Cal GM Ron Rivera met with the media today to discuss the decision to replace head coach Justin Wilcox, details about the search for his replacement and more this morning at Memorial Stadium.
The following is a transcript of the conversation.
Q: Ron, I wonder if you could take us through the weekend and your how things unfolded. Did you know right away after the game that you were going to make a change, and was there a deal where, if you're going to make a change, might as well just do it now?
Rivera: Well, once the game finished, I went through a huge thought process trying to kind of go through my mind what just transpired and what it meant going forward for the program, and as I considered it and continued to talk about it, the realization that if there is an opportunity to do it now, let's do it now. That way we can make the break. I talked with several people about this, and decided to sleep on it. Woke up in the morning about 5:00 and started thinking some more, and then called a couple other people I had to talk with. I called the Chancellor and told him I felt that now is the opportunity for us to move forward and to let Justin go and start planning for our future.
Q: Can you share anything about your conversation with Justin?
Rivera: It was very professional. I mean, the guy is a class act character and as a man. Guy’s done a lot for this program. Very grateful for him getting us to where we are. I mean, consecutive bowl games year after year's been a very good trend for us. The hard part is, obviously, we would love to see a lot more success in terms of the wins and losses, but for the things that he did do and did help us, that was outstanding,
Q: Ron, when you think about the way everything happened, what are the characteristics or the factors that factored into the decision to let go Wilcox, and then what are those factors that you're looking for bringing in a new coach for this next team?
Rivera: Well, I'll say this: In looking the last couple of seasons, looking at where we ended up, and then seeing where we are again, we got to a certain level. Losing the Big Game really got me thinking moreso than I really anticipated. I was very optimistic about our opportunity to win that game, and what it would mean for us going forward as a program. And unfortunately, the loss occurred and the wheel started to turn. As far as going forward, I'm compiling a list right now of viable candidates.
Looking at at least one thing is making sure that they can answer the question, 'Why Cal?' Why would you want to come back? Or, why would you like to come to Cal? Why would you like to be part of what we're doing? That would be one of the questions that have to be answered. I've got to make sure they understand what this university is about and what it takes to be here. That's one thing that I think is gonna be really, really important. I think that one of the other things that I'm working on right now too, is going to put together a committee looking for some alums, former players, students, former students. There are donors that are having have a stake in what we're doing. And then some faculty members and some some representatives from the athletic department.
I haven't decided if I'm going to do just a committee of players or I'm going to have the candidates, when they come in, get an opportunity to speak to the entire team. I think it's important that they have a voice in this as well, because this candidate, whoever it is, becomes the head coach, is going to lead these young men, and so the young men deserve to have a say in this as well.
BI: Ron, in this era of college football, there's dates that complicate decisions like this. You've got an early Signing Day. It got bumped up to right after the season, which seems crazy to me, and then you've got the portal deadlines, you've got all these considerations. How does that impact the timing of this decision?
Rivera: Well, to me, it's about making a clear decision and making a bold move forward. And that's how we're going to phrase it is that we're looking to build on this, to take it another step. You know, we're at a certain point which you feel good about, but we also want to be able to take another step, and so that's what we're going to we're aiming for again. Really do appreciate everything that Justin had done getting us to this point. And you know, we have a direction we want to take now.
BI: Is it out of the question to have a decision made before high school signing day by December 3-5?
Rivera: Not necessarily but lot of the candidates - I've got several names down already, and I've already pulled some bios and gotten some bios or asked for some bios and resumes. A good number of them are tied to teams that will be going to bowls, but several of them are also tied to teams that are going to be are still in the hunt to be in the CFP. So this is the process that's going to have to be very fluid and very flexible."
Q: Last week, you said you were confident that you were going to be able to keep Jaron. How does this affect that, if at all?
Rivera: Well, I think the big thing, and the key about it is the understanding that what we're doing is in the best interest of the university. Secondly, knowing who he is and what he means to us, there's going to be a lot of thought in who's next and what that staff is going to look like as well, and part of it will be about his growth and development as a football player and as a student athlete. So this is still very, very important, making sure he understands that we are are looking in his best interest as well, not just the university's or the football program's, but also we've got him in mind as we do his teammates. Everything we're doing, we feel is to see if we can make sure these guys continue to be developed as student athletes.
