As a recently new season ticket holder, daughter attends Cal, I have had a blast spending Saturday afternoons at Cal Memorial Stadium. As a Buckeye, I fell in love with the history, culture, and underdog status of the Golden Bears. I was relieved to not root for the mighty institutional programs, like my beloved Buckeyes. I was excited to root for good, old fashioned football after listening to the awesome passion and knowledge of Mike Pawlawski calling games, leaping out of my seat cheering Jayden Ott running 60 yard long TDs, and bellowing a long, deep Mendoza cheer with my buddy: “Mendoooozzaa!” over and over, as he generated the greatest hope any program could ask for taking charge of the offense and our hearts. I will continue to pray that Aaron Rogers, Marshawn Lynch, Keenan Allen, and others, give back and help their Alma mater stay relevant by donating money to the program, possibly helping prevent Mendoza from really leaving. His karma was awesome and if he is leaving with hurt feelings, it’s not necessarily the case that the grass is greener somewhere else. There is no guarantee he will regenerate the same success and fandom somewhere else. If there really was communication issues with Fernando, that is such a shame. I can’t imagine the extent of what went wrong for him to leave his brothers before the bowl game? He never flinched at taking a shot and fighting for his teammates and the fans. Was it so bad, he couldn’t wait until after the bowl game? Because honestly, the decision left his teammates hanging in the balance. His senior brothers needed him the most for the very last game. I am going to renew my season tickets one more year, but if the Bears are going to continue falling victim to the new portal and NIL powers, there might not be many more Saturday afternoon games at the beautiful Cal Memorial Stadium. Go Bears!
OK...a few more cents worth. I attended the LA Bowl and had a blast! We had Elon drive us up from San Diego in my son's Tesla, ate at a killer BBQ joynt in the neighborhood, had great seats and were surrounded by thousands of Cal fans who cheered like hell all the way through. I was honored to sit next to a multigenerational cal football fan and member of the alumni band. His parents graduated in the 30's and his dad played in the band. His Daughter, another cal grad was there as well. We cheered the band, we sang the songs, we relived our youth and that of our children now grown (that son with the Tesla charged the field as a kid and helped bring down the goal posts). So yes, fuck, we continue to lose games and the world changes, and things are not the way they used to be, or could be now. But damn, it was great to sing those songs, chant those cheers and be there with my extended Cal family. Go Bears Forever!
Who knew that all those years getting dominated by USC (yes, with an occasional upset) would be the best we ever had it? I'm really down in the dumps right now over the current state of affairs.
As somebody who went down to the bowl game and has been to almost every home game, bowl game and many away games in my past 33 years of fandom, this is a new low.
I know that we get blown out of games. I know that we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I know that we come out lackluster against mediocre teams and find a way to lose or barely win. All of that I know.
But I cannot accept not trying, and that's what I saw on Wednesday. Sure you lost a bunch of players. Sure we're down to our fourth string quarterback. Sure the process is broken and everything is weird and wrong and bad. But you still try to put the best product out on the field and try to win the damn game. To do otherwise is a slap in the face of every fan and every player that has worn the Blue and Gold.
This sentiment could be applied to a lot of programs. It's a systemic problem that's going to have to be addressed if the industry is going to expect not only continued, but ever more support in various forms.
No one likes to lose, and its on the various programs to put a competent program on the field. But its also true that often you lose because your team is just not good in some ways. That's a problem, but no where near the problem of obvious lack of putting your best effort forth, even if it won't be good enough some days.
Cal's turbulent 2024 season has concluded. Best and worst, ESPN Game Day at Cal/Cal losses to Miami that night. A heartfelt moment, 98 yards with my boys, after the Big Game followed by a decision to enter the portal a few days later. A series of crazy close disheartening losses, and a few good wins. A couple more years of this stuff, I guess. Time to recuperate, enjoy the off season. See what next year is going to be like and oh, just get the three-game ticket package instead of the full home game kit for 2025. Go Bears!
Yet somehow there remain folks seemingly unaware of the changing landscape of NCAAFB that defend Justin Wilcox and condescendingly deride those critical of a coach with a .348 winning percentage against conference foes over 8 meager seasons. Baffling.
I have zero faith in Justin Wilcox to win 9, but maybe the additions of keen offensive minds like Harsin, Rolovich and especially Famika Anae bring about just enough change….fingers crossed.
