On Saturday Night, the California Golden Bears were blown out by Stanford in "The Big Game" in a matchup everyone expected Cal to win. Losing by 21 points to a struggling Stanford who's playing under an Interim Head Coach, and lost several of it's best players after firing their coach was alarming for the Golden Bears.
The loss ensured that Cal would finish below .500 in conference play for the 9th straight season under Justin Wilcox which is unacceptable for any coach. The loss put Wilcox on the hottest seat in the country, and on Sunday, the Golden Bears made the move.
Justin Wilcox is fired after disaster in The Big Game
On Sunday Afternoon, the California Golden Bears made the decision to fire Justin Wilcox amid a 6-5 season with a 3-4 record in ACC play.
BREAKING: Cal has fired head coach Justin Wilcox, @PeteNakos reports❌https://t.co/CoN38InFGO pic.twitter.com/jfVFj5VuHt
— On3 (@On3sports) November 23, 2025
Justin Wilcox led the Golden Bears for 9 seasons, finishing his tenure 48-55 with a 26-47 record in conference play split between the Pac 12 and the ACC. Wilcox was never able to take this team on an impressive run with just two seasons above .500 in addition to this season where he leaves at 6-5.
Part of the decision to fire Wilcox had to account for the way Fernando Mendoza has played since leaving Cal. Last season, Mendoza wasn't nearly the player he is this season while Wilcox was only able to go 6-7 and 2-6 in league play with the potential Heisman winner.
The decision to fire Justin Wilcox creates an interesting Transfer Portal storyline to follow with freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. The star freshman has shown elite flashes, and after starting his career at Oregon, it wouldn't be a surprise for him to test his waters in the Transfer Portal this winter.
Former NFL executive Ron Riveria is the Golden Bears head coach, and he may end up leading the Golden Bears head coach. In this NIL and Revenue Sharing era, Cal has a chance to be a much better program if they can nail the hire.