Bears back to work to prepare for bowl

The Cal football team returned to practice Friday night, almost a week after its Big Game loss and just a day after the university announced the new five-year contract of head coach Justin Wilcox.

“After two years, I thought it was a little too soon. I want to see what he can do. I think we need another year of evaluation,” senior running back Patrick Laird joked. “... No, it’s awesome for the program. He’s the right guy to take Cal football to the highest level of college football.”

Laird emerged in Wilcox’s first two years in Berkeley and is on pace to join Russell White and Marshawn Lynch as the only players in program history to rush for 1,000 yards in multiple seasons.

“Continuity is important in college football, especially if you want to be successful,” said Laird, who has had five running-backs coaches in his five years at Cal. “That’s the nature of the game, but when you have a guy at the top who’s going to stick around and keep the culture the same, I think that helps the young guys.”

On top of leaping from the cellar to sixth among Pac-12 head coaches’ salaries, Wilcox’s contract, which runs through 2023, secured additional funds to help with recruiting and assistant-coach retention.

With a dramatically improved defense, the Bears are heading to the postseason (a Dec. 26 date with TCU in the Cheez-It Bowl) for the second time in seven years.

“We are all fortunate to be here, and we understand that,” Wilcox said. “We have a good thing going. We’re a work in progress, but there are a lot of positive things happening here, and it’s great to have that support.” Back at it: This weekend’s practices will be largely devoted to the developmental players, with the majority of those on the two-deep chart focusing on weight lifting, conditioning and stretching.

The high-rep players had a spin class during Friday’s practice, with Laird edging graduate-transfer tight end Ian Bunting for the most miles logged on the stationary bike.

“I’m pretty sure I saw him stay on the bike an extra five minutes,” junior inside linebacker Evan Weaver joked. “That doesn’t count. If you already won the game, we’re not going to go play overtime.”

The Cal coaching staff, which is largely on the recruiting trail in preparation for the Dec. 19 early signing day, is traveling with iPads to study TCU’s offensive and defensive concepts. The coaches will introduce those schemes to the players next week and then will switch into full game prep the week of the bowl.

Wilcox said he was thrilled to call senior inside linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk and inform him about his selection to the All-Pac-12 squad. He was the Bears’ first defensive player to make the first team since Mychal Kendricks in 2011.