BREAKING: Cal fires Justin Wilcox
Justin Wilcox is out at Cal.
The Bears are parting ways with their longtime head coach, general manager Ron Rivera announced Sunday afternoon. The decision comes after Cal lost in disappointing fashion to rival Stanford Saturday night, 31-10.
The Bears turned the ball over three times in the 128th Big Game leading to 21 points off those turnovers for the Cardinal. Cal now enters the final game of the regular season with a 6-5 record.
Senior offensive assistant Nick Rolovich will take over as the interim head coach for the next week’s matchup against SMU.
“I want to thank Justin for all of his contributions to our football program, our athletic department and our university,” Rivera said in a statement Sunday. “He has always comported himself with class and professionalism. After careful consideration, we believe the time has come for new leadership. We wish Justin the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
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Wilcox will finish his time in Berkeley with a losing record across nine seasons. He guided the Bears to 48 wins against 55 losses during his time at the helm. Cal has not had a winning record since going 8-5 in 2019.
The Bears never had a winning conference record under Wilcox. Cal has gone just 5-10 through two seasons as members of the ACC.
Wilcox ends time at Cal with “frustrating” Big Game loss
The final game of the Wilcox era at Cal took place Saturday night in Palo Alto. Cal’s defense was only able to so much before the dam broke in the second half. The game was all too indicative of what plagued Wilcox throughout his time leading the Bears.
Too many mistakes and not enough offense to get the job done. The Bears have been close to breaking through many times since 2019 but would have hiccups at the most inopportune times. That was again the case Saturday against the Cardinal.
Cal drew 13 penalties in the game resulting in 128 yards. The Bears had more penalty yards than Stanford had total yards of offense in the first half Saturday night. Consistency on offense and special teams have been continuous issues under Wilcox.
He was asked about growing frustrations among the Cal fan base following Saturday’s loss. He didn’t shy away from being responsible for how the Bears played Saturday and in several other games this year.
“Oh I get it if you’re not winning,” he said. “There should be high expectations. Everybody’s got them. We have them. Players and the coaches have them. I feel their pain. I understand. We work really hard at this. The coaches and the players do. It’s not an excuse to go out and play like that. I understand their pain. I understand the frustration.”
Cal did reach five bowl games under Wilcox including appearances including in each of the last three seasons. His time leading the Bears will come to a close with Wilcox being the sixth-winningest coach in program history.
The program indicated it will begin a “national search” for Wilcox’s replacement.
Per USA Today, Wilcox is set to be owed a buyout of $10,879,167 by the Bears per his revised contract that was signed in 2022. The contract had been set to expire following the 2027 season.
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