Hang in there Grigsby, hopefully we can put together a good season soon. We were close this year

DavisBear said:

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Why would apathy set in next year. We are going to a bowl for the second year in a row, we got college gameday, lost 4 games by 9 points. If you want apathy, you should have been there for the Holmoe years. Also, look at next years schedule, a lot of winnable games. Plus we have a QB coming off a 3,000 yard year.

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I was at Memorial long before the Holmoe years kiddo.

Grigsby said:

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DavisBear said:

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If you feel that way, why are you even on here?? #losermentality

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I'll be dead soon enough. Stage IV cancer kinda does that. Before I die it would be nice to see Cal be competent rather than completely be dropped from FBS and lose most of its athletic programs

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Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. One of my sister's good friends just passed from cancer. Three other people in my life were also diagnosed with cancer within the past five years. They are all in remission, currently. I pray you will also be in remission, shortly. Keep fighting the good fight!

grigsby, wish u nothing but the BEST!!

MinotStateBeav said:

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I predict apathy is going to set in next year, I think if Wilcox returns, people just won't care anymore...and that's worse than anger. Cal has a decision to make very quickly, because I fear that the program will have a fading pulse. It just feels like to me like this is a decisive moment in Cal football. When fan apathy hits, even good seasons will struggle to draw support, you're already seeing it. I felt like the Miami game was the moment to turn it around, and Cal really blew that opportunity.

Cal is not taking the opportunity to show it's serious to be a candidate in the B1G. We look like the other Pac-12 members made the right choice to ditch this sideshow. The ACC was not good this year, we really blew it.

---

Stanford and the Cal fandom gave Wilcox a statement turnaround on a silver platter, and he took that opportunity and gave it away. He had the players, he had the schedule, he had the media coverage, he had the fan interest, and he squandered it.

Cal will not have this opportunity again.

DavisBear said:

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I'm just being realistic, you are not. I know perhaps it makes you feel better to whine about the coaches, but unless you can pay the buyout it is worthless energy. If you want to help the team, contribute so that we can get better players. All I'm saying is you can do something productive or you can cry about the coaches. I can't afford to fund the buyout, but I can make an impact on adding more talent to the roster.

---

Asking for money from "me" to "get better players" while maintaining this coaching is realistic?

I would say you are not being realistic.

Legends should pay you to stop doing marketing.

DavisBear said:

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Wrong…we had the players we could GET. If we had more money we could have gotten better players. Look at SMU, they brought in a different level of talent on the offensive and defensive lines. We brought in guys from FCS schools. Yes we should have won more games, but no we didn't get all the players we wanted

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FSU had the best players. How's their record?

WalterSobchak said:

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LOL at people equating giving to NIL with supporting Wilcox. Only at Cal...

---

I agree. Wouldn't it be better to say, "these are separate problems" vs "unless you can pay to fire him, STFU"

Something like "if we have a healthy NIL, we can attract a better coach"?

LunchTime said:

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DavisBear said:

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I'm just being realistic, you are not. I know perhaps it makes you feel better to whine about the coaches, but unless you can pay the buyout it is worthless energy. If you want to help the team, contribute so that we can get better players. All I'm saying is you can do something productive or you can cry about the coaches. I can't afford to fund the buyout, but I can make an impact on adding more talent to the roster.

---

Asking for money from "me" to "get better players" while maintaining this coaching is realistic?

I would say you are not being realistic.

Legends should pay you to stop doing marketing.

---

You could give Wilcox the best roster in college football, he would still lead them to a .500 record. Any money spent on players when Wilcox is the coach is money wasted.

LunchTime said:

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WalterSobchak said:

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LOL at people equating giving to NIL with supporting Wilcox. Only at Cal...

---

I agree. Wouldn't it be better to say, "these are separate problems" vs "unless you can pay to fire him, STFU"

Something like "if we have a healthy NIL, we can attract a better coach"?

---

I would argue, the NIL collective should not bankroll another transfer portal until the coach is replaced. Save the money for when Wilcox is eventually replaced.

oskidunker said:

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I Think Harris might be better than Rogers. At least he is not a run first guy. Thoughts?

---

Rogers was never a "run first guy" before coming to Cal.

