Bill Musgrave is in his third season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Cal in 2022, as well as his 16th campaign as an offensive coordinator and 25th in coaching at the NFL or collegiate ranks.
Cal's offense had several strong moments during Musgrave's first full season at Cal in 2021 (his first campaign in 2020 was shortened to four games by COVID-19). The offense played a key role in the Golden Bears' second-half surge in 2021 when Cal won four times 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. Cal had a Big Game record 636 total yards in the contest including 352 on the ground that were the most rushing yards in a game by the Bears since 2008. The 2021 Cal offense was capable of producing big numbers that included over 500 yards of total offense three times (636, at Stanford; 534, vs. Sacramento State; 517, vs. Oregon State) and more than 200 yards rushing on four occasions (352, at Stanford; 255, vs. Oregon State; 246, vs. Sacramento State; 213, vs. Colorado). Cal also took tremendous care of the football with its 10 turnovers the fewest ever by a Cal team playing a full schedule with the previous low 13 by the 2019 squad. Cal lost only two fumbles in 2021 to rank tied for second nationally and lead the Pac-12 for fewest fumbles. The Bears also ranked second in the Pac-12 and 11th nationally in turnover margin (+10, 0.83), while its 10 total turnovers lost were second in the Pac-12 and tied for seventh nationally. 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 ranked among Pac-12 leaders in total plays (2nd, 452), as well as per-game total offense (2nd, 271.7 ypg), completions (3rd, 20.27 cpg) and passing yards (4th, 230.3 ypg), and total passing yards (4th, 2533) with all numbers also career highs. Garbers finished his Cal career ranked among the school's all-time leaders in total offense (7756, 4th), touchdown passes (T6th), passer efficiency (7th), passing yards (7th), 300-plus yard passing games (4, T7th) and 250-yard passing games (9, T9th). He is also Cal's all-time leader for both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns for a quarterback with 1174 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground on 331 carries.
Musgrave will have new starters throughout most of the 2022 Cal offense including the quarterback position where Purdue graduate transfer fifth-year senior Jack Plummer and redshirt freshman Kai Millner took the majority of the reps during the team's 2022 spring workouts. Cindric, Coleman and running back Damien Moore are the only returning offensive players who started more than four games a year ago.
In his first season at Cal in 2020, Musgrave had only four games and limited practice time to show what the Cal offense was capable of due to COVID-19 . The Bears were able to keep control of the football much of the time during those four contests with a 31:36 per game time of possession average that was fourth in the Pac-12 and 30th in the nation. Cal's offense was also a disciplined unit that helped the Bears lead the Pac-12 in per game averages for both fewest penalties yards (35.0 ypg) and penalties (4.5 ppg) while ranking fifth and tied for 12th nationally. Garbers ranked third in the Pac-12 and tied for 20th nationally in completions per game (21.25 cpg) while he was fifth in the conference and tied for 43rd in the nation in completion percentage (62.5%). He was also tied for fifth in the league in passing touchdowns (6) and points responsible for per game (12.0 ppg), as well as sixth in passing yards per game (192.8 ypg) during the abbreviated four-game schedule. Crawford was the team's top receiver, ranking tied for ninth in the Pac-12 in per game receptions (4.8 rpg) and 10th in receiving yards (58.0 ypg). The run game showed huge potential with 241 yards on the ground against Stanford as Damien Moore rushed for a career-high 121 yards that were the most by a true freshman in the Big Game since Marshawn Lynch totaled 122 in 2004. Five players on Cal's offense – Crawford, OL Jake Curhan, WR Nikko Remigio, OL Michael Saffell and TE Jake Tonges – earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors, while Moore was an honorable mention pick for the league’s Freshman Offensive Player of the Year.
Five of the players Musgrave has coached in his first two seasons at Cal – WR Trevon Clark (Baltimore), Crawford (Indianapolis), OL Jake Curhan (Seattle), Garbers (Las Vegas), TE Jake Tonges – are currently on NFL rosters.
Musgrave joined Cal after coaching 20 NFL seasons including stints with Oakland (1997, 2015-16), Philadelphia (1998, 2014), Carolina (1999-2000), Jacksonville (2003-04), Washington (2005), Atlanta (2006-10), Minnesota (2011-13) and Denver (2017-18). He served as offensive coordinator during 11 of his 20 NFL campaigns including his entire tenures in Jacksonville, Minnesota and his second stop in Oakland. He was promoted to offensive coordinator during his first stint with Philadelphia (1998), as well as at Carolina (2000) and Denver (2017). He also spent two campaigns as a collegiate offensive coordinator at Virginia (2001-02). The long list of NFL quarterbacks he has tutored includes Pro Bowlers Steve Beuerlein, Matt Ryan and Derek Carr.
Musgrave had some of his biggest success in Cal's backyard with Oakland when he inherited an offense that had ranked last in the NFL in 2014 in total offense (282.2 ypg) and second to last in scoring (15.9 ppg). The Raiders made the biggest offensive improvement in the NFL in yards per game (+91.1 ypg) and scoring (+10.2 ppg) in two seasons under Musgrave, finishing sixth in the league in 2016 in total offense (373.3 ypg) and seventh in scoring (26.0 ppg). Oakland's offensive resurgence was spurred by the development of Carr, who in two seasons in Musgrave's offense passed for 7924 yards to go along with 60 touchdowns. An MVP candidate in 2016, Carr led the Raiders to a 12-3 record as a starter but suffered a season-ending injury in Week 16. The 2016 Raiders reached the NFL Playoffs for the first time since 2002 but without Carr were defeated by Houston in the Wild Card Round.