Q: If you guys have won on Saturday, would Justin be the coach going forward next year?
Rivera: I'd say that's exactly we're looking at, because we're looking for the opportunity to have a winning record, which that would have ensured and it would have given us a higher profile bowl game, probably and I think that's one of the things that's really important going forward is that it's about winning, and we're trying to take those steps. The one hard thing really for me, July 2 is when I got the opportunity to truly step in and start getting involved. And now things are kind of moving and coming to fruition. So we're starting to put things together.
Q: Ron, you talked about your conversation with the chancellor and the alignment you guys have had. Walk us through what was about it? Was it simply you saying, all right, this is the decision, or how much was it more of a sign off, versus it back and forth?
Rivera: It was a very good conversation and discussion. He wanted to make sure that I'd been very thoughtful about what I was doing, that everything was considered, or things that need to be considered were weighed. So we had a good conversation, good discussion. And at the end of the end of the day, when I gave the recommendation, he agreed. And but I can say this was not something that was done very flippantly. This was done with some serious conversation, some serious intent, knowing what was at stake, and again, it's something that I really appreciate him being aligned with me in this.
Q: Understand you talked about the role the student athletes play in all of this. How did they take the news?
Rivera: They took it hard. They really did. As I said, Coach (Wilcox) is a guy of high quality character, and the players do most certainly have sentiments towards him. A lot of these guys he believed in, gave them opportunities when other people didn't. Other guys, he stuck by, even through some very hard times, difficult times. And again, those are some of the characteristics we're going to be looking for our next head coach.
Q: I know you sort of just answered this, but when you addressed the players after the Justin news, did any of them come up to you and say, This is what we want more of or less of in the next head coach?
Rivera: I've had a couple conversations. I've also talked to a couple about getting together with me and answering those questions and having those questions asked. So it's going to be interesting in the next couple of weeks. Obviously, we're just trying right now stay focused on on getting prepared for SMU, and at some point I'll get the opportunity to spend a little bit more time with these guys. And whenever we do start bringing in candidates, they will get opportunities to get up and ask questions like I said. I'm not sure if it's gonna be in a committee or if it's going to be the entire team.
Q: Would the next head coach have to have head coaching experience?
Rivera: Not necessarily. Again, what we are looking for most certainly, is the best fit. We're looking for somebody we truly do believe that is a guy that can take us to the direction we want to go and accomplish what we're looking to accomplish.
Q: Well, you've talked about the story how you became the GM. That Chancellor asked you to list some characteristics, and then he finally said, You're the guy I want. Is there any chance you would go through this process? You've been a head coach, you know Cal, that you could go from GM to head coach?
Rivera: I don't think so. I think what I'm doing right now, is trying to create the opportunity to make this as attractive as a job as possible. I'm trying to be as supportive as I can, to bring as many resources we can to this situation. And that's the big thing that that we've been getting is we've been getting a lot of positive responses the last few few weeks. And you know, having gotten the opportunity to engage, and I think that's what my mission is, is to try and create that and keep the engagement coming for whoever's next, and try and be as supportive as I can.
Q: Ron, just to be clear on the timing with Signing Day coming up, it sounds like you're saying you want to take your time and get the right guy as quickly as you can, and not necessarily fold that into a signing date deadline, correct?
Rivera: Well, we want to be very, very thorough, very thoughtful in the direction we want to take this team, and a lot of it is hinging on who the next head coach is. So we've got to be very thorough with this. I'm not quite sure how it would work if it is one of the coaches that is involved in the CFP but I most certainly will be involved in all those other aspects of trying to put it together, whether it's finishing the high school recruiting, getting ready for the portal, and putting together the coaching staff. So these are all things that I'll be working on. And as we go through this search, I'm looking to put a committee of folks together to help me with this process.
Q: If I can ask you a quick follow up, how did you decide on Nick Rolovich as the interim coach?