If you have the best players and coaches who are at best mediocre the best you can hope for is 6-6 or 7-5 records (sound familiar). Over time you will have a difficult time getting better players.

On the other hand, if you have the best coaches and mediocre players, the team will find a way to win most games. Over time, better players will be attracted to join the great coaches. I think that's what we experienced with Snyder: over time better and better players were attracted to come. But for Tien and Bockrath, we would have had the #1 recruiting class come including Jake Plummer and Rashaan Salaam.

In other words, by focusing on gettting better players to join a progam with mediocre players, we are doing more damage to the program.

People say that Rich Lyons hears us, but it's just hearsay. I saw him at games at the beginning of the season, but not lately. Maybe it's true, or maybe people are just saying what they want to believe

When you keep giving money without getting results, you begin to think you are being conned. I'd like to hear something from Chancellor Lyons indicating he understands . . . and that he cares.

"There is no salary cap, it is a great opportunity to be able to get talent that we wouldn't have been able to get in the past."

What an amazing statement.

Go Laundry!

golden sloth said:

---

MinotStateBeav said:

---

I predict apathy is going to set in next year, I think if Wilcox returns, people just won't care anymore...and that's worse than anger. Cal has a decision to make very quickly, because I fear that the program will have a fading pulse. It just feels like to me like this is a decisive moment in Cal football. When fan apathy hits, even good seasons will struggle to draw support, you're already seeing it. I felt like the Miami game was the moment to turn it around, and Cal really blew that opportunity.

Cal is not taking the opportunity to show it's serious to be a candidate in the B1G. We look like the other Pac-12 members made the right choice to ditch this sideshow. The ACC was not good this year, we really blew it.

---

Stanford and the Cal fandom gave Wilcox a statement turnaround on a silver platter, and he took that opportunity and gave it away. He had the players, he had the schedule, he had the media coverage, he had the fan interest, and he squandered it.

Cal will not have this opportunity again.

---

Exactly. This was a critical year. He needed to go out and put together the best offensive staff possible from the entire football world, not just his friend circle. Instead hen Sbav left, he didn't even do search and just gave the OC duties to the OL coach, because he was once a co-OC working for an offensive Head coach at a lower level. Worse, he expected him to do double duty. Unforgivably, even after it was a disaster in the bowl game he made no changes and squandered this opportunity.

calumnus said:

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oskidunker said:

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I Think Harris might be better than Rogers. At least he is not a run first guy. Thoughts?

---

Rogers was never a "run first guy" before coming to Cal.

---

Rogers had a really solid season passing the ball at N. Texas last season. It's surprising to me that he doesn't seem to have much arm talent. Not super accurate and not a strong arm... seems to struggle finding the most open receiver. I appreciate his efforts but was expecting more.

golden sloth said:

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LunchTime said:

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DavisBear said:

---

I'm just being realistic, you are not. I know perhaps it makes you feel better to whine about the coaches, but unless you can pay the buyout it is worthless energy. If you want to help the team, contribute so that we can get better players. All I'm saying is you can do something productive or you can cry about the coaches. I can't afford to fund the buyout, but I can make an impact on adding more talent to the roster.

---

Asking for money from "me" to "get better players" while maintaining this coaching is realistic?

I would say you are not being realistic.

Legends should pay you to stop doing marketing.

---

You could give Wilcox the best roster in college football, he would still lead them to a .500 record. Any money spent on players when Wilcox is the coach is money wasted.

---

C'mon, man, we're .500 now. You're saying we wouldn't have won more with a significant O-line upgrade?

(note that I am not saying that Wilcox is doing a satisfactory job... he most certainly isn't)

Big C said:

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calumnus said:

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oskidunker said:

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I Think Harris might be better than Rogers. At least he is not a run first guy. Thoughts?

---

Rogers was never a "run first guy" before coming to Cal.

---

Rogers had a really solid season passing the ball at N. Texas last season. It's surprising to me that he doesn't seem to have much arm talent. Not super accurate and not a strong arm... seems to struggle finding the most open receiver. I appreciate his efforts but was expecting more.

---

It's a business. He got a paycheck. Good for him.

Does anyone know why Mendoza didn't play? I have a hard time believing it was an illness if he was walking around the sidelines talking to people without a mask.

