As the Pac-12 realignment saga continues, one head football coach gave his thoughts on the recent wave on Sunday.
Oregon Ducks beat writer James Crepea of The Oregonian shared the following from California Golden Bears head coach Justin Wilcox. Wilcox, who played in the Pac-10 with the Oregon Ducks, said, “I grew up around the Pac-10, Pac-12 Conference & watching it & being fortunate to be a part of it, coached in it for a long time. It’s really sad. From what I know, it probably didn’t need to come to this, but things happened along the way & really unfortunate. Really unfortunate. It’s frustrating. There’s some anger in there.”,
Cal coach Justin Wilcox: "I grew up around the Pac-10, Pac-12 Conference & watching it & being fortunate to be a part of it, coached in it for a long time. It’s really sad. From what I know, it probably didn’t need to come to this but things happened along the way & really…
— James Crepea (@JamesCrepea) August 7, 2023
Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah are heading to the Big 12 starting in 2024-25. Oregon and Washington are heading to the Big Ten, leaving the future of the 108-year-old Pac-12 uncertain as just Stanford, Cal, Oregon State, and Washington State remain in this realignment wave.
Wilcox grew up in Eugene, Oregon, and played as a defensive back for the Ducks from 1996-99. He attended Oregon after his father, Dave Wilcox, returned to the state after he retired from the San Francisco 49ers.
After that, he made coaching stops at Washington and USC, among other schools, before taking over as head coach of the Bears in 2017. In Wilcox’s six seasons at the helm, Cal has amassed a 30-36 record with two bowl appearances, a 10-7 loss to TCU in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl, and a 35-10 victory over Illinois in the 2019 Redbox Bowl.
