Report: Cal working on new contract with Justin Wilcox

The Cal football team is working on a new contract for coach Justin Wilcox, per Pac-12 reporter Jon Wilner. The coach just finished his fifth year with the Golden Bears, leading them to a 5-7 finish.

His overall record with Cal is 26-28 and includes just two winning seasons.

The news of a possible updated contract comes following reports that Wilcox turned down an offer to become the next Oregon head coach. However, Wilner said in his tweet that the two are unrelated.

Wilner also reports that the talks are not centered on increasing Wilcox’s salary. Instead, he wants more resources to build the program, including larger salaries for his staff.

Wilcox was slated to make $3.3 million in 2021, which ranks as the seventh-highest salary in the Pac-12 and the 43rd highest in the nation. However, if money were his motivation, he likely would have accepted the offer from Oregon, where he played from 1996 to 1999.

His best season at Cal came in 2019, when he led them to an 8-5 finish and victory in the Redbox Bowl. However, the team has not been back to a bowl game since.

Prior to taking over the Golden Bears in 2017, Wilcox was a defensive coordinator for several schools. He began as a graduate assistant at Boise State in 2001, later becoming the Broncos’ DC in 2006. He stayed in Boise until 2009, when he left to take the same position with Tennessee.

He continued to bounce around after that, with brief stints at Washington, USC and Wisconsin before landing his first head coaching job.

A native of Eugene, Oregon, it is quite surprising that he did not jump at the opportunity to coach the Ducks. Cal fans should be pleased to see the commitment Justin Wilcox has to the program, and happy he is working toward a new contract.

As he returns for his sixth season in Berkeley, he will look to improve on a less than stellar 2021 campaign.