Rivera: Well, one of the things that I've always believed in, and it's something that when this happened to me in Carolina, one of the things I discussed with David Tapper, the owner, was, you want to keep your coordinators working on their specific job. If you move one person, you've got to move somebody else, and then somebody else has got to move, let's keep those guys working. Coach Rolovich has been head coaching 10 years, has been very successful with them. He's been a guy that's connected very well with our with our players, and we felt, I felt that this is probably the best opportunity and the best decision. That way coach can our two coordinators can focus on preparing and getting ready for the game, and Coach Rolovich, who has this experience, could be somebody who can step in and continue to stay very steady with the show.
Q: Are you guys be using a search firm for assistance?
Rivera: No, I've got enough contacts throughout the coaching world to get a list, and I've already got a list of 14 and I'll probably pare that down to about 10. I'll probably get more, a few more, but I'll pare it down probably about 10, and then the committee will go from there.
Q: As we talk about compiling your list, how much are you considering making an internal hire?
Rivera: Well, we do have some pretty good internal candidates, guys that both do have coaching experience in Coach Harsin and Coach Rolovich and they are guys that I do have on this long list right now. But where we go from there? Like I said, I'm going to get together with the committee and we'll thin it down to where it's a manageable number, and then we'll start the process.
Q: You've mentioned that you've put an emphasis on having a winning record and wanting that for this program. How do you feel that this is shaping up the team this week going into your last game?
Rivera: Well, Ithink what it does, it finds out about the character of ouremployees and of all of our players as well. I mean, adversity hits and it strikes at any time, how you handle it, really also talks a little bit about who you are. So this is an opportunity for us also to gauge where we are in terms of that with our players and our coaches as well, and our staff for that matter. This is an important time for us, and we've got to be able to do things, and we just can't wait. I could have sat back and waited until the end, that would have been the easy thing.
This is hard what we're doing. It's very, very hard. It's hard on Justin, it's hard on the players, it's hard on the staff, the coaches, everybody, because there's a big question mark for all of us. It's hard on me. So what I did, I did thoughtfully, also trying to figure out where we're going to go, who we're going to be next year. And that's important. We've got to have good answers. So what we'll get from what we see is where we need to go. If we see the type of performance we hope to get, that could be an outstanding thing, and show us just the character and toughness of a lot of our guys. Some guys may not react properly, may not react the way we hope they do, but we're going to find out.
Q: I believe it was Marshall last season that had to back out of its whole game because it didn't have enough players, and the coaching staff was influenced. I believe the total is different this year. But are you convinced that you'll still be able to play in the bowl game no matter what happens in the next couple of weeks?
Rivera: I'd like to believe so. We've got a number of guys that are nicked up that are all trying to get back on the football field right now. So that's a very promising thing, plus we'll have time before we play in the in the bowl game. So we expect guys that are nicked up be able to be 100% for that. And that would be really beneficial for us.
Q: Ron, with Rolovich being the interim head coach and also being a candidate in that pool that you have currently, what are you hoping to see from the rest of this season, from him as interim, as far as the reception of the team with him in that spot, but then also success for this team so far this season?
Rivera: Well, I like, I like the idea of giving a chance to see how the players react and how they handle the situation. I think Coach Rolovich is very aware of that. For him, it's doing the job and doing some very positive things for us. He's a guy that hopefully going forward, and he's still part of this, this program. He's somebody that I've got a chance to watch and really appreciate the way he does things.
Q: I just want to ask about going into SMU. Obviously, a tough team. You still have to kind of dedicate so much time to that, with everything going on, talk to the guys when you can. But just the state of the team right now, you said they're going to test their character, but what do you think right now this moment, like, how do they respond to just everything that's transpired?
Rivera: I'd like to say they really responded the way that you would expect a man to. You know, they took it very hard. They had a rough day yesterday as well. Today, you start seeing them come out of it. I thought it was very business-like, which is a plus. I thought the way Coach Rolovich and the coaches handled it is exactly what we're hoping, because these guys will come out of this, and we expect them to come out and give their best efforts, what we're hoping to see.
