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Justin Wilcox named Cal Bears head football coach

By Brett Israel

Justin Wilcox
Justin Wilcox, new head coach of the Cal Golden Bears football team (Photo by Don Faria/cal.isiphotos.com).
Justin Wilcox

Justin Wilcox, new head coach of the Cal Golden Bears football team (Photo by Don Faria/cal.isiphotos.com).

Justin Wilcox, who has engineered some of the best defenses in the country during his coaching career, has agreed to become the next head coach of the California Golden Bears football team.

Wilcox returns to Berkeley after spending three years as the Golden Bears’ linebackers coach from 2003-05, when Cal went 26-12 and earned trips to three bowl games. Wilcox was a defensive coordinator for the next 11 seasons, most recently with Cotton Bowl-champion Wisconsin.

“It has been a dream of mine to lead a college football program, and there’s no better place than here at Cal where I got my start and at a school that means so much to me,” Wilcox said. “I’m looking forward to getting to know our team and hiring our staff, and we will get to work immediately recruiting student-athletes of high character who are good fits for Cal both academically and athletically.”

Wilcox is a 1999 graduate of the University of Oregon with a degree in anthropology, where he played safety on the football team and was named second-team All-Pac-10 and earned Pac-10 All-Academic honors. The 40-year-old Wilcox is the son of Dave Wilcox, a Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker who played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1964-74.

“Cal athletics is about high academics, it’s about a comprehensive student-athlete experience and it’s about winning championships,” Director of Athletics Mike Williams said. “We have found a coach in Justin Wilcox who embodies all of those principles.”

Wilcox announced two members of his new staff on Tuesday. Eastern Washington offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin will become the Golden Bears’ new offensive coordinator. Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood will be the team’s new offensive line coach.

Read more at CalBears.com