DavisBear said:

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So you want us to be terrible? I don't, I want us to win as many games as possible. We have a great new chancellor and I am confident that he will move on from Jimbo at some point and we should be able to move on from Wilcox when the buyout moderates. But until then I support funding NIL with as much money as we can raise. There is no salary cap, it is a great opportunity to be able to get talent that we wouldn't have been able to get in the past. It just takes desire to build our NIL resources

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Huh?

calumnus said:

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golden sloth said:

---

MinotStateBeav said:

---

I predict apathy is going to set in next year, I think if Wilcox returns, people just won't care anymore...and that's worse than anger. Cal has a decision to make very quickly, because I fear that the program will have a fading pulse. It just feels like to me like this is a decisive moment in Cal football. When fan apathy hits, even good seasons will struggle to draw support, you're already seeing it. I felt like the Miami game was the moment to turn it around, and Cal really blew that opportunity.

Cal is not taking the opportunity to show it's serious to be a candidate in the B1G. We look like the other Pac-12 members made the right choice to ditch this sideshow. The ACC was not good this year, we really blew it.

---

Stanford and the Cal fandom gave Wilcox a statement turnaround on a silver platter, and he took that opportunity and gave it away. He had the players, he had the schedule, he had the media coverage, he had the fan interest, and he squandered it.

Cal will not have this opportunity again.

---

Exactly. This was a critical year. He needed to go out and put together the best offensive staff possible from the entire football world, not just his friend circle. Instead hen Sbav left, he didn't even do search and just gave the OC duties to the OL coach, because he was once a co-OC working for an offensive Head coach at a lower level. Worse, he expected him to do double duty. Unforgivably, even after it was a disaster in the bowl game he made no changes and squandered this opportunity.

---

Meanwhile Spav's new team has gone 8-4 and 6-3 in conference

cal83dls79 said:

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Wilcox, stoically walking the sidelines ……tears

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He does a good job of walking the sideline. Unfortunately, that's the only thing he's good at.

This game was frustrating to watch. After learning that Mendoza, the JET, and another offensive lineman weren't going to play, I knew our odds were slim to none to win. It reminded me of our away game at Arizona during COVID and realizing that only 30+ players had traveled to play. This game, i was curious to see how our other QBs would do. Rogers is not a fast enough processor - a glaring weakness against a very fast opponent. CJ Harris seemed more fluid and is a good size for the ACC. But he made that bad INT throw. I don't think our QB answers are gonna be found in the transfer portal. We have to sign high school QBs and develop them. Probably will need an Offensive Head Coach. Signing Pawlowski or another alum for dedicated QB development is needed.
Ott was a gamer- got pounded over and over with his only big run called back by a flag. I hope he gets healthy enough to star on the field again. Man, he was brilliant that last two years, wasn't he?
On D, Buchanan was stellar but seemed to be battling injury and struggled to provide adequate pass coverage. #5 Harris seemed lost at times and was playing way too soft. Not sure if that was per Sirmon's request.

Drunk SMU students tried to harass our placekickers throughout the game while they practiced on the sideline. Coe seemed to have a very simple "FU" response and ended up kicking well.

Who were the three football alum standing on our sideline today? I couldn't get a good look at them.
I have a bad feeling about Ulauve. He seemed overly chipper and unfocused on the game. I'm guessing several of our best players are being approached with cherry-picking NIL offers.

We were definitely snakebit today. But the Bear will not quit. The Bear will not die.

DavisBear said:

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He's a fan. He attends the games, engages with Cal fans on Twitter. Leads cheers at games. We finally have someone that cares!!

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It takes more than leading cheers, attending games, and engaging with Cal fans on X to demonstrate that he cares when our football program is in the toilet. Caring means finding the money to fire Knowlton and Wilcox.

Big C said:

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calumnus said:

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oskidunker said:

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I Think Harris might be better than Rogers. At least he is not a run first guy. Thoughts?

---

Rogers was never a "run first guy" before coming to Cal.

---

Rogers had a really solid season passing the ball at N. Texas last season. It's surprising to me that he doesn't seem to have much arm talent. Not super accurate and not a strong arm... seems to struggle finding the most open receiver. I appreciate his efforts but was expecting more.

