YuSeeBerkeley said:
I don't get all this negativity on Wilcox. The man had a chance to leave us and go to Oregon but turned them down. What makes everyone think we can do better? I was one of the earlier ones to turn on Tedford, but in hindsight, we had it pretty good with him. I just thought we needed someone else to get to the next level, but what I've learned is there is no hope that we will ever be a football powerhouse. Being mediocre and making it to a bowl game is all that we should hope for. If we expect anything more, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment.
From what I've gathered by reading these boards is that Wilcox turned down the UO job because the AD wouldn't give him carte blanche in picking his assistants. It seems the UO AD had it right. Wilcox has proven to be abysmal at picking an OC. In eight years, only Spav ran a decent offense, but it looks like Wilcox ran off Spav.
As to your other point, I do believe that the Cal HC position can be a plum assignment. Cal is still a P4 team. It's located in one of the greatest metropolises in the world. The school is internationally renowned. The campus itself is absolutely gorgeous. The climate is unmatched and is ideal for football, year round. The alumni and student body have proven (in the past) to be willing to support a winning program.
If Cal has a coach who can turn around the program, he'll be loved (look at Tedford and how loved he is by the greater Cal community for his early years). He'll also get all the support he wants for his team. On top of which, he'll have access to some of the deepest alumni pockets (given that everyone loves a winner, even non-football loving alumni will be crawling out of the woodwork to be associated with the program, which leads to donations).
The question is, what coach thinks he has what it takes to turn around Cal? Cal will need someone with confidence and swag, like early Tedford.