Cal Football: Bears' Justin Wilcox Named One of the Next 'It' Coaches

CBSSports.com rates Cal coach one of five coaches across the country who are on the cusp of emerging in a big way

Is Cal coach Justin Wilcox ready to emerge onto the national consciousness in a big way? Well, CBSSports.com thinks so.

Five college football writers at CBSSports.com each selected one FBS coach who appears to be on the verge of big things. These are the coaches who seem to be on the rise, on the cusp of moving up the coaching-reputation ladder--in other words, the next "It" coach.

The other four coaches named are Scott Satterfield of Louisville, Mike Norvell of Florida State, P.J. Fleck of Minnesota and Will Healy of Charlotte.

And CBSports.com college football writer David Cobb, the same person who predicted Cal would go 11-1 in 2020, and picked Cal as the best value bet in the Pac-12, named Wilcox as his next "It" coach.

In his assessment of Wilcox, Cobb wrote: "Cal has improved its win total in each of Wilcox's three seasons, and the Bears are poised for a breakout season in 2020." Cobb finishes his assessment by saying Wilcox could "become one of the sport's most powerful coaches."

Here is Cobb's entire assessment of his choice, Justin Wilcox:

'The refreshing thing about the coaches on this list is that, unlike other fairly new faces on the head-coaching scene, they are not spawns of Nick Saban, Urban Meyer or Bob Stoops. No offense to Kirby Smart, Ryan Day or Lincoln Riley, but it's nice to see a coach make something of himself for reasons that don't chiefly include who served as his former boss. Sure, Justin Wilcox spent some time working for Chris Petersen, but the 43-year-old's resume is more diverse than that of almost all his peers, and that's paying dividends. Cal has improved its win total in each of Wilcox's three seasons, and the Bears are poised for a breakout season in 2020.

'Cal might not be a place where Wilcox can compete for the Pac-12 championship every year. But if he can string together a couple of 10-win seasons over the next few years, which his current trajectory certainly suggests is possible, then look out. With experience as a defensive coordinator in the Pac-12, Big Ten and SEC, he could be a candidate to land a USC, Michigan, Auburn or Virginia Tech-caliber job and become one of the sport's most powerful coaches."

What Cal fans do not want to hear is that success at Cal would mean Wilcox would be headed elsewhere, that he could be "a candidate to land a USC, Michigan, Auburn or Virginia Tech-caliber job . . . "

Uh, Virginia Tech? 

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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