Unless Wilcox really shits the bed this year he still has his job. I won’t go into all the reasons why but a big part of it has to do with he is the head coach at Cal with all its peculiarities and insufficient support and money. Ron Rivera has come in to help remedy that. I think Wilcox’s weakness has been loyalty to assistant coaches. Moving on from Bloesch last year to Harsin and letting Harsin pick all his assistants was a huge move. I think our offense will be significantly better in terms of efficiency because of Harsin and his assistants and a much improved o-line. Was watching an episode today of the show on Cal’s fall football camp and a good portion of it at the end was dedicated to the offensive line. Looking at their aggressiveness and their technique, they are much improved. The new oline coach has done a great job bringing new talent and coaching them up. And the whole line has nasty now, something they have been missing as a group in the past. If you coach your oline correctly, they will have swagger. They will know their balls drag on the ground if they don’t tuck them in their jocks. They will know that nobody fucks with them and they are the beginning and the end of the team success. Big uglies set the tone. When nobody fucks with them, nobody fucks with the rest of the team. Great teams have olines that have this mentality. I expect our offense to be much improved this year.
Also, I think a bunch of guys that jumped ship and transferred is because Harsin runs a physical hard-nosed offense. As the running back coach says if you can’t pass block, you won’t play, you won’t see the field. For a 200 pound running back put his nose into a 280 lineman coming at the quarterback takes a lot of guts. Stopping them is even tougher. Hitting a seam where there’s no hole and creating three or 4 yards out of pure physical will takes a certain type of running back. I’m not sure either Ott or Jett had that type of mentality. (I’ll be real curious to see how well Ott does at Oklahoma this year. I’m not so sure he’s NFL caliber talent. He certainly has speed and can plant a foot and go, but the rest of his game is pretty weak).
As to who will win the starting nod at quarterback, I’m not as confident that Brown will get it as others. JKS has come back from the off-season big and strong. And he’s an athlete. He’s got a much better arm than Brown. He’s a natural and reminds me of Teddy Bridgewater. JKS could be a true Heisman prospect in the future. The only thing he needs to do is be able to make the reads and respond to the game at P4 level speed. If he can do that, then he will be the starter. Only the coaches know how well he’s doing with that part of his game right now. We’ll see who ends up starting against Oregon State, but I wouldn’t be surprised if JKS ends up in the starting role early on this season.
I think our sturdy Golden Bears have reached a turning point that our new Chancellor has demanded. 2025 should be a fun season. Now as a former nasty o-liner, excuse me as I tuck my balls into my shorts to keep them from dragging on the ground. Go Bears! :)
I saw the video too, the O-Line has the right attitude - dominant! Excited to see them play and see this in action. I was hoping for at least 3 yards each carry this year, but their goal is nothing less than 4 yards, nice! Jett would hit the hole or at least the line hard, but he isn't that big. Last year, Ott would dance, hoping a hole would materialize, but they never did. Yes, I am also interested in how Ott does at OU. The defensive talent he will face in the SEC will be next-level.
The weirdest thing about OU is he picked a school with a more expensive version of the same offense problems at Cal. I had kinda hoped he would go to a school that could showcase him more.
Of course Wilcox will still be our coach after another 5-7 or 6-7 finish. Cal doesn’t care about football and we don’t have the money to fire him. Wilcox stays until Cal crashes out to get the PacState12.
I appreciate everyone’s optimism around JKS in “year 2” at Cal, but my assumption is there’s very little chance of that happening. If he’s as good as advertised an Oregon or Georgia or Michigan-esque program will lure him away with the offer of $ (which maybe we can match, maybe we can’t) along with the possibility of making the playoffs. He’s here because he thot he’d get playing time as a freshman while at UO he was gonna be sending in fake play signals from the sidelines.
If he’s not as good as advertised we’ll only know because our train went off the rails somewhere, JW and Co are likely gone and so is he.
I hate the transfer portal; kids can park anywhere for a season knowing they can renegotiate their futures next Christmas.
Anyone have insight into the Cal Football Fan Day & open practice on August 23? Got the initial email, but haven’t seen any details regarding start time, etc.
I will be driving in from LA and I would love to get more info! Thanks!
Great discussion. Thank you. My 2 cents…I believe Brown has to be clearly the better option at end of camp to become QB1, week one. If it’s close, I would start JKS, due to JKS’s higher ceiling.
