happens until after next year
Is this info accurate? https://www.si.com/college/cal/news/wilcox-contract-details
If so, Wilcox's buyout is $3.75M this year. Seems like it might be a small price to pay to avoid another year of declining interest (and more importantly, to avoid getting surpassed once again by currently laughable furd team).
We've done the contract math when he signed the extension. Its around $20 mil this offseason.
Yep. If you read the SI link, he has a $275,000 base salary, and an increasing "talent fee" per year. And the contract seems fully guaranteed, with no buyout, so we'll be on the hook for the whole thing if we fire him. That means we would have to pay him:
2024: $275,000 + $4,075,000 = $4,350,000
2025: $275,000 + $4,275,000 = $4,550,000
2026: $275,000 + $4,475,000 = $4,750,000
2027: $275,000 + $4,675,000 = $4,950,000
So that's $18.9M to fire him. If we fire him at the end of *next* year, it'll be $14.55M. That may be the nugget that donors have to swallow. Unless he suddenly manages to figure things out, I don't think we can tolerate sticking it out for 2 and a half more seasons at this rate. The opportunity cost is just too great. Hopefully the powers that be are starting to pass the hat to raise that $15M plus whatever a new coaching staff is gonna cost.
I'd rather throw that $ at the best available defensive assistants and maybe some more NIL than roll the dice again with a new guy.
Yeah, per year. I have heard it was as much as $30 million.
Welp, that's a train wreck.
Golden handcuffs tied to the train tracks in full view of the trainwreck.
judging from the multiple comments on the subject, his buyout is $12 million, plus or minus $8 million
What if we started a Write For California lottery group and everyone donated to collectively buy lottery tickets which we would win to then become a de facto activist investor? Money = Wins right?
I've now figured out what needs to happen this offseason in order for Cal Football to be turned around. First Knowlton needs to be fired and replaced. Then Wilcox needs to have a offseason identical to Bob Huggins so he can be fired for cause. This will allow Cal to avoid his lengthy buyout and finally get a real coach in the building. Obviously Cal hasn't done great with finding good coaching but the writing is on the wall with Wilcox, need somebody new
We'll need to poach somebody, but there's buzz about Ron Rivera.
I think it is time to admit that the Brett Johnson effect didn't happen. Two years off did not improve his game.
I've been meaning to get to this, but based on everything I've seen Brett is just another dude along the line. Good to have him back for depth purposes but he's not been much better than the other guys that played last year, if at all. And we'll be left wondering what he might have played like without two season ending injuries that may have sapped his effectiveness.
Apart from him, often, being double teamed?
If he's taking two guys himself most plays, then why can't the rest of the d-line get QB pressure or sacks?
Slow moving guys. Nothing like UCLA this year. And our safety and CB blitzes even looked slow
Good point. But I think they, often, task the tight end on him. Not gonna' argue, though. We're not controlling the LOS on either side of the ball.
Just thought of how Cal is missing guys like Cam Goode. Kind of a hybrid linebacker D end guy who could be disruptive on the pash rush with 21.5 career sacks. Oh wait a minute....another Sonny Dykes recruit.
Cam as I recall came in at 6'4 and 200 pounds. He added 30 pounds in the weight room and became a stud after his pick six against Ole Miss. Not happening these days unless your name is Kaleb.
Yes. Sonny was on the cusp of building a matching D. TCU D is okay, but Sonny still does shoot outs on a rollercoaster.
The players on UW, OSU, and Utah simply play with an explosiveness and physicality that is not matched by our team. This seems to be part talent and part will to power.
Plus coaching and scheme.
Sirmon Sr has gotten worked by Kenny Dillingham, worked by Jonathan Smith, and worked by Andy Ludwig.
Sirmon was never coordinator level. Pretty sure he got promoted so we didn't lose his recruiting abilities (for whatever they're worth beyond his own kin). JT always had trouble relinquishing the reins of the offense and functioning as a football CEO - I wonder if Wilcox was feeling the same. Either way, we'll once again be turning dreams of 7-8 wins into a 4-win turd sandwich.
I think Sirmon is an excellent inside linebacker coach. That's about it though.
coach and/or progenitor :)
We’ve really regressed on the fundamentals. Our blocking and tackling just isn’t very good. You can’t execute game plans when you can’t get the basics right.
Exactly.