Prior to joining Oakland, Musgrave served as Philadelphia's quarterbacks coach in 2014 when the Eagles finished sixth in the NFL in passing offense (272.3 ypg) despite splitting time between two quarterbacks. Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez started eight games each for the Eagles and combined to throw for 4,581 yards – a total topped by only five NFL quarterbacks that season. Philadelphia finished 10-6 overall but just missed a spot in the playoffs.
Musgrave spent three seasons as Minnesota's offensive coordinator (2011-13), coaching the top-ranked rushing offense in the NFL over that span and the league's 2012 Most Valuable Player in running back Adrian Peterson when the Vikings were 10-6 and reached the Wild Card Round of the postseason.
He coached the five previous campaigns with Atlanta (2006-10), serving as the team's quarterbacks coach for four seasons before adding assistant head coach to his title in 2010 when the Falcons won the AFC South title with a 13-3 regular-season record that was their best since 1998 and reached the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs after posting the league's fifth-ranked scoring offense (25.9 ppg). Coaching quarterbacks with very different skill sets during his tenure in Atlanta, Musgrave played a large role in the development of Michael Vick (2006), Matt Schaub (2006) and Ryan (2008-10). The Falcons also made the Wild Card Round in Ryan's rookie season in 2008 when Atlanta was sixth in the NFL in total offense (361.2 ypg).
Musgrave also coached for a 10-6 Washington team that reached the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs in 2005,.
His 2002 squad at Virginia was 9-5 overall and won the Continental Tire Bowl (now known as Duke's Mayo Bowl) with Schaub earning 2002 ACC Player of the Year.
Musgrave has coached a total of 11 Pro Bowlers including WR Amari Cooper, C Rodney Hudson, T Matt Kalil, RB Latavius Murray, G Kelechi Osemele, FB Marcel Reece and TE Kyle Rudolph in addition to Peterson and the trio of quarterbacks in Beuerlein, Carr and Ryan.
Prior to his coaching career, Musgrave played in the NFL for six seasons (1991-96) after being selected by Dallas in the fourth round of the 1991 NFL Draft. Musgrave appeared in 12 games (one start) during his NFL playing career with the 49ers and Broncos, backing up Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana, Steve Young and John Elway. Musgrave was a member of the 49ers' Super Bowl XXIX championship team during the 1994 season.
Musgrave played collegiately at Oregon, where he finished his career as the school's all-time leader in passing and total offense among 15 school records. He led the Ducks to their first bowl game in 26 years during his 1989 junior season before earning first-team All-Pac-10 honors in his final campaign as a 1990 senior. A 1991 Oregon graduate who earned his bachelor's degree in finance & accounting, he was also named the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year following his senior season and was a three-time Pac-10 All-Academic selection. Musgrave was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.
A 1986 graduate of Grand Junction (Colo.) High School, Musgrave was named the Colorado High School Athlete of the Year as a senior in 1985 and received the Denver Post's Gold Helmet Award as the state's top prep football player. Musgrave is a member of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
Bill Musgrave File
Birthdate: November 11, 1967
Hometown: Grand Junction, CO
High School: Grand Junction HS
College: Oregon, 1991, Bachelor's, Finance & Accounting
Coaching History
Seasons: Team (League) – Position (Championships, Postseason)
1997: Oakland Raiders (NFL) – Quarterbacks
1998: Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) – Offensive Assistant, Weeks 1-6; Offensive Coordinator, Weeks 7-17
1999: Carolina Panthers (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2000: Carolina Panthers (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2001: Virginia (NCAA Division I-A) – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Tight Ends
2002: Virginia (NCAA Division I-A) – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Tight Ends (Continental Tires Bowl)
2003: Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator
2004: Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2005: Washington Redskins (NFL) – Quarterbacks (NFL Playoffs Divisional Round)
2006: Atlanta Falcons (NFL) – Quarterbacks
2007: Atlanta Falcons (NFL) – Quarterbacks
2008: Atlanta Falcons (NFL) – Quarterbacks (NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round)
2009: Atlanta Falcons (NFL) – Quarterbacks
2010: Atlanta Falcons (NFL) – Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks (NFL Playoffs Divisional Round)
2011: Minnesota Vikings (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator
2012: Minnesota Vikings (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator (NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round)
2013: Minnesota Vikings (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator
2014: Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) – Quarterbacks
2015: Oakland Raiders (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator
2016: Oakland Raiders (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator (NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round)
2017: Denver Broncos (NFL) – Quarterbacks, Weeks 1-11; Offensive Coordinator, Weeks 12-17
2018: Denver Broncos (NFL) – Offensive Coordinator
2020: California (NCAA FBS) – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2021: California (NCAA FBS) – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2021: California (NCAA FBS) – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Last Updated
May 20, 2022