I'm just not sure how much interest I will have anymore in college football after this season. After finally getting to the point of a meaningful championship playoff structure with any team with any small bit of rationale to claim being the best team, the entire stability of teams collapses in terms of both players and coaches....how meaningful post season games are in terms of claims and final rankings is very questionable. There are a lot of ways to spend the finite time we have and post-season college football has become a circus. Perhaps if players were "employees" with contracts and had to perform post season or lose substantial NIL dollars under those contracts that might be one way to address this situation. But it just makes it virtually the same as being pro, and I don't follow pro. Additionally, the entire way the initial push for NIL was stated was the players were being taken advantage of by rich athletic departments. But now it's just "you all need to donate even more than you ever have." The only thing that might get my interest renewed would be if the top 32 football teams over the past decade or something like that split off and dominated all players able to be drafted pro, the rest of collegiate football returned to players with substantial interest in getting a degree, buying season tickets and donating $250, $500 or $1000 a year was sufficient for the regular supportive fan not sitting on a pile of Bitcoin or Apple or Tesla stock. The question does have to be asked for each team and its fan base: how many millions more are needed each year in donations to compete with the top 32 teams? And even beyond that: what does it mean to play for four schools in five years? Assuming you did earn a degree after all of that, to which school are you loyal and how can you build any kind of record of accomplishment in the school record books and be recognized as a "great"? It will be interesting to see what happens to fans across the 100+ football schools as this circus continues and the dollars demanded continue to sky rocket.
I'm grateful for this and hoping for more post-mortem analysis to help process and purge. I suppose in the end we end up at the beginning, which is the recognition of deep mediocrity in every facet of Cal football under Wilcox. I believe the new offensive coaches are upgrades, and defensive coaching seems fine as usual under Wilcox, but the whole ecosystem of Cal football will find a way to remain mediocre, winning a few, losing many that are close, and wishing for something that will not happen.
That is exactly how to view it. He’s got his best collection of coaches. Maybe get a special teams coach? Now it’s up to the portal, which Cal has navigated pretty well. I’ll do my part with a NIL donation.
Hopefully we’ll have a decent two years, which I think is the current contract length. Then hopefully a better regime will come along.
Could Tedford recruit "10-3" personnel in today's environment? Could anyone Cal could actually get (Urban Meyer or Pete Carrol isn't coming to Strawberry canyon) do materially better than Wilcox at it? That seems to be the crux of the issue.
Tedford is the only one to consistently elevate Cal by a substantial amount, and it could even be argued that the same ceiling issue even brought Tedford crashing down.
Sonny won some games, but no one will argue he fielded a "10-3" defense at any point.
My suspicion is after a couple more years, Wilcox gets replaced, and 2-4 years later we will still be reading frustrated posts when a 6-7 roster goes 5-7 or 7-6. Or posts pining for that.
I'll donate to the NIL once a few more portal recruits are in hand and we can see the lay of the land. I have to admit that this new era is hard to get used to and the value of a Cal degree has to be weighed against NIL monies. College football is big business now and not viewing it like a business is foolhardy. Hopefully the acumen of Chancellor Lyons will lead to a new path for Cal football.
"If you had told me after the 2023 Independence Bowl about all the malarky and tomfoolery that Cal would get up to in 2024 just for the year to end the exact same way at 6-7, I wouldn’t have believed you."
Bill Parcells: "you are what yoru record says you are." And Justin is below a .500 head coach. Even if Fernando returned next year, at best we'd be looking at 7 wins. For example, with a better kicker, we could have had 2-3 more wins this year, and we actually had a better kicker last year who would have loved to return and start this year, but JW made the coaching decision to let him go (to UCLA).
When you have in aggregate "6-7" personnel, you usually get 6-7, with 7-6 & 5-7 the most likely alternatives. While the personnel turns over, it hasn't changed much in nature in years. Get some linemen or get ready for more 6-7 seasons.
As a recently new season ticket holder, daughter attends Cal, I have had a blast spending Saturday afternoons at Cal Memorial Stadium. As a Buckeye, I fell in love with the history, culture, and underdog status of the Golden Bears. I was relieved to not root for the mighty institutional programs, like my beloved Buckeyes. I was excited to root for good, old fashioned football after listening to the awesome passion and knowledge of Mike Pawlawski calling games, leaping out of my seat cheering Jayden Ott running 60 yard long TDs, and bellowing a long, deep Mendoza cheer with my buddy: “Mendoooozzaa!” over and over, as he generated the greatest hope any program could ask for taking charge of the offense and our hearts. I will continue to pray that Aaron Rogers, Marshawn Lynch, Keenan Allen, and others, give back and help their Alma mater stay relevant by donating money to the program, possibly helping prevent Mendoza from really leaving. His karma was awesome and if he is leaving with hurt feelings, it’s not necessarily the case that the grass is greener somewhere else. There is no guarantee he will regenerate the same success and fandom somewhere else. If there really was communication issues with Fernando, that is such a shame. I can’t imagine the extent of what went wrong for him to leave his brothers before the bowl game? He never flinched at taking a shot and fighting for his teammates and the fans. Was it so bad, he couldn’t wait until after the bowl game? Because honestly, the decision left his teammates hanging in the balance. His senior brothers needed him the most for the very last game. I am going to renew my season tickets one more year, but if the Bears are going to continue falling victim to the new portal and NIL powers, there might not be many more Saturday afternoon games at the beautiful Cal Memorial Stadium. Go Bears!
