August 5, 2021; Berkeley, California, USA; Football: California Golden Bears Media Day at California Memorial Stadium; Justin Wilcox (Photo credit: Nathan Phillips/KLC fotos)

Justin Wilcox

Justin Wilcox has compiled a long list of accomplishments and signature wins as the Travers Family Head Football Coach and is in his ninth campaign on the job at Cal. Through eight seasons, Wilcox has compiled a 42-50 record, 42 wins is the sixth-most victories by a head coach in California football history. In 2018 and 2019, Wilcox led Cal to back-to-back winning campaigns and bowl games for the first time since 2008 and 2009, then returned to a bowl in 2023 and 2024. 

Against Stanford, Cal has won five of the last six Big Game meetings, including four in a row overall (2021-24) and three straight on The Farm (2019, '21, '23). Wilcox is the first Cal head coach to win the Big Game three straight times on the road since Pappy Waldorf captured six straight at Stanford from 1937-51. 

Wilcox made his objectives clear at his opening press conference shortly after he was hired on January 14, 2017:

"The goal here is pretty simple," Wilcox said at the time. "It is to consistently compete for championships, graduate our student-athletes and leave them with a fulfilling experience in Berkeley. The type of student-athlete we want at Cal is smart and tough. We want student-athletes that will play football at a high level and also succeed in the classroom at the top public institution in the world. Recruiting players that come from winning programs and know how to win is important. They will help us to build and maintain a winning culture."

2024 Season

  • Led the Bears to bowl-eligibility for the fourth time as head coach.

  • Five of Cal’s seven losses were by a combined 17 points.

  • The 2024 Bears were led by Fernando Mendoza who produced just the ninth 3,000-yard passing season in California history and finished in the top-10 on Cal's single-season passing charts in total offense yards, passing efficiency and yards passing. Defensively, the Bears ranked third in the ACC in total defense and was one of two teams in the ACC that gave up less than five yards per play.

  • Following the season, Nohl Williams became the second First Team All-American under Wilcox. 

  • In the 2025 NFL Draft, Cal had four Golden Bears selected, which was the most since the 2016 NFL Draft.

2023 Season

  • He led the Bears to bowl-eligibility and a Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl selection in 2023. 

  • Five of the team's seven losses were against teams ranked in the AP Top 25.

  • The 2023 Bears featured running back Jaydn Ott, a 2023 honorable mention All-American, first-team All-Pac-12 selection, Pac-12’s rushing champion, and 2024 Heisman Trophy candidate, who led the league and ranked among the nation’s best in all-purpose yards per game, rushing yards per game and rushing yards.

2022 Season

  • Cal's 2022 squad was responsible for a dramatic come from behind victory over Stanford.

  • Started the season with 58 of the 113 players on the roster having never participated in a game for the Bears, including 35 in their first season at Cal.

  • Cal excelled in several team statistical categories in 2022 including tying for second in the Pac-12 and tying for 12th nationally with three defensive touchdowns while also ranking among the nation's top teams in several turnover categories including fumbles lost, turnover margin and turnovers lost. 

  • Wilcox received strong performances from several individuals in 2022 led by Ott, who was a Pro Football Focus All-True Freshman team member, J.Michael Sturdivant led the nation’s freshmen in receptions and receptions per game, while ranking second in receiving yards and receiving yards per game, and tied for second in receiving touchdowns.

2021 Season

  • Wilcox's team came on strong at the end of the 2021 campaign with four victories in its final six contests including arguably its most impressive performance of the season in a 41-11 Big Game win that marked Cal's largest margin of victory against Stanford since 2004. 

  • Fourth-year starting quarterback Chase Garbers, as well offensive linemen Matthew Cindric, Ben Coleman and McKade Mettauer earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors from the league's coaches. Garbers finished his Cal career ranked among the school's all-time leaders in total offense (4th), touchdown passes (T6th), passer efficiency (7th), passing yards (7th), 300-plus yard passing games (T7th) and 250-yard passing games (T9th), while he is also Cal's all-time leader for both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.

  • The Bears finished the campaign second in the Pac-12 in scoring defense, fourth in total defense and fourth in rushing defense. 

  • Following the success of the 2021 campaign, Wilcox signed a contract extension in January of 2022 through the 2027 campaign.

2020 Season

  • Wilcox's defense was just getting on track in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic ended the often-delayed season after four games with its final performance, a second-half shutout of eventual Pac-12 champion Oregon in an inspiring 21-17 home victory over the Ducks. 

