Angus McClure is in his third season as the offensive line coach at Cal in 2022, as well as in his 26th campaign of collegiate coaching and 31st year in the coaching profession. Considered one of the elite recruiters in college football, McClure began at Cal in 2020 after previous experience in the collegiate ranks at UCLA, Nebraska, Nevada, Buffalo and Sacramento State.
McClure has had an innate ability to get players to the next level through his career and has coached 11 current NFL players with the list including Eli Ankou (Buffalo), Jake Brendel (San Francisco), Anthony Barr (Minnesota), Kenny Clark (Green Bay), Jake Curhan (Seattle), Matt Dickerson (Atlanta), Ka'imi Fairbairn (Houston), Connor McDermott (New York Jets), Takkarist McKinely (Los Angeles Rams), Osa Odighizuwa (Dallas) and Jaylen Phillips (Miami).
McClure's recruiting prowess includes three future first-round NFL Draft picks in Clark, Datone Jones and McKinley, He has coached a long list of former NFL players including Jeff Baca, Nate Chandler, Cory Harkey, Mike Harris, Jeff Locke, Cassius Marsh, Kevin McDermott, Owa Odighizuwa, Logan Paulsen, Matthew Slater and Christian Yount.
After having a mostly veteran offensive line group in his first two seasons at Cal, McClure's unit in 2022 will have several new faces. Center Matthew Cindric and left tackle Ben Coleman return after earning Pac-12 honorable mention selections in 2021 although Coleman is switching positions after starting 11 of 12 games at left guard a year ago. Both have earned 2022 preseason All-Pac-12 recognition with Coleman a third-team selection of Athlon and Phil Steele, while Athlon also has Cindric on its third team and Phil Steele on its fourth. Others on the 2022 roster who have played previously for the Bears include part-time starter Brayden Rohme (six career starts all over the last two seasons), Brian Driscoll, Everett Johnson and Bastian Swinney. Cal will have 10 offensive linemen among the 16 in the room including two transfers and three newcomers that have yet to see action for the Golden Bears.
Cal's 2021 offensive line led by Cindric, Coleman and fellow Pac-12 honorable mention selection McKade Mettauer helped pave the way for a Cal offense that was dominant at times including in a 41-11 blowout at Stanford that marked Cal's largest margin of victory against the Cardinal since 2004. Cal had a Big Game-record 636 total yards in the victory 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). The offensive line also helped Chase Garbers establish Cal career records for most rushing yards (1174) and rushing touchdowns (11) by a quarterback. Garbers also ranked among Pac-12 leaders in 2021 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 of the numbers also career highs.
In McClure's first season with Cal in 2020, the Bears’ offensive line had to deal with multiple games missed due to COVID-19 protocols during games at Oregon State and against Stanford. However, the unit took over in a 21-17 home victory of eventual Pac-12 champion Oregon in the season finale. The offense had two key long touchdown drives in the first half against the Ducks including the longest one in the Justin Wilcox era that took 19 plays and 9:51 off the clock in a game in which the Bears had a decided advantage in both time of possession and total plays. Jake Curhan and Michael Saffell earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors. Curhan signed as an undrafted free agent with Seattle following his collegiate career and played in 15 games with five starts as a Seahawks' rookie in 2021, while Saffell is now a Cal graduate assistant working with McClure and the offensive line after being forced to medically retire from football shortly before the 2021 campaign.
"Coach Musgrave and I were impressed with the knowledge Angus has on offensive line play," Cal's Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox said when McClure was hired on January 10, 2020.. "He really has everything we were looking for. Angus brings a tremendous amount of coaching experience in general with much of it on the West Coast and is one of the top recruiters in college football. He also has a deep understanding of the Pac-12, as well as working and recruiting at a UC school, which will help him hit the ground running and be successful at Cal."
"I am excited to be joining a football program on the rise under
Justin Wilcox's leadership and am looking forward to helping bring in student-athletes that will be the right fit at Cal," McClure said the day he was hired. "This is a tremendous opportunity for me to work with an experienced group of talented offensive linemen and build upon the foundation that has been put in place over the last three seasons. It's also quite an honor to follow the legendary
Steve Greatwood as Cal's offensive line coach."
Prior to his 2020 arrival at Cal, McClure worked the previous two seasons in 2018 and 2019 as the offensive line coach and assistant head coach at Nevada in his second stint with the Wolf Pack after coaching the school's tight ends more than two decades earlier in 1996. During his second go-around at Nevada, he helped the Wolf Pack post back-to-back winning campaigns and play in a pair of bowl games (2018 NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl, 2019 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl). McClure made an immediate impact with the Nevada offensive line in 2018 when the Wolf Pack boasted a 1.31 sacks allowed average that ranked 18th in the nation and were led by a pair of honorable mention All-Mountain West offensive linemen in Sean Krepsz and Jake Nelson. In his first collegiate job at Nevada in 1996, the Wolf Pack earned the Big West Conference title, posted a 9-3 overall record, and won the Las Vegas Bowl. His tight ends produced a school-record 13 touchdowns and Nevada led the nation with 527.3 yards per game of total offense while topping the Big West in both rushing and passing.
