BERKELEY – Cal head coach Justin Wilcox announced Friday that Bill Musgrave has agreed to become the Golden Bears' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Musgrave has more than two decades of coaching experience in the NFL and collegiate ranks, including 13 seasons as an offensive coordinator. The long list of quarterbacks he has tutored includes Pro Bowlers Steve Beuerlein, Matt Ryan and Derek Carr.
"Bill Musgrave has a brilliant offensive mind and is one of top teachers of offensive football and quarterbacks," Wilcox said. "Bill has incredible football knowledge and has been extremely versatile in the offensive systems he has run throughout his career, which is important. He also has a strong desire to coach again at the collegiate level, where he can help develop young football players at a formative stage of their careers. His competitiveness and humility stood out during the hiring process. Everyone that I talked to about Bill that I know and trust had tremendous things to say. He will be a great fit at Cal."
"I am thrilled to join a Cal program that has exciting days ahead," Musgrave said. "I want to continue building upon what has already been started, which on the offensive side of the ball is a young group that showed tremendous progress last season and was playing its best football at the end of the year. Coach Wilcox and his staff have done a tremendous job of creating an outstanding culture and environment that is focused on teaching football, and one of the most enjoyable and satisfying parts of this job is to be able to play a key role in the development of young players. There is a tremendous opportunity to do that right now at Cal, and I can't wait to get started."
Musgrave's 20 NFL seasons have included stints with Oakland (1997, 2015-16), Philadelphia (1998, 2014), Carolina (1999-2000), Jacksonville (2003-04), Washington (2005), Atlanta (2006-10), Minnesota (2011-13) and Denver (2017-18).
Musgrave has served as offensive coordinator during 11 of his 20 NFL seasons including his entire stints at Jacksonville, Minnesota and in his second stop at Oakland. He was promoted to offensive coordinator during his first tenure with Philadelphia (1998), as well as at Carolina (2000) and Denver (2017). He also spent two campaigns as a collegiate offensive coordinator at Virginia (2001-02).
Musgrave had some of his biggest success in Cal's backyard with Oakland when he inherited an offense that had ranked last in the NFL in 2014 in total offense (282.2 ypg) and second to last in scoring (15.9 ppg). The Raiders made the biggest offensive improvement in the NFL in yards per game (+91.1 ypg) and scoring (+10.2 ppg) in two seasons under Musgrave, finishing sixth in the league in 2016 in total offense (373.3 ypg) and seventh in scoring (26.0 ppg). Oakland's offensive resurgence was spurred by the development of Carr, who in two seasons in Musgrave's offense passed for 7,924 yards to go along with 60 touchdowns. An MVP candidate in 2016, Carr led the Raiders to a 12-3 record as a starter but suffered a season-ending injury in Week 16. The 2016 Raiders reached the NFL Playoffs for the first time since 2002 but without Carr were defeated in the Wild Card Round.
Prior to joining Oakland, Musgrave served as Philadelphia's quarterbacks coach in 2014 as the Eagles finished sixth in the league in passing offense (272.3 ypg) despite splitting time between two quarterbacks. Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez started eight games each for the Eagles and combined to throw for 4,581 yards – a total topped by only five NFL quarterbacks that season. Philadelphia finished 10-6 overall but just missed a spot in the playoffs.
Musgrave spent three seasons as Minnesota's offensive coordinator (2011-13), coaching the top-ranked rushing offense in the league over that span and the league's 2012 Most Valuable Player in running back Adrian Peterson when the Vikings were 10-6 and reached the Wild Card Round of the postseason.
He coached the five previous seasons with Atlanta (2006-10), serving as the team's quarterbacks coach for four campaigns before adding assistant head coach to his title in 2010 when the Falcons won the AFC South title with a 13-3 regular-season record that was their best since 1998 and reached the Divisional Round of the playoffs after posting the league's fifth-ranked scoring offense (25.9 ppg). Coaching quarterbacks with very different skillsets during his tenure in Atlanta, Musgrave played a large role in the development of Michael Vick (2006), Matt Schaub (2006) and Ryan (2008-10). The Falcons also made the Wild Card Round in Ryan's rookie season in 2008 when Atlanta was sixth in total offense (361.2 ypg).
Musgrave also coached for a 10-6 Washington team that reached the Divisional Round in 2005, while his 2002 squad at Virginia that was 9-5 overall and won the Continental Tire Bowl (now known as the Belk Bowl). Schaub was the 2002 ACC Player of the Year.
Musgrave has coached a total of 11 Pro Bowlers including WR Amari Cooper, C Rodney Hudson, T Matt Kalil, RB Latavius Murray, G Kelechi Osemele, FB Marcel Reece and TE Kyle Rudolph in addition to Peterson and the trio of quarterbacks in Beuerlein, Carr and Ryan.
Prior to his coaching career, Musgrave was in the NFL for six seasons (1991-96) as a player after being selected by Dallas in the fourth round of the 1991 draft. Musgrave appeared in 12 games (one start) during his NFL playing career with the 49ers and Broncos, backing up Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana, Steve Young and John Elway. He was a member of the 49ers' Super Bowl XXIX championship team during the 1994 season.
Musgrave played collegiately at Oregon, where he finished his career as the school's all-time leader in passing and total offense, while establishing 15 school records. He led the Ducks to their first bowl game in 26 years during his 1989 junior season before earning first-team All-Pac-10 honors in his final campaign as a 1990 senior. A 1991 Oregon graduate who earned his bachelor's degree in Finance & Accounting, he was also named the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year following his senior season and was a three-time Pac-10 All-Academic selection. Musgrave was inducted into the University of Oregon Hall of Fame in 2000.
A 1986 graduate of Grand Junction (Colo.) High School, Musgrave was named the Colorado High School Athlete of the Year as a senior in 1985 and received the Denver Post's Gold Helmet Award as the state's top prep football player. Musgrave is a member of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
Bill Musgrave Coaching History
Seasons: Team – Position
1997: Oakland Raiders – Quarterbacks
1998: Philadelphia Eagles – Offensive Assistant (Weeks 1-6); Offensive Coordinator (Weeks 7-17)
1999-2000: Carolina Panthers – Quarterbacks (1999); Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks (2000)
2001-02: Virginia – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Tight Ends
2003-04: Jacksonville Jaguars – Offensive Coordinator (2003); Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks (2004)
2005: Washington Redskins – Quarterbacks
2006-10: Atlanta Falcons – Quarterbacks (2006-09); Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks (2010)
2011-13: Minnesota Vikings – Offensive Coordinator
2014: Philadelphia Eagles – Quarterbacks
2015-16: Oakland Raiders – Offensive Coordinator
2017-18: Denver Broncos – Quarterbacks (2017 Weeks 1-11); Offensive Coordinator (2017 Weeks 12-17, 2018)
Bill Musgrave File
Birthdate: November 11, 1967
Hometown: Grand Junction, CO
High School: Grand Junction HS
College: Oregon, 1991, BA, Finance & Accounting
