Coaching Shortlist: California
Now that Justin Wilcox is gone, who's piloting the riverboats?
At long last, California fans can rejoice. You no longer have to deal with Justin Wilcox. The university kicked their head coach to the curb on Sunday following a 48-55 record across nine seasons in Berkeley.
Wilcox was a domino most assumed would drop this year, with him earning the elusive five fires on the SID Sports Season Preview, the highest mark for showing who’s going to get canned that season.
As with all the Coaching Shortlists, in this article, you’ll get an overview of the job. What do you need to know about the California job, from NIL to university structure to expectations and everything else. Then, you’ll also get a list of the top five candidates that I think make sense for the role. As with all Shortlists, these candidates are purely speculation unless otherwise noted.
The Job
Cal isn’t a school that’s all-in on athletics. That’s why they got left behind in the last cycle of realignment, after all. In fact, how many people out there know that this Cal is the same university as the illustrious California-Berkeley, one of the nation’s top schools, public or private?
With that said, what Wilcox did for the Golden Bears was malpractice. There were a few good moments for his tenure, but by and large, California has been relegated to mediocrity. These aren’t the 2000’s teams that were star-studded with the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Marshawn Lynch competing for PAC-12 titles. This was an era filled with average to below average teams competing to play in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl or something like that.
Wilcox did muster two consecutive winning seasons, though - marks of 7-6 and 8-5 in 2018 and 2019 that included AP Poll slots.
But this is a program that’s hurting. Sure, the sting of being left behind in the PAC-12 bubble burst hurts a ton. The budgets took a massive hit with the smaller TV payouts from their move to the ACC. And that doesn’t include the albatross of ACC travel schedules for a team that plays on the Pacific coast - decidedly not the Atlantic that makes up the first letter in the conference’s initialism.
Things aren’t all bad in Berkeley, though. There’s the Calimony payments that system-mate UCLA has to make to Cal from the Bruins’ Big Ten media rights. But, more importantly, there’s more focus on competing and doing better on the field.
Former Super Bowl winning head coach and alumnus Ron Rivera was handed the keys as the program’s general manager this past summer. That’s not unheard of in this day and age, where a well-known alumnus with ties to the NFL can take a back-office role to talk to boosters, fundraise and try to get the program in a better spot. Not Rivera. When Cal’s previous athletic director, Jim Knowlton, retired, Rivera took an even larger role in an NFL general manager styling. He oversees the entire football program and reports directly to Cal’s Chancellor, Rich Lyons. To my knowledge, the only other program with a similar structure is Stanford under Andrew Luck.
Rivera’s oversight means the program means to compete in the ACC. And that’s happened in stretches under Wilcox. But both of his years in the new league ended in spectacular collapses: a 5-2 start falling to 6-5 before Wilcox’s firing this year and a 3-0 start ending with a 6-7 record last season.
For everything I’ve detailed so far, it’s also important to know that Cal is not all lost. The program has an electric freshman quarterback in Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele under center and the Golden Bears aim to keep JKS in Berkeley. The assistant coaching roster got major funds and boosts with interim head coach Nick Rolovich and Bryan Harsin joining the staff this offseason.
The Candidates
As always, unless otherwise noted, this is all speculation. With that out of the way, here’s the top five candidates that make the most sense to me:
Tosh Lupoi, Oregon DC: Lupoi, if you squint a tad, looks a lot like Rivera: a former California defender, plenty of West Coast ties, loves to build a strong, effective defense. He’s the early headlining front runner that I expect the boosters and Rivera to push for. Lupoi is one of the top recruiters on the West Coast and should be able to keep JKS in the building as he builds up talent, should he get the job. Don’t forget, JKS was a Cal commit up until he enrolled at Oregon, where Lupoi is currently employed, before moving back to Cal for Spring ball. He also calls a mean defense, with the Ducks looking like one of the nation’s best on that side of the ball.
Nick Rolovich, Cal Interim HC: You can never rule out the interim coach, especially with one as accomplished as Rolovich. He’s probably best known for getting forced out of Washington State after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine at the height of the pandemic, but Rolovich has serious offensive chops. He’s spent all of his head coaching career out west at Hawaii and Wazzu. Plus, he’s the one Rivera picked to lead the Bears through the end of the season, so maybe Riverboat Ron has an eye on the future with this move.
Sean Lewis, San Diego State HC: Lewis was once the hot name on the market after making Kent State of all places respectable with his unique, super fast offense. That shine wore off after he was kicked out of Colorado and replaced as offensive coordinator by Pat Shurmur of all people. But Lewis landed on his feet and has now built San Diego State into a team that’s ranked in my top 30. Granted, the offense hasn’t come along as quick, but Lewis building an immaculate, tough defense shows he’s not a one-trick pony anymore. Plus, he’s shown he can win in tough situations, just look at Kent State since he’s left for proof.
Tim Plough, UC Davis HC: You can’t discount FCS coaches jumping up, especially not with everyone looking for their version of Curt Cignetti. Plough may be that guy. He’s already in the University of California system - which makes the hire so much easier - and has his Aggies as one of the FCS’s best programs. He’s 19-6 at UC Davis in his two seasons at the helm, which included a No. 5 finish last season and the eight seed in this year’s tournament. Plus, Plough worked as California’s tight ends coach for one year in 2023 before taking the UC Davis job, so he knows the program better than most candidates.
Jim Mora, UConn HC: Mora isn’t a young gun by any means, but the gamer has serious west coast experience and has built UConn of all programs into a serious winner. UConn! Mora is 18-7 in his past two years with the Huskies - a program that had their last winning season come in 2010. His previous west coast experience comes with leading UCLA before they fell off a cliff, as well as NFL head coaching jobs with the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks. Perhaps his NFL experience and adaptation to the modern game will endear him to Rivera. There’s chatter that Mora is getting a ton of looks this cycle, so keep an eye on him.
And, because I feel like it, we’ll throw in one wildcard of Desean Jackson. The former Golden Bear star wideout is wrapping up his first season as a college football coach at Delaware State. Surprisingly, Jackson has completely flipped the script on the program. The Hornets were 2-21 in the two seasons prior to Jackson’s arrival, and finished 8-4 this year. I don’t think he’s ready for an FBS jump, but Jackson’s done enough to nab an interview.
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This is a good list. I’m also Jason Eck curious for a job like Cal. His offenses are fun as hell and I think he and JKS could be a killer pairing.