McClure served for 11 seasons (1997-2007) under four head coaches at UCLA, where he started as the team's tight ends coach and also took on duties as the special teams coordinator and offensive line coach over five campaigns before coaching the defensive line for six. In addition, McClure also led recruiting efforts which resulted in Bruin classes being ranked among the nation's top 20 during 10 of his 11 seasons.
Prior to his tenure at UCLA, McClure spent one season as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Buffalo in 2006. James Starks was named an honorable mention Freshman All-American by The Sporting News and selected by Green Bay in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, while Jamey Richard was taken by Indianapolis in the seventh round of the draft in 2008.
McClure spent the 2004 and 2005 seasons at Nebraska working with the squad's offensive tackles and special teams. The Cornhuskers defeated Michigan in the 2005 Alamo Bowl and McClure tutored a number of NFL-bound players including Sam Koch, Lydon Murtha, Chris Patrick and Matt Slauson.
Prior to his stint at Nebraska, McClure was an assistant head coach and offensive line coach for seven seasons at his alma mater Sacramento State (1997-2003), where he played a major role in record-breaking offenses that earned four Big Sky rushing titles (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002). During his tenure, the Hornets set 52 NCAA Division I-AA, Big Sky Conference or school records. He coached 20 All-Big Sky honorees and had six of his student-athletes sign NFL contracts, while five Sacramento State players earned All-American honors and four were chosen to participate in college all-star games while he was with the Hornets.
McClure began his coaching career at McClatchy High School in Sacramento as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator from 1992-95 while also coaching the offensive line and tight ends.
In addition to his full-time coaching duties, McClure has served as a guest coach in several NFL training camps with Buffalo (2006, '07), Dallas (2013), San Diego (1997, 2011, '12), San Francisco (1996, '97, '98, '99, 2000, '02) and Seattle (1998).
McClure played collegiate football at Sacramento State from 1987-91 before graduating from the school with a bachelor of arts degree in liberal studies in 1995. He was on the 1988 Hornet team that advanced to the NCAA Division II championship semifinals with the offense averaging 486.0 yards per game.
McClure was also a four-sport letterwinner at San Rafael High School in football, basketball, baseball and boxing, as well as a team captain, and never had a losing season in any sport.
McClure and his wife, Erin, have two sons, Hamish and Malcolm, who is a true freshman on the 2022 Cal football squad.
Angus McClure Coaching History
Seasons: Team – Position (Champions, Postseason)
1992: McClatchy High School – Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line/Tight Ends
1993: McClatchy High School – Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line/Tight Ends
1994: McClatchy High School – Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line/Tight Ends
1995: McClatchy High School – Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line/Tight Ends
1996: Nevada – Tight Ends (Big West Co-Champion, Las Vegas Bowl)
1997: Sacramento State – Offensive Line/Assistant Head Coach
1998: Sacramento State – Offensive Line/Assistant Head Coach
1999: Sacramento State – Offensive Line/Assistant Head Coach
2000: Sacramento State – Offensive Line/Assistant Head Coach
2001: Sacramento State – Offensive Line/Assistant Head Coach
2002: Sacramento State – Offensive Line/Assistant Head Coach
2003: Sacramento State – Offensive Line/Assistant Head Coach
2004: Nebraska – Offensive Line/Special Teams
2005: Nebraska – Offensive Line/Special Teams (Alamo Bowl)
2006: Buffalo – Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator
2007: UCLA – Offensive Line/Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator (Las Vegas Bowl)
2008: UCLA – Offensive Line/Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator
2009: UCLA – Offensive Line/Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator (EagleBank Bowl)
2010: UCLA – Offensive Line/Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator
2011: UCLA – Offensive Line/Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator (Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl)
2012: UCLA – Defensive Line (Holiday Bowl)
2013: UCLA – Defensive Line (Sun Bowl)
2014: UCLA – Defensive Line (Alamo Bowl)
2015: UCLA – Defensive Line (Foster Farms Bowl)
2016: UCLA – Defensive Line
2017: UCLA – Defensive Line (Cactus Bowl)
2018: Nevada – Offensive Line/Assistant Head Coach (NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl)
2019: Nevada – Offensive Line/Assistant Head Coach (Famous Idaho Potato Bowl)
2020: California – Offensive Line
2021: California – Offensive Line
2022: California – Offensive Line
Angus McClure File
Birthdate: December 9, 1968
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
High School: San Rafael HS
College: Sacramento State, 1995, BA, Liberal Studies
Family: Wife, Erin; Sons – Hamish, Malcolm
Last Updated
November 8, 2022