Probably Brown, hope he does well. In the videos, JKS appears to have a positive attitude towards learning. This takes some pressure off Wilcox to play him. Both have a lot to learn in terms of game-day reps. Having a strong run game will be crucial. Can't worry about next year - just win baby! This is the year, this is the schedule!!!! GO BEARS ;-)
Unless Wilcox really shits the bed this year he still has his job. I won’t go into all the reasons why but a big part of it has to do with he is the head coach at Cal with all its peculiarities and insufficient support and money. Ron Rivera has come in to help remedy that. I think Wilcox’s weakness has been loyalty to assistant coaches. Moving on from Bloesch last year to Harsin and letting Harsin pick all his assistants was a huge move. I think our offense will be significantly better in terms of efficiency because of Harsin and his assistants and a much improved o-line. Was watching an episode today of the show on Cal’s fall football camp and a good portion of it at the end was dedicated to the offensive line. Looking at their aggressiveness and their technique, they are much improved. The new oline coach has done a great job bringing new talent and coaching them up. And the whole line has nasty now, something they have been missing as a group in the past. If you coach your oline correctly, they will have swagger. They will know their balls drag on the ground if they don’t tuck them in their jocks. They will know that nobody fucks with them and they are the beginning and the end of the team success. Big uglies set the tone. When nobody fucks with them, nobody fucks with the rest of the team. Great teams have olines that have this mentality. I expect our offense to be much improved this year.
Also, I think a bunch of guys that jumped ship and transferred is because Harsin runs a physical hard-nosed offense. As the running back coach says if you can’t pass block, you won’t play, you won’t see the field. For a 200 pound running back put his nose into a 280 lineman coming at the quarterback takes a lot of guts. Stopping them is even tougher. Hitting a seam where there’s no hole and creating three or 4 yards out of pure physical will takes a certain type of running back. I’m not sure either Ott or Jett had that type of mentality. (I’ll be real curious to see how well Ott does at Oklahoma this year. I’m not so sure he’s NFL caliber talent. He certainly has speed and can plant a foot and go, but the rest of his game is pretty weak).
As to who will win the starting nod at quarterback, I’m not as confident that Brown will get it as others. JKS has come back from the off-season big and strong. And he’s an athlete. He’s got a much better arm than Brown. He’s a natural and reminds me of Teddy Bridgewater. JKS could be a true Heisman prospect in the future. The only thing he needs to do is be able to make the reads and respond to the game at P4 level speed. If he can do that, then he will be the starter. Only the coaches know how well he’s doing with that part of his game right now. We’ll see who ends up starting against Oregon State, but I wouldn’t be surprised if JKS ends up in the starting role early on this season.
I think our sturdy Golden Bears have reached a turning point that our new Chancellor has demanded. 2025 should be a fun season. Now as a former nasty o-liner, excuse me as I tuck my balls into my shorts to keep them from dragging on the ground. Go Bears! :)
I saw the video too, the O-Line has the right attitude - dominant! Excited to see them play and see this in action. I was hoping for at least 3 yards each carry this year, but their goal is nothing less than 4 yards, nice! Jett would hit the hole or at least the line hard, but he isn't that big. Last year, Ott would dance, hoping a hole would materialize, but they never did. Yes, I am also interested in how Ott does at OU. The defensive talent he will face in the SEC will be next-level.
The weirdest thing about OU is he picked a school with a more expensive version of the same offense problems at Cal. I had kinda hoped he would go to a school that could showcase him more.
Of course Wilcox will still be our coach after another 5-7 or 6-7 finish. Cal doesn’t care about football and we don’t have the money to fire him. Wilcox stays until Cal crashes out to get the PacState12.
I’m heading down for SDSU…let’s get tix.
Correction: 15-0.
JKS to start? Nice!
I appreciate everyone’s optimism around JKS in “year 2” at Cal, but my assumption is there’s very little chance of that happening. If he’s as good as advertised an Oregon or Georgia or Michigan-esque program will lure him away with the offer of $ (which maybe we can match, maybe we can’t) along with the possibility of making the playoffs. He’s here because he thot he’d get playing time as a freshman while at UO he was gonna be sending in fake play signals from the sidelines.
If he’s not as good as advertised we’ll only know because our train went off the rails somewhere, JW and Co are likely gone and so is he.
I hate the transfer portal; kids can park anywhere for a season knowing they can renegotiate their futures next Christmas.
https://www.si.com/nfl/cal-freshman-starting-quarterback
Going for the upside with JKS...I like it! Now let's show some life people!
Breaking news! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ-LYBnSODQ
JKS named stating QB!
JARONNNN IS THE CHOSEN ONE
Off topic:
Anyone have insight into the Cal Football Fan Day & open practice on August 23? Got the initial email, but haven’t seen any details regarding start time, etc.
I will be driving in from LA and I would love to get more info! Thanks!
They just released some information on it here
https://calbears.com/news/2025/8/15/cal-football-to-host-2025-fan-day.aspx
Great discussion. Thank you. My 2 cents…I believe Brown has to be clearly the better option at end of camp to become QB1, week one. If it’s close, I would start JKS, due to JKS’s higher ceiling.
Probably Brown, hope he does well. In the videos, JKS appears to have a positive attitude towards learning. This takes some pressure off Wilcox to play him. Both have a lot to learn in terms of game-day reps. Having a strong run game will be crucial. Can't worry about next year - just win baby! This is the year, this is the schedule!!!! GO BEARS ;-)