Bloesch Elevated To Offensive Coordinator/O-Line Coach

Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox announced Saturday that Mike Bloesch has been elevated to offensive coordinator/offensive line coach for the California football team.

Bloesch, who joined Cal in December of 2022 as the Golden Bears' run game coordinator and offensive line coach, helped Cal average 181.1 rushing yards per game – its' best since 2012 – over its' 12 regular-season games. The team's 2023 ground game is led by Pac-12 rushing leader Jaydn Ott, who is also fifth nationally in rushing yards per game (114.5) and 11th in total rushing yards (1,260). In addition, the Bears have made tremendous strides in protecting the quarterback and not allowing negative plays under Bloesch, improving from 10th to fourth in the Pac-12 in sacks allowed (2.58 to 1.50) and 11th to tied for fifth in tackles for loss allowed (6.08 to 5.42) from a year ago.

"Mike Bloesch has made a huge impact in his first season with our program, and we are excited to give him the opportunity to make an even greater impact moving forward," Wilcox said. "Mike has proven himself to be a versatile and skilled coach, as well as an excellent recruiter. It's easy to see why Mike has risen so quickly through the ranks to become one of the nation's top young coaches and recruiters."

"I'm excited about this opportunity and prepared for it," Bloesch said. "We have taken strides to becoming a great football program this season, and I can't wait to see what we can accomplish down the road. I want to win championships, and I want to win them at Cal."

Bloesch also got off to a strong recruiting start at Cal in 2023, highlighted by landing a pair of proven Power 5 transfer portal offensive linemen in Barrett Miller (Stanford) and Matthew Wykoff (Texas A&M). Miller made all 12 regular-season starts in 2023, while Wykoff started each of the final 11 contests after Matthew Cindric suffered a season-ending injury in the opener at North Texas. Bloesch also facilitated Brian Driscoll's move from starting left guard to Cindric's spot at center after the sixth-year senior's injury.

Before he arrived at Cal, Bloesch spent three campaigns with North Texas, serving as the offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022 after being a co-offensive coordinator in 2020, and helped the Mean Green to bowl appearances in each campaign. He was also the quarterbacks coach in 2022 while working with the offensive linemen in 2020 and 2021. Bloesch's last two North Texas squads ranked in the top 10 nationally in fewest sacks allowed (2022 – 0.79, No. 5; 2021 – 1.15, No. 10t), while his balanced offensive attacks were highlighted by a 2020 unit that averaged 513.2 yards of total offense per game (283.0 passing, 230.2 rushing) to rank eighth in the nation.

In 2016 at Tulsa, his offensive line paved the way for a team that finished 10-3 and ranked among the nation's top 10 in total offense (527.0, No. 4), scoring offense (42.5, No. 7) and rushing offense (261.7, No. 8). Bloesch spent five campaigns at Tulsa (2015-19), including the final four as the offensive line coach after one working in quality control with the tight ends.

Bloesch started in collegiate coaching in 2014 as an analyst at his alma mater Houston after five seasons in the prep coaching ranks (2009-13) following his collegiate playing career with the Cougars from 2004-08.