Justin Wilcox on ACC Travel: We’ll Have a Lie-Down Suite in a Huge Plane

Cal football coach says during ACC Media Day that the Bears have planned for the long trips but says ‘It’s not that big a deal’

Justin Wilcox at ACC Media Day /

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox made two noteworthy comments during Tuesday’s ACC Media Day in Charlotte, N.C., about the extensive travel his team faces in its first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference:

---1. Cal will travel in a huge plane that will have a “lie-down suite” for players.

---2. The travel “is not that big a deal” and it “won’t be an excuse not to play well."

The first element suggests Cal players – at least some of the players – will be comfortable during the coast-too-coast travel.  The second element has yet to be tested, but the coach can’t allow his players to believe that the travel will be a disadvantage.

The Bears will make four trips that cover more than 2,000 air miles – a nonconference game at Auburn (2,098 miles from Berkeley) and ACC games at Florida State (2,267 miles away), Pittsburgh (2,256 miles away) and Wake Forest (2,309 miles away). Plus Cal has a road game to SMU (1,461 miles away).

None of the Cal trips is on consecutive weekends, a situation Stanford faces in road games against Syracuse (Friday, September 20) and Clemson (Saturday, September 28).

However, it comes as no surprise that the travel was a topic the media focused on when questioning Wilcox in all three of his media sessions on Tuesday.

Wilcox’s most expansive comments on Cal’s travel plans came in his final panel discussion with handful of ACC media members.  Here is what Wilcox said on the travel issue:

“That was really the major part of the transition for us as a program was, ‘OK, logistically, how we doing this?’” he said. “Big picture, we’re a morning practice outfit anyway, so we’re already a morning practice outfit. Here’s the big picture: You leave a day early. You make sure you’ve got plenty of food and water and Gatorade for the plane. And our administration helped us out big time – we got the biggest plane Delta makes, and they got the lie-down suites. A lot of the players will have really comfortable seats, will be more comfortable than the chairs they sit in at home.”

Asked which players will get the lie-down suite accommodations, Wilcox said, “Meritocracy.”  In other words, Jaydn Ott won’t be cramped.

“It’s a little longer but we’ll make sure they’ve got the food and water, it’s a bigger plane, we’ll get home, it’ll be fine.”

Asked the same question in the question-and-answer session with assorted media members, Wilcox said this about the travel:

“We spent a long time on the logistics; our administration has been incredibly supportive, but looking from 10,000 feet, we leave a day earlier. We’ve got a big plane, the biggest one that Delta makes, got the big lie-down suites, so there’s going to be a good number of players who are really, really comfortable, and us, the coaches and administrators, we’ll sit in the back. We’ll make sure the guys are well fed, Gatorade and water, make the trip.  In terms of our week, we’ve got it all planned out. We’re leaving on Thursday, and once we get back, what we need to do to back sure their bodies are taken care of.

“The travel will not be an excuse not to play well.”

In his first meeting of the day with a panel of media members, Wilcox tried to minimize the effect of the travel.

“Leave a day earlier; Gatorade, water; lots of food; big airplane,” Wilcox said. “There’ll be tutors and study aids available. If there’s any tests that need to be taken, they’ll have proctors available. All that’s been worked out, and it’s not like we’re doing 15 trips, so it’s not that big a deal. We’re not making it a big deal. Yeah, is the flight longer? Sure. Is there more mileage? Yeah. We’re not making it a big thing. Go play football. Go play the game.”

Wilcox on goals for 2024:

“For us achieving a goal is always going to be the conference championship, and we know playing meaningful games late in the year is required to do that, and we know there’s very, very competitive conference, really good players and good coaches, top-flight QBs. What we got to do is have a great fall camp in order to set ourselves up to achieve one of those goals, and we’re looking forward to it. We got a good team coming back, some talented players and now we got to maximize it.”

Wilcox on Jaydn Ott:

“Jaydn’s an exceptional player. He can really go. He’s made a lot of big plays for us. He can run the ball. He can catch the ball. He can return it. We’re going to make sure he touches it a significant amount. He’ll be critical to our success, but really proud of him, on the field obviously and then off the field, just who he is, done a heck of a job.”

Wilcox on QBs Fernando Mendoza and Chandler Rogers, who are battling for the starting job

“We feel really good about the quarterback room. Fernando in, did a heck of a job for a young guy last year. We’ve added to that room, obviously with Chandler who’s an experienced quarterback, different styles those guys are, but we’ll feel real good about where they’re going. They both have improved, done a great job throughout the spring and summer, developing their skills and also leading the team, which is critical at that position.  We’re really, really bullish on that room.”

Wilcox also commented on the addition of microphones in quarterbacks’ helmets to call plays and the use of IPads, which has been approved. He said the Bears plan to take full advantage of the IPad opportunities.

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