My sentiment exactly!
"The Good, the Bad, and the Rock Fights: Cal v. UNLV - LA Bowl Edition"
"This holiday season the Bears gave their fans a bowl full of rocks."
Won't that come in handy when reloading socks with rocks in preparation for Cal's next rock fight football game?
OK...a few more cents worth. I attended the LA Bowl and had a blast! We had Elon drive us up from San Diego in my son's Tesla, ate at a killer BBQ joynt in the neighborhood, had great seats and were surrounded by thousands of Cal fans who cheered like hell all the way through. I was honored to sit next to a multigenerational cal football fan and member of the alumni band. His parents graduated in the 30's and his dad played in the band. His Daughter, another cal grad was there as well. We cheered the band, we sang the songs, we relived our youth and that of our children now grown (that son with the Tesla charged the field as a kid and helped bring down the goal posts). So yes, fuck, we continue to lose games and the world changes, and things are not the way they used to be, or could be now. But damn, it was great to sing those songs, chant those cheers and be there with my extended Cal family. Go Bears Forever!
"the fun of being a Cal fan"??? I am not having any fun. :(
Burl Toler to UCLA.
Good for him.
Who knew that all those years getting dominated by USC (yes, with an occasional upset) would be the best we ever had it? I'm really down in the dumps right now over the current state of affairs.
As somebody who went down to the bowl game and has been to almost every home game, bowl game and many away games in my past 33 years of fandom, this is a new low.
I know that we get blown out of games. I know that we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I know that we come out lackluster against mediocre teams and find a way to lose or barely win. All of that I know.
But I cannot accept not trying, and that's what I saw on Wednesday. Sure you lost a bunch of players. Sure we're down to our fourth string quarterback. Sure the process is broken and everything is weird and wrong and bad. But you still try to put the best product out on the field and try to win the damn game. To do otherwise is a slap in the face of every fan and every player that has worn the Blue and Gold.
This is a new low.
This sentiment could be applied to a lot of programs. It's a systemic problem that's going to have to be addressed if the industry is going to expect not only continued, but ever more support in various forms.
No one likes to lose, and its on the various programs to put a competent program on the field. But its also true that often you lose because your team is just not good in some ways. That's a problem, but no where near the problem of obvious lack of putting your best effort forth, even if it won't be good enough some days.
Cal's turbulent 2024 season has concluded. Best and worst, ESPN Game Day at Cal/Cal losses to Miami that night. A heartfelt moment, 98 yards with my boys, after the Big Game followed by a decision to enter the portal a few days later. A series of crazy close disheartening losses, and a few good wins. A couple more years of this stuff, I guess. Time to recuperate, enjoy the off season. See what next year is going to be like and oh, just get the three-game ticket package instead of the full home game kit for 2025. Go Bears!
Don’t mean to knit pick with your overall sentiment but can you tell me what the “few good wins” were?
I genuinely don’t remember the last time we beat a good team.
Come to think of it, neither do I. But the Auburn win felt good at the time and the Stanford win was sweet anyway.
Beating Stanford is always a good win. But I get your point.
Justin Wilcox vs. FBS teams with a winning record that season:
2017: 1-5
2018: 2-4
2019: 1-4
2020: 1-1
2021: 1-4
2022: 0-7
2023: 1-6
2024: 0-5
LAST 3 SEASONS: 1-18
WHEN WILL ADMIN WAKE UP! WILCOX IS RUINING THIS PROGRAM!
Yet somehow there remain folks seemingly unaware of the changing landscape of NCAAFB that defend Justin Wilcox and condescendingly deride those critical of a coach with a .348 winning percentage against conference foes over 8 meager seasons. Baffling.
This is not a matter of the admin being asleep at the wheel. We literally do not have the finances to fire Wilcox right now.
That said, fire Knowlton.
Donors would pony up for the buyout, not Cal.
They’re not going to do that just to have dope Jim Knowlton make the hire.
Once Knowlton is gone, which is rumored to be in the works, Wilcox’s days in Berkeley are numbered, barring a massive turnaround like a 9-win season.
An eight win season is not a massive turnaround. That's in the noise - a kick or two, a stop or two.
A massive turn around is 10 wins.
disagree. An 8 win season would be HUGE for JW. (And extension for Life)
I meant 9. Typo.
