Coaching search is quick, yet careful
The search for Cal’s next head coach started in earnest Tuesday, when offensive coordinator Jake Spavital was interviewed for the vacancy by athletic director Mike Williams.
Spavital is considered an up-and-coming offensive innovator who helped Texas A&M put up huge numbers before coming to Berkeley last season. He’s serving as the interim head coach in the wake of Sonny Dykes’ firing Sunday.
Those nearest to the Cal program believe a head coach will be hired quickly, with the staff returning to the recruiting road Thursday and players scheduled to report for offseason conditioning Monday.
“We’d like to have a head coach as soon as possible, but we will be thoughtful and thorough in our search,” Williams said at Sunday’s news conference. “I think that what we need to do as a community, is to commit to championship football. I think that might be (what) we’re lacking, because we have the resources, we get the right student-athletes, and Cal is a place that produces champions in virtually every other sport.
“I think, if we have that same commitment in football, we’ll have championship football
teams.”
Still, not many other viable candidate names have surfaced as Williams said he’ll keep his short list private until a coach is hired. The most interesting names among the scuttlebutt are former 49ers/Eagles/Oregon head coach Chip Kelly and current Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, but sources close to the situation believe both to be pipe dreams.
More logical candidates are Washington Huskies defensive and offensive coordinators, respectively, Jimmy Lake and Jonathan Smith, and Wisconsin defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox. Wilcox is a former Cal assistant coach, and there’s belief that he would bring in top recruiter and former Cal defensive lineman and assistant coach Tosh Lupoi as defensive coordinator.
As Cal looks for its next head coach, some of the Bears’ assistants are looking for jobs. Inside receivers coach Jacob Peeler agreed to terms with Mississippi.
One of Cal’s best recruiters, Peeler is an alum of Mississippi State.