Geoff McArthur Discusses Berkeley Return, Life After Cancer Diagnosis

BERKELEY — Geoff McArthur is living, man.

First and foremost, the Cal Athletics Hall of Famer is thrilled to be back with the Bears as an assistant wide receivers coach, grateful to call Memorial Stadium the office once again.

“This is a place where I not only grew up, but I feel like I was raised in the Bay Area,” McArthur said after Monday’s practice. “I mean, I'm born and raised in Los Angeles, but a lot of maturity and a lot of life lessons were formed here. 

“So just taking that field … every day I go out there, I thank God, and I'm very, very appreciative of the opportunity to do this. It's not a lot of people that can say they coach where they played, and so it's really special to be out here.”

Seriously. 

After setting Bears records in all-time receiving yards (3,188), single-season receiving yards (1,504 in 2003), single-game receptions (16) and 100-yard receiving games (11), while playing from 2000-04 alongside classic names such as Aaron Rodgers, Marshawn Lynch, Alex Mack and Lorenzo Alexander, McArthur long has yearned for a Berkeley return.

So when Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi — also a former teammate of McArthur — reached out, it was a done deal.

“I've been prepping for this moment for a long time,” McArthur said. “Personally, it was (on my) bucket list. I was going to come up here and volunteer if nobody offered me anything, and I was going to sleep in the (sleep pods) or wherever … until they kicked me out. I'm glad they offered me a job. But once it started to become a possibility, I knew it was going to happen, just because 20 to 25 years ago, the same thing happened.

“You get a coach from Oregon (a nod to Jeff Tedford); all of a sudden, we go from, you know, pretty below average to above average … so history has a way of repeating itself, and I feel like we're about to do some special things once again.”

Coaching at Cal is obviously extremely special for the Blue-and-Gold great — but at this point in McArthur’s life, so is getting up in the morning.

He is simply grateful to be breathing, in remission after a lengthy battle with the Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) diagnosis he received in 2022, which over time spread to his chest, neck, stomach, lungs and groin.

“I feel really good about where I'm at health-wise,” McArthur said. “It's been four years since I was diagnosed with stage-four cancer. Each year, I tend to get a little bit stronger.

“And, you know, as long as I keep myself in good health, when it comes to hydrating and taking care of myself (and) eating the right foods and in the right environments, I'm going to be fine. And this is the perfect environment.”

The experience has changed McArthur’s outlook on life.

Scared he never was; well, maybe of the constant needles.

“I would throw up and pass out and all kinds of things,” McArthur said.

But overall, he approached his new reality the same way he would on the gridiron — as a fierce competitor. 

McArthur said his “natural reaction” was to beat cancer, regardless of the concerning statistics and visuals that suggested death was on the doorstep, and that his body has always responded better to living in the moment, rather than in hypothetical doomsday scenarios.

And so far, so good.

“I look at it as a positive because I was able to learn strength about myself that I didn't know I had,” McArthur said. “It was a positive because I understand now how fragile life is, and anything could happen at any time.

“I live very presently because of it. I don't feast on tomorrow’s. I'm not guaranteed anything other than right now …”

As McArthur mentioned, it isn’t often that a player can boast that they coach at their alma mater. But for the Bears' wideouts learning under him — and primary position coach Ike Hilliard — it also isn’t often to have that much mentorship and experience, on and off the field, at one’s disposal.

“I look forward to adversity,” McArthur said. “Whenever adversity strikes, I wait for it, and I pounce on it; what an opportunity to learn about yourself. What an opportunity to grow and create a new neural pathway …

“So just being able to give that to the students and players in the room to help them when they have a difficult time; I can tell when the light bulb goes off, and they start to become believers in that, too. So, we look forward to difficulties because they're going to show us who we are.”

McArthur is a Golden Bear and a fighter who has lived lifetimes more than most.

And he looks forward to continuing to help Cal’s wideouts on their own journeys.

“We have a very connected group; It reminds me of the group we had when I was here,” McArthur said, later referencing former teammates such as Burl Toler III, Chase Lyman, Jonathan Makonnen and Robert Jordan. “You don't have all these five-stars and big-name guys that you probably would have read about or heard about in high school or this and that.

“But the group, as a whole, they play well together, they compete for each other, and you see a lot of people helping one another. Nobody's out there trying to make sure that they're the only one that knows a play. They're sharing information, they're blocking for each other, they're playing hard, and if we keep it up, we'll be pretty special.”