---

Stats can be misleading. He never passed the eye test to me while at north texas.

DoubtfulBear said:

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calumnus said:

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golden sloth said:

---

MinotStateBeav said:

---

I predict apathy is going to set in next year, I think if Wilcox returns, people just won't care anymore...and that's worse than anger. Cal has a decision to make very quickly, because I fear that the program will have a fading pulse. It just feels like to me like this is a decisive moment in Cal football. When fan apathy hits, even good seasons will struggle to draw support, you're already seeing it. I felt like the Miami game was the moment to turn it around, and Cal really blew that opportunity.

Cal is not taking the opportunity to show it's serious to be a candidate in the B1G. We look like the other Pac-12 members made the right choice to ditch this sideshow. The ACC was not good this year, we really blew it.

---

Stanford and the Cal fandom gave Wilcox a statement turnaround on a silver platter, and he took that opportunity and gave it away. He had the players, he had the schedule, he had the media coverage, he had the fan interest, and he squandered it.

Cal will not have this opportunity again.

---

Exactly. This was a critical year. He needed to go out and put together the best offensive staff possible from the entire football world, not just his friend circle. Instead hen Sbav left, he didn't even do search and just gave the OC duties to the OL coach, because he was once a co-OC working for an offensive Head coach at a lower level. Worse, he expected him to do double duty. Unforgivably, even after it was a disaster in the bowl game he made no changes and squandered this opportunity.

---

Meanwhile Spav's new team has gone 8-4 and 6-3 in conference

---

And his offense improved as the season went on.

Golden One said:

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DavisBear said:

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He's a fan. He attends the games, engages with Cal fans on Twitter. Leads cheers at games. We finally have someone that cares!!

---

It takes more than leading cheers, attending games, and engaging with Cal fans on X to demonstrate that he cares when our football program is in the toilet. Caring means finding the money to fire Knowlton and Wilcox.

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Agreed 100%!

TouchedTheAxeIn82 said:

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JimSox said:

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pingpong2 said:

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Pouring more money into the players is an implicit approval for the program and the coaches. You better bet if someone dropped $1B into the NIL fund that Wilcox would get a big fat extension.

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Disagree. No money, no players. No players, no wins.

---

So here's the problem. Yes, a healthy NIL fund can get some good players into the program, and that can directly translate to better results. But with Wilcox as the HC, there is no evidence that he can build a program where seven wins is seen as a disappointing season. With Wilcox all we get is years and years of grinding mediocrity. If we get enough good players in to improve our results, what we're going to see is Wilcox hanging on with consistent 6-6 and 7-5 seasons where being bowl-eligible is enough to keep him employed, because the standards and expectations for this program are so low.

That's why some (a lot?) of us no longer want to support being OK with a coach who can be relied on for consistent 5-7 and 6-6 seasons.

---

I disagree that putting money into the players is implicit approval of the coaches. I'm not qualified to comment on the coaching. I am qualified to see that an offensive line that can't block for runs and gives up umpteen sacks is a huge handicap. Whose fault is that? Bad coaching? Bad recruiting? Injuries? Maybe all of the above? But the line has been overmatched all year.
I do agree that "a healthy NIL fund can get some good players into the program, and that can translate into better results." How much better? I'd like to find out. And soon. I'm old!

JimSox said:

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TouchedTheAxeIn82 said:

---

JimSox said:

---

pingpong2 said:

---

Pouring more money into the players is an implicit approval for the program and the coaches. You better bet if someone dropped $1B into the NIL fund that Wilcox would get a big fat extension.

---

Disagree. No money, no players. No players, no wins.

---

So here's the problem. Yes, a healthy NIL fund can get some good players into the program, and that can directly translate to better results. But with Wilcox as the HC, there is no evidence that he can build a program where seven wins is seen as a disappointing season. With Wilcox all we get is years and years of grinding mediocrity. If we get enough good players in to improve our results, what we're going to see is Wilcox hanging on with consistent 6-6 and 7-5 seasons where being bowl-eligible is enough to keep him employed, because the standards and expectations for this program are so low.

That's why some (a lot?) of us no longer want to support being OK with a coach who can be relied on for consistent 5-7 and 6-6 seasons.

