The Head Coaching Search

For updates on the process from this point forward and details on candidates, the retention of JKS, the High School recruiting class as signing day approaches, you will need to be a subscriber to Bear Insider - Join the BearInsider Premium Community

******************************************************************

Hiring a Football Head Coach is far too often an exercise of reflecting on what most recently didn’t work rather than hiring the best possible fit.

Cal is a unique place and is facing a dynamic college football landscape that likely will not be patient with a program that has struggled  12+ years.

Therefore Ron Rivera will need a uniquely curated set of requirements for any potential replacement for Justin Wilcox.

Before we get there, let’s discuss the sources for candidates.   In football at the Power 4 level, programs can succeed with candidates who were former/curent FCS Head Coaches, Current DC/OCs in the Power 4, as well as sitting FBS Head Coaches.

Criteria:

You have to find someone who has the ruthless personality and obsession around winning.  A leader whose north star every moment of every day is what can they do to improve the chances for the team to win.  For Cal fans, Bruce Snyder and Jeff Tedford very obviously had this trait, Tom Holmoe and Justin Wilcox equally as demonstrably did not

The need to win early and often means you likely need to lean into someone who is not the classic culture builder, rather an immediate culture changer.  A bigger personality with a very clear vision about what defines the program.  This becomes the litmus test for recruiting, hiring staff, etc.  The shift in Culture has to be obvious, bold and aggressively implemented

A coach who not only respects Cal’s academic profile but embraces it as a leverage point in recruiting and fund raising.  They have to get the importance of having high character staff and players in the program and understand and relishg this isn’t a “we can admit anyone and the players can do all their classes online” program.  

If the candidate is a sitting head coach, they must have 3+ years of proven success and a clear trend line of improvement.   They need to be able to articulate what has made them successful and how that recipe applies to the unique circumstances in Berkeley.   If they are moving up from FCS or the Group of 5, their recruiting plan has to be incredibly compelling and their plan/access to top tier assistants has to be manifest.    Ideally, any G of 5 or FCS sitting head coach would have experience as a successful position coach/recruiter at the P4 level

if the candidate is a sitting P4 coordinator, it’s critical they have the raw ambition and burning desire to be a Head Coach.  Equally as important is their detailed blueprint of what they would do if they were a head coach at Cal.  They’re also going to need a 3+ year track record of their offense or defense being exceptional at the P4 level and a reputation as a top flight recruiter.  

The next Head Coach has to have to have a robust network with high likelihood of hiring compelling assistants and a ready to roll recruiting plan for those coaches

The candidate need a detailed personnel plan, including players they can bring with them from their current gig, how they plan to retain critical talent at Cal, their approach to HS recruiting and to the portal

West Coast ties/experience is a bonus not mandatory

The Initial Candidates:

Obvious:

Tosh Lupoi - DC at Oregon, Age 44

Brent Brennan - HC at Arizona, Age 52

Jon Sumrall - HC at Tulane, Age 43

Sean Lewis - HC at San Diego State, Age 39

Interesting/Under the Radar:

Bryant Haines - DC at Indiana, Age 40

Eric Morris - HC at North Texas, Age 40

Dan Mullen - HC at UNLV, Age 53

Scott Symons - DC at SMU, Age 40

Pat Fitzgerald - Former HC at Northwestern, Age 50

Worth a Look:

Tim Plough - HC at UC Davis, Age 40

Will Stein - OC at Oregon, Age 36

Troy Taylor - Former HC at Stanford, Age 57

********************************************************************

For updates on the process from this point forward and details on candidates, the retention of JKS, the High School recruiting class as signing day approaches, you will need to be a subscriber to Bear Insider - Join the BearInsider Premium Community