Fair enough, I'll compromise at 9 :-)
I have zero faith in Justin Wilcox to win 9, but maybe the additions of keen offensive minds like Harsin, Rolovich and especially Famika Anae bring about just enough change….fingers crossed.
I'm just not sure how much interest I will have anymore in college football after this season. After finally getting to the point of a meaningful championship playoff structure with any team with any small bit of rationale to claim being the best team, the entire stability of teams collapses in terms of both players and coaches....how meaningful post season games are in terms of claims and final rankings is very questionable. There are a lot of ways to spend the finite time we have and post-season college football has become a circus. Perhaps if players were "employees" with contracts and had to perform post season or lose substantial NIL dollars under those contracts that might be one way to address this situation. But it just makes it virtually the same as being pro, and I don't follow pro. Additionally, the entire way the initial push for NIL was stated was the players were being taken advantage of by rich athletic departments. But now it's just "you all need to donate even more than you ever have." The only thing that might get my interest renewed would be if the top 32 football teams over the past decade or something like that split off and dominated all players able to be drafted pro, the rest of collegiate football returned to players with substantial interest in getting a degree, buying season tickets and donating $250, $500 or $1000 a year was sufficient for the regular supportive fan not sitting on a pile of Bitcoin or Apple or Tesla stock. The question does have to be asked for each team and its fan base: how many millions more are needed each year in donations to compete with the top 32 teams? And even beyond that: what does it mean to play for four schools in five years? Assuming you did earn a degree after all of that, to which school are you loyal and how can you build any kind of record of accomplishment in the school record books and be recognized as a "great"? It will be interesting to see what happens to fans across the 100+ football schools as this circus continues and the dollars demanded continue to sky rocket.
For a lot, it will probably look a lot more like the MAC & C-USA, and FCS.
Well said.
Question: Why did Tobias and Gray, our top wide receivers, not play in the bowl game? Do they still have eligibility and have they entered the portal?
Tobias Merriweather did play and had a memorable holding penalty. Graves hasn’t been available in 11 games I believe
He also unfortunately appeared to get injured in the first half.
I'm grateful for this and hoping for more post-mortem analysis to help process and purge. I suppose in the end we end up at the beginning, which is the recognition of deep mediocrity in every facet of Cal football under Wilcox. I believe the new offensive coaches are upgrades, and defensive coaching seems fine as usual under Wilcox, but the whole ecosystem of Cal football will find a way to remain mediocre, winning a few, losing many that are close, and wishing for something that will not happen.
Cal is like a box of chocolates.
Justin Wilcox’s Last Stand
That is exactly how to view it. He’s got his best collection of coaches. Maybe get a special teams coach? Now it’s up to the portal, which Cal has navigated pretty well. I’ll do my part with a NIL donation.
Hopefully we’ll have a decent two years, which I think is the current contract length. Then hopefully a better regime will come along.
Could Tedford recruit "10-3" personnel in today's environment? Could anyone Cal could actually get (Urban Meyer or Pete Carrol isn't coming to Strawberry canyon) do materially better than Wilcox at it? That seems to be the crux of the issue.
Tedford is the only one to consistently elevate Cal by a substantial amount, and it could even be argued that the same ceiling issue even brought Tedford crashing down.
Sonny won some games, but no one will argue he fielded a "10-3" defense at any point.
My suspicion is after a couple more years, Wilcox gets replaced, and 2-4 years later we will still be reading frustrated posts when a 6-7 roster goes 5-7 or 7-6. Or posts pining for that.
No to Pete Carroll after the scam he pulled at USC. He ran to the NFL, leaving his players & team to face the repercussions of his actions while HC.
I'll donate to the NIL once a few more portal recruits are in hand and we can see the lay of the land. I have to admit that this new era is hard to get used to and the value of a Cal degree has to be weighed against NIL monies. College football is big business now and not viewing it like a business is foolhardy. Hopefully the acumen of Chancellor Lyons will lead to a new path for Cal football.
Chicken or egg problem. Without NIL $s can't recruit portal recruits.
well done, TC.
"If you had told me after the 2023 Independence Bowl about all the malarky and tomfoolery that Cal would get up to in 2024 just for the year to end the exact same way at 6-7, I wouldn’t have believed you."
Bill Parcells: "you are what yoru record says you are." And Justin is below a .500 head coach. Even if Fernando returned next year, at best we'd be looking at 7 wins. For example, with a better kicker, we could have had 2-3 more wins this year, and we actually had a better kicker last year who would have loved to return and start this year, but JW made the coaching decision to let him go (to UCLA).
When you have in aggregate "6-7" personnel, you usually get 6-7, with 7-6 & 5-7 the most likely alternatives. While the personnel turns over, it hasn't changed much in nature in years. Get some linemen or get ready for more 6-7 seasons.
Good stuff TD!