Wilcox Says Bequette Might Return, Weighs in On Playoff Field, Compensation

Cal head football coach Justin WIlcox on Thursday conducted his final meeting with the media before he and his staff take off for summer vacations.

His main conversions about players dealt with the defensive line. He said that Luc Bequette, who transferred to Boston College last year after playing four seasons in Berkley, could return to the Bears for a final campaign. . 

He said that Brett Johnson, who will miss the 2021 season after being injured in a car accident, is proceeding well with his rehab. He also said that defensive end Gabe Cherry is no longer on the roster.

He also commented on the possible expansion of the College Football Playoffs behind its current four-team format. He’s in favor of a bigger field, but with some conditions.

And when the questions dealt with the recent Supreme Court decision this week that provided for an incremental increase in how athletes could receive benefits and hinted at wholesale changes in the NCAA’s limits, Wilcox agreed with virtually every informed source: “Nobody knows.”

Bequette, who will turn 24 on July 1, played the defensive line for Cal from 2016 through 2019, appearing in 42 games with 38 starts. When the Pac-12 said last August it would not play in the fall of 2020, Bequette transferred and played in 11 games for BC. Now he wants to come back and Wilcox would welcome him. 

Cal Athletics

Luc Bequette celebrates a sack

‘Luc’s situation’s really unique,” Wilcox said. “That’s unprecedented, as a lot of last year was, to transfer when there was no (Pac-12) season or claimed there was going to be no season. Luc transferred. We fully supported him. The 180 that the conference made (to reinstate the season), and by that time Luc was playing at Boston College.

“He finished the season there and had an interest in coming back. We were all for it. Now it’s just the NCAA — that’s the final piece of the puzzle.”

Wilcox said he expected the issue to be resolved soon. “Everything is moving forward in the right direction and it’s in the hands of the NCAA at this point,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox said he expected to see Johnson on campus soon, even though the talented defensive lineman will not be physically ready until 2022.

“He is doing great, considering the significance of the injury,” Wilcox said. “After an injury like that, physically and mentally there are things that you have to overcome. But Brett is an ambitious guy who is very driven who is very tough. He will be a person that responds to all those adversities in a really strong way. He will be with us here shortly, back on campus, and we look forward to him continuing with his rehabilitation. He is in as good a position as he could possibly be in, based on what I know from the doctors and the rehabilitation folks.”

Wilcox, like most football people, favors more teams being included in the national championship playoffs. His one caveat was more conformity in the scheduling. Not all conferences play nine league games as the Pac-12 does. Wilcox did not name any school or conference other than his own, but he was clearly talking about the likes of the SEC, which has an eight-game conference schedule. That leaves Alabama the flexibility to pack its non-conference schedule with Georgia Southern, McNeese State, and the like.

“I know there is a lot of dialogue on the pros and cons of the different models,” Wilcox said. “I do think having parity in the scheduling is really important. How we get to that, I don’t have an answer, Whether the Pac-12 changes the conference game model in terms of how many we are playing or the other conference ad. But somewhere you’ve got to find a balance where everybody is scheduling in a similar way.”

He also made it clear that he favors student-athletes receiving increased benefits. The recent decision did not address the NIL (Names, Image, LIkeness) controversy that is brewing. However, the court did indicate how it is leaning and which direction its future decisions might take on the subject.

Wilcox said change is coming, but he said he has no idea what the result will be. “There is going to be a lot of articles, talk radio, news, and everybody has got their opinion about how this is going to move forward, when in fact I don’t know that anybody has the answer right now,” he said, “There are still things that are going to happen, more cases,  and also guidelines from the NCAA and the states themselves. We’re prepared, I am being kept up to date by our administration, But I don’t spend a ton of time going down the rabbit hole one way or the other because you can waste a lot of energy on that. We are prepared the appropriate amount here in the football office and waiting for further instructions.”