Jake Spavital, Justin Wilcox candidates to replace Sonny Dykes
Cal made the surprising decision to fire head football coach Sonny Dykes on Sunday, and now they will begin their search for a new head coach. A few names have already emerged as potential candidates for the job.
FOX’s Bruce Feldman, who first reported the news of Dykes’ firing, expects Wisconsin defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox to get consideration for the job. Jake Spavital, who is the Golden Bears’ offensive coordinator, is also in the mix.
Football Scoop actually says that Spavital is currently the program’s interim head coach:
Offensive coordinator Jake Spvital will serve as interim HC at Cal source tells FootballScoop https://t.co/sNnVtyuq1F
— FootballScoop Staff (@FootballScoop) January 8, 2017
Dykes went 19-30 in four seasons at Cal, having his most success going 8-5 in 2015 with No. 1 pick Jared Goff at QB. They went 5-7 in 2016. But Dykes’ continued interest in other jobs — he interviewed at Missouri after the 2015 season and with Baylor this season — apparently didn’t sit well with the school and program.
Wilcox, 40, had a very strong season as Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator, which has him in the mix. He has deep Pac-12 ties as he’s from Oregon, played at Oregon, and served as a defensive coordinator for Washington and USC under Steve Sarkisian.
Spavital, 31