Less than a month ago, Sonny Dykes was still the head coach at California. As a program, the Golden Bears were treading water — but barely. The offense had remained productive even after the departure of star quarterback Jared Goff, but the defense had tanked — ranking second-to-last in the country — leaving the entire operation’s sustainability in question.
Consider all the dominoes that have fallen in the four weeks since.
Cal athletic director Mike Williams fired Dykes on Jan. 8. He scrambled to find a replacement late in the hiring game, ultimately tabbing Wisconsin defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox to be the Bears’ new head coach. And suddenly, Cal had a defensive-minded man at the helm — a 180-degree shift from Dykes, who had been known for the Air Raid.
Wilcox then hired Beau Baldwin — formerly of Eastern Washington — to be the Bears’ offensive coordinator and Tim DeRuyter — formerly of Fresno State — to run Cal’s defense.
Just like that, the Bears had reversed course philosophically and assembled a staff featuring two coordinators who were head coaches just last season.
When typically-hectic national signing day arrived on Feb. 1, Cal’s new brass wasn’t even settled in Berkeley yet. The Bears’ coaches were living out of suitcases in hotels, waiting for a February stretch that Wilcox had designated to take a break from football and find permanent housing in the Bay Area.
This was, by every metric, a whirlwind transition.
But despite the breakneck speed of change on the leadership level, Cal is carefully biding its time with the implementation of its new, balanced approach.
The Bears signed only 14 new players on Feb. 1, leaving several scholarships spots open — a clear indication that the new staff is leaving its options open as it examines the current roster and plots to transform the program moving forward.
“In a time like this, whether it’s coaches or recruits, you want to make sure you get the right people in the program,” Wilcox said. “We’re not going to sacrifice the health of the program in the long term for something that can get done in the next two or three days.”
The 2018 recruiting class is expected to be massive — chock full of hand-picked Wilcox recruits — and the Bears are expected to radically transform their approach on the defensive side of the ball.
They ran a 4-3 scheme under previous coordinator Art Kaufman, but DeRuyter will switch to a 3-4 base. He’s had success with that change in previous defensive coordinator jobs at Ohio, Nevada, Air Force and Texas A&M. The Falcons improved from No. 78 to No. 10 nationally over the course of DeRuyter’s tenure, while the Aggies surged from No. 104 to No. 21.
Cal ranked No. 127 in the country in 2016, giving up 42.6 points per game. To make matters more complicated, the Bears are particularly thin at linebacker — a potential problem since DeRuyter’s switch to a 3-4 will require more from that position.
“To me, defense is about attitude and energy,” he said. “If you can inspire that in guys, then you have a chance.”
DeRuyter said that an opportunity to coach under a defensively-oriented mind like Wilcox, who promises to allocate significantly more resources to that side of the ball than Cal’s previous regime, was a huge appeal to him.
“I have zero worries about Justin,” DeRuyter said. “He absolutely understands what I’ll need to succeed as a defensive coordinator.”
On the offensive side, Baldwin inherits a unit that’ll be starting its third different quarterback in three years and also looking to replace Chad Hansen, one of the nation’s most productive receivers. Baldwin coached several prolific offenses during his nine-year tenure at Eastern Washington, and he’ll look to carry that success over to a new-look Cal unit. Chase Forrest and Ross Bowers are the two front-runners for the team’s starting quarterback job.
“I’m excited,” Baldwin said. “[On film], I see quarterbacks who can make the throws they need, and they’ll also be able to hurt you with the run game. … I’ve been multiple each year offensively and that was a big part of our success [at Eastern Washington]. I think we’ll be able to do the same here.”
Quarterback Vernon Adams, Jr. put up massive numbers in an Eagles uniform under Baldwin before receiver Cooper Kupp did the same this past season.
With Goff and Davis Webb at quarterback, the Bears have not been offensively challenged recently, but they do hope that Baldwin can carry his coaching success over to a unit that’s replacing so many key pieces.
Perhaps more importantly, they hope that DeRuyter can replicate his previous work as a defensive coordinator. That’s where Cal has been most lacking, and that’s where this recent whirlwind of leadership change — with Wilcox at its center — has been most heavily focused.
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