  • Camryn Bynum (first team) and Goode (second team) earned All-Pac-12 selections, while Kekoa Crawford, Jake Curhan, Deng, Josh Drayden, Brett Johnson, Zeandae Johnson, Nikko Remigio, Michael Saffell and Jake Tonges were honorable mention all-conference picks, and Damien Moore an honorable mention selection for the league’s Freshman Offensive Player of the Year. 

2019 season

  • Wilcox began the 2019 season with four straight wins to move the Bears into the No. 15 spot in the AP Top 25 and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll. The victories included road wins at then-No. 14/12 Washington and Ole Miss, with the latter the first road triumph by a Pac-12 school at an SEC foe since 2010. 

  • The two signature victories helped the Bears to a 4-2 mark in true road games to give Cal back-to-back winning seasons on the road for the first time since 2004.

  • A strong defense led by Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Evan Weaver; an offense that took care of the football, produced explosive plays and had a penchant for game-winning drives; and a disciplined team that led the conference and ranked in the top 15 nationally in all penalty categories were among the keys to success. 

  • During its last four wins all coming over the team's final five games, the Cal offense averaged 30.0 points and 414.3 total yards per contest including a season-high 35 points in its final game in a Redbox Bowl victory over Illinois.

2018 season

  • Wilcox guided the Bears to the Cheez-It Bowl and a 7-6 overall record in his second campaign in 2018.

  • Cal reached a high point of 7-4 overall after winning four of five conference games in one stretch, highlighted by signature victories over eventual Pac-12 champion and then-No. 15/13 Washington, as well as at USC with the victory over the Trojans clinching bowl eligibility. 

  • Cal also started the season with a 3-0 mark and in Week 5 made its first appearance since 2015 in the AP Top 25 at No. 24. 

  • Cal’s defense finished the 2018 campaign among national and Pac-12 leaders in nearly every category. The Bears ranked in the top 10 nationally and paced the conference in interceptions, defensive touchdowns, passing yards allowed and turnovers gained. 

  • Weaver (Pro Football Focus) and Jordan Kunaszyk (Sports Illustrated) earned second-team All-American honors and paced the nation with a total of 307 tackles between them that are the most ever in a campaign by a Cal duo. 

2017 Season

  • The highlights of Wilcox's first season as the head coach in Berkeley in 2017 included a 3-0 start and non-conference wins over Power 5 programs North Carolina and Ole Miss, as well as a 37-3 victory over then No. 8/9 Washington State in an ESPN nationally-televised Friday night home game. 

  • The victory against the Cougars snapped Cal's 17-game losing streak to top-10 teams, was the Bears' first victory against a top-10 team since 2003 and only its second top-10 win dating back to 1977. 

  • Even more impressive was the Bears’ average improvement in the national rankings of just under 40 spots per category in those 15 defensive statistical categories.

Previous Stops

  • Prior to becoming Cal's head coach, Wilcox spent the previous 11 seasons as a defensive coordinator at Boise State (2006-09), Tennessee (2010-11), Washington (2012-13), USC (2014-15) and Wisconsin (2016). 

  • In his most recent position before becoming Cal's head coach, Wilcox helped a 2016 Wisconsin team to an 11-3 overall record and a No. 9 ranking in the final AP Top 25 in addition to a Cotton Bowl win as the team’s defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach.

  • Wilcox was also instrumental to the success of Washington and USC in four previous seasons as a defensive coordinator in the Pac-12.

  • Wilcox also spent two seasons as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator (2010-11) and four campaigns as the defensive coordinator at Boise State (2006-09). 

Berkeley Buy-In

  • Student attendance nearly doubled from 2017 to 2018, and student ticket purchases were higher in 2021 than they had been in the past 10 years. 

  • In addition, Cal fans had a 95% season-ticket renewal rate for 2021 compared to the 2019 campaign. 

  • Wilcox was instrumental in securing a seven-figure gift to the school's football program in 2019 from former Cal quarterback, four-time NFL AP MVP, and Super Bowl XLV MVP Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers' gift was used to renovate the football locker room and create the Aaron Rodgers Football Scholarship that is now awarded annually to a junior college transfer like Rodgers, who came to Cal after one season at Butte College near his hometown of Chico. 

  • In 2021, the Travers Family committed $7.5 million to endow the Travers Family Head Football Coach position and Paul White gave $1.5 million to fund the Paul F. White Innovation and Wellness Center.

  • In 2022, the Bears drew a sell-out crowd of 51,892 when they hosted the 125th Big Game against Stanford. 

  • The 2023 campaign opened with a solid 44,141 in attendance and a sold-out student section for a nationally-televised ESPN game against Auburn.

