Cal's Season Is Over: What Now?

Following the Bears' loss to UNLV in the LA Bowl, some Cal players may be looking to the transfer portal

Cal head coach Justin Wlcox / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Cal’s season ended with its 24-13 loss to UNLV Wednesday night in the LA Bowl, so now what? Here are some of the issues:

---Will there be a mass exodus to the transfer portal?

The early transfer portal window ends December 28, so players have about 10 days to make that decision.  It is likely that more players will be leaving, but how many and which ones?

Cal coach Justin Wilcox made an interesting postgame statement regarding the high number of Golden Bears players (60) who saw action in the LA Bowl.

“These guys got to make decisions,” he said, “and we knew there were guys on defense – it was either they were not going to play or they’re going to play a certain amount of reps. We knew that going in, and we understand why they make those decisions. We support those guys and so we knew there was going to be a lot of guys playing in the game.”

It’s unclear whether the “decisions” players had to make referred to players who might have opted out of the game or players considering transferring or injury restrictions or some other decision. The comment is noteworthy, though.

---What players will Cal be targeting in the transfer portal?

Obviously, Cal will be looking for a starting quarterback.  Third-string quarterback CJ Harris has two seasons of eligibility remaining, and he performed pretty well as Wednesday’s starter, going 13-for-20 for 109 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions as well as rushing for 23 yards.  If he had played the entire second half . . . well, we’ll never know.

EJ Caminong played like a true freshman making his college debut in a semi-emergency situation, giving Cal no chance to win the game.  So we don’t really know what he can do.

We know that Fernando Mendoza is gone, and Chandler Rogers is out of eligibility.  And whatever success Cal had in 2024 was a result of Mendoza’s high-quality play. So Cal needs something similar at the most important position on the field. Can Harris be that guy?

Cal will also be looking for offensive linemen, but the rest will depend on which players transfer out.

---Will the overhaul of Cal’s offensive coaching staff have a significant impact on Cal’s ability to score points?

New offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, a former head coach at Boise State and Auburn, will be the focal point of whether Cal can do better than the 25.1 points the Bears averaged this season.

Harsin becomes Cal’s fifth offensive coordinator under Wilcox, who begins his ninth season at Cal in 2025. Only one of the previous four offensive coordinators left of his own accord.

---Can Cal’s defense be as good as it was this year?

The Golden Bears defense performed well enough to win Wednesday’s game.  The outcome came down to four plays, three of which occurred when the Golden Bears defense was on the sidelines.

Play 1: UNLV completed a 49-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. OK, that was the defense’s fault on a busted coverage.

Play 2: UNLV’s fake punt resulted in a 52-yard gain, putting the ball at the Cal 9-yard line and leading to the Rebels’ second touchdown.

Play 3: Cal quarterback EJ Caminong threw a backward pass that was not caught, resulting in a fumble that UNLV recovered at the Cal 23-yard line, leading to a Rebels touchdown late in the third quarter.

Play 4: A 38-yard punt return gave UNLV the ball at the Cal 25-yard line, resulting in a field goal that gave UNLV a 24-13 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Bears will lose a lot of talent from this year’s defense, most notably its two first-team, all-ACC players – cornerback Nohl Williams and linebacker Teddye Buchanan, both of whom will play in the East-West Shrine Bowl on January 30 – as well as a number of other experienced players.

---What does Cal’s 2025 schedule look like?

Cal will not face any of the ACC’s presumed powers – Miami, Clemson or Florida State – in 2025. The Seminoles were far from a powerhouse in 2024, but they were ACC champions in 2023 and don’t figure to be down for long. Miami and Clemson must find replacements at quarterback, but they look like perennial ACC contenders.

The Bears open the 2025 season on the road against Oregon State, whose quarterback presumably will be Maalik Murphy, who was Duke’s quarterback this past season and reportedly has committed to transferring to Oregon State.

It remains to be seen whether Cal can keep up with the elite, well financed football programs with the steep cost of revenue sharing with players expected to begin next season. But everything that Cal chancellor Rich Lyons has said publicly on the subject suggests Cal will do its best to keep up.  In his postgame comments Wednesday, Wilcox specifically thanked the chancellor for his support. Asked last week how confident he was that Cal could keep up with the elite programs financially, Wilcox said, “Very confident.”

---What is Justin Wilcox’s status?

Some fans want Wilcox fired, but that is not likely to happen.  He is under contract through the 2027 season, and with all the financial issues facing the Cal athletic department the next couple years, it probably cannot afford to pay the millions it would take to dismiss Wilcox even if it wanted to.

Although Cal (6-7) finished with a losing record for the fifth straight season, the Bears again were very close to having a nice season.  They were involved in seven one-score games, but were just 2-5 in those games, and that includes a 1-4 record in games decided by five points or fewer.  Certainly winning close games is the mark of a quality team, but losing those winnable games shows the Bears were agonizingly close.

Wilcox’s salary paid him just under $4.7 million this season, including a retention bonus and small bonuses for winning six games, beating Stanford and reaching a bowl game. That does not include bonuses he might have received based on the players’ academic achievements.

He is scheduled to earn about $5.25 million in the final year of his contract in 2027.  That is still about half of what the eight highest-paid college head coaches receive annually now, and most of them live in areas with a lower cost of living. By 2027, a lot of other coaches probably will be making more than twice Wilcox's salary.

And though winning is the top priority of an FBS head coach, no one can have complaints about Wilcox’s character or the way he treats his players.

There has been no indication that Wilcox plans to leave Cal for another job, but nothing is certain in the fast-changing world of college football.  The job of a head coach at the highest level of college football and basketball has changed so dramatically the past few years with the transfer portal, NIL and revenue-sharing that some are considering leaving.  Wilcox noted the system “needs some work” but seems intent on dealing with it.

Wilcox has been Cal’s head coach for eight seasons, and only one of the Bears’ previous 12 head coaches since 1956 has been their head coach longer. Jeff Tedford was Cal head coach for 11 seasons (2002-2012), and Ray Willsey matched Wilcox with eight seasons as the Bears head coach (1964-1971) since Pappy Waldorf finished his 10th and final season 68 years ago in 1956. 

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