---

I disagree that putting money into the players is implicit approval of the coaches. I'm not qualified to comment on the coaching. I am qualified to see that an offensive line that can't block for runs and gives up umpteen sacks is a huge handicap. Whose fault is that? Bad coaching? Bad recruiting? Injuries? Maybe all of the above? But the line has been overmatched all year.
I do agree that "a healthy NIL fund can get some good players into the program, and that can translate into better results." How much better? I'd like to find out. And soon. I'm old!

---

I had that same thought as I walked away from the stadium with my wife. I'm getting old. But getting older is softened by seeing our kids come into their own. Standing at the railing, I saw several Bears from Texas come up to say hello to their families that came to the game. Perhaps the only game their families could attend.. this season. NIL or no, relationships still matter.
I'm sure all this travel has eaten into the coaches' recruiting efforts. Cal needs to invest more in recruiting staff and fund-raising.

chunkybear said:

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Does anyone know why Mendoza didn't play? I have a hard time believing it was an illness if he was walking around the sidelines talking to people without a mask.

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A friend brought this up.. we dont know how sick he was. Im sure he would have played if he thought he could. Might have looked better if he stayed in the hotel.

oskidunker said:

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chunkybear said:

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Does anyone know why Mendoza didn't play? I have a hard time believing it was an illness if he was walking around the sidelines talking to people without a mask.

---

A friend brought this up.. we dont know how sick he was. Im sure he would have played if he thought he could. Might have looked better if he stayed in the hotel.

---

I disagree it would've been better had he stayed in the hotel. Nando has been all about the team. That he showed up to support his boys even though he was sick just goes to show his strength of character. His boys supported him when he was buried on the depth chart and they supported him when he was QB1; he returned the love by supporting them when he's unable to play. That's a sign of leadership and putting the team first.

01Bear said:

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oskidunker said:

---

chunkybear said:

---

Does anyone know why Mendoza didn't play? I have a hard time believing it was an illness if he was walking around the sidelines talking to people without a mask.

---

A friend brought this up.. we dont know how sick he was. Im sure he would have played if he thought he could. Might have looked better if he stayed in the hotel.

---

I disagree it would've been better had he stayed in the hotel. Nando has been all about the team. That he showed up to support his boys even though he was sick just goes to show his strength of character. His boys supported him when he was buried on the depth chart and they supported him when he was QB1; he returned the love by supporting them when he's unable to play. That's a sign of leadership and putting the team first.

---

Agreed. And for all we know, it could have been a stomach bug (or food poisoning, alergic reaction, etc.) that left him weakened but not contagious.

The defense loses Buchanan, #1 in tackles and a mature, business-like, humble leader.

DoubtfulBear said:

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Meanwhile Spav's new team has gone 8-4 and 6-3 in conference

---

Wilcox's big-picture offensive-side decision-making will ALWAYS be atrocious. Four failures in a row at OC. He will ALWAYS be clueless about building a good offense. ALWAYS.

Spav's '24 offense at Baylor vs Wilcox's '24 offense:

• SpavO 58 TDs, 440 total pts, 36.7 pts/game
  WilcoxO 35 TDs, 315 total pts, 26.3 pts/game
  
• SpavO has a 1000 yd rusher.
  WilcoxO has a 600 yd rusher (slightly lower than SpavO's #2 rusher).
  
• SpavO 23 rush TDs, 29 pass TDs.
  WilcoxO 16 rush TDs, 16 pass TDs.
  
• SpavO 2,262 rush yds, 188.5 rush yds/game, 4.9 yds per rush attempt.
  WilcoxO 1,398 rush yds, 116.5 rush yds/game, 3.5 yds per rush attempt.
  
• SpavO 114 rushing 1st downs
  WilcoxO 81 rushing 1st downs
  
• SpavO Total Offense 5,214 yds
  WilcoxO Total Offense 4,594 yds
  
• SpavO 18 sacks allowed.
  WilcoxO 46 sacks allowed.
  
• SpavO scored 59 pts on Texas Tech (24 pt Win).
  WilcoxO scored 14 on TT at Shreveport Independence bowl (20 pt Loss).
  Texas Tech is a better team overall this year (8-4 regular season) than last yr (6-6).