  • In 2024, the Bears hosted ESPN’s College Gameday for the first time in front of a sell-out crowd at California Memorial Stadium.

NFL Success

  • Wilcox has coached 14 players as Cal’s head coach who have been selected in the NFL Draft.

Classroom Success

  • The Cal football program announced its highest Graduation Success Rate ever at 86 percent in December of 2022 then followed that up with 83 percent in 2023.

  • Cal has also recorded its top two scores in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate and its highest team grade-point average under Wilcox. 

  • The team's APR of 976 for the 2022-23 academic year (most recent data available from NCAA) announced in June of 2024 was 13 points higher than the national football average of 963 and third-highest number in school history.

  • Cal has earned a combined 92 spots on the last four Pac-12 Academic Honor Rolls since its inception in 2020 including a program-high 31 in 2022. 

  • Matt Anderson was the Pac-12's Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2017 before Michael Saffell won the prestigious award in 2020.

In the Community

  • Wilcox's players have also been active in the community with Cindric's 2023 selection to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® the fourth time one of Wilcox's Cal players has been selected including three consecutive seasons from 2018-20 (Laird, Marcel Dancy, Hicks). 

  • Laird earned a spot on the prestigious squad primarily for his work with the Patrick Laird Summer Reading Challenge, which was later picked up by Saffell, while Dancy was honored for his efforts as a volunteer coach for the Oakland Dynamites Youth Football and Cheer squad, and Hicks for his fundraising efforts that included netting over $60,000 for families affected by COVID-19. 

  • Cindric was also the co-founder of the Golden Buddies Football Clinic along with Myles Williams that took place for the first time in 2023 before Williams came back for a second season along with co-hosts Endries and Mendoza.

  • The second event doubled to about 100 participants and allowed children aged 6-13 with and without intellectual disabilities to participate in football drills and interact with about 40 Cal football players running the various event stations.

  • Saffell was also a finalist for the 2020 Wuerffel Trophy, while Hicks was the winner of the 2021 Pop Warner College Football Award.

Playing Career

  • As a collegiate student-athlete, Wilcox was a safety and cornerback at Oregon (1996-99).

  • He helped the Ducks to bowl games (1997 Las Vegas Bowl, 1998 Aloha Bowl, 1999 Sun Bowl) in each of his final three seasons.

  • In 1999, he was named second-team All-Pac-10 and also earned Pac-10 All-Academic honors.

Personal

  • Born on November 12, 1976 and is from Junction City, Oregon.

  • The 1999 graduate of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology.

  • He is the son of the late Dave Wilcox, a Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker who played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1964-74. 

  • His uncle, John (Philadelphia Eagles, 1960), and brother, Josh (New Orleans Saints, 1998-99), also played in the NFL.


All-Time Head Coaching Record (9th Season): 42-50 

Coaching Experience
Season: School – Position (Champions, Postseason)

2001: Boise State – Graduate Assistant
2002: Boise State – Graduate Assistant (WAC Champions, Humanitarian Bowl)
2003: California – Linebackers (Insight Bowl)
2004: California – Linebackers (Holiday Bowl)
2005: California – Linebackers (Las Vegas Bowl)
2006: Boise State – Defensive Coordinator (WAC Champions, Fiesta Bowl)
2007: Boise State – Defensive Coordinator (WAC Champions, Hawaii Bowl)
2008: Boise State – Defensive Coordinator (Poinsettia Bowl)
2009: Boise State – Defensive Coordinator (WAC Champions, Fiesta Bowl)
2010: Tennessee – Defensive Coordinator (Music City Bowl)
2011: Tennessee – Defensive Coordinator
2012: Washington – Defensive Coordinator (Las Vegas Bowl)
2013: Washington – Defensive Coordinator (Fight Hunger Bowl)
2014: USC – Defensive Coordinator (Holiday Bowl)
2015: USC – Defensive Coordinator (Pac-12 South Division Champions, Holiday Bowl)
2016: Wisconsin – Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers (Cotton Bowl)
2017: California – Head Coach (5-7)
2018: California – Head Coach (Cheez-It Bowl) (7-6)
2019: California – Head Coach (Redbox Bowl) (8-5)
2020: California – Head Coach (1-3)
2021: California – Travers Family Head Football Coach (5-7)
2022: California – Travers Family Head Football Coach (4-8)
2023: California – Travers Family Head Football Coach (Independence Bowl) (6-7)
2024: California – Travers Family Head Football Coach (LA Bowl) (6-7)