Anonymous ACC coaches sees Cal in 'serious trouble', encourages Justin Wilcox to leave

California is in an interesting spot going into year two as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Interesting doesn’t necessarily mean good, though, according to the other coaches in the ACC.

The preview magazine at Athlon Sports shared anonymous quotes from coaches around the league about the other programs in the ACC. Those about the Golden Bears were not positive, with criticism of the place they find themselves in saying they’re “in serious trouble” and “a bad fit for the league in every way”.

“This program is in serious trouble,” one said. “Last year they were really good on defense, and they had good offensive pieces, but they’ve lost their top linebackers and running backs in the portal.”

“They’re a bad fit for the league in every way, and they’re trying to break in a new offensive staff with no NIL because the boosters want to put (GM) Ron Rivera in charge of the program instead of the head coach,” said another. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like what’s happening here, and this is all before they have to start grinding it out cross country for a few more years.”

Because of that, another coach actually thinks it’d be best for Justin Wilcox if his tenure as a head coach ended after what is about to be his ninth in Berkeley. They thought he’d be better off as an assistant elsewhere than staying in his job at Cal.

“It’s a complete mess, and Wilcox should just go DC somewhere,” they said.

California went 6-7 in 2024. They got off to a good start at 3-0, including a win at Auburn, but would go on to finish at 3-7 the rest of the way, including 2-6 after an 0-4 start in the ACC. That’s with them being much better defensively, allowing 22.3 points and forcing 22 turnovers, than offensively, scoring just 25.1 points despite having options around QB Fernando Mendoza.

Since then, Cal lost as many transfers as they added, namely Mendoza (Indiana) along with each of their top-four running backs in names like RBs Jaydn Ott (Oklahoma) and Jaivian Thomas (UCLA), three of their top-four leading receivers in TE Jack Endries (Texas) and WRs Jonathan Brady (Indiana) and Mikey Matthews (UCLA), and defenders like LB Hunter Barth (Stanford) and DE David Reese (Syracuse). That’s without mentioning LBs Teddye Buchanan and Xavier Carlton as well as DBs Craig Woodson, Nohl Williams, and Marcus Harris all on to the NFL.

At 42-50 through eight seasons there, Wilcox may not necessarily get to a decade anyways at Cal. Even if this year does go well, though, others like these anonymous names are wondering if he might be better elsewhere than working for the Golden Bear’s program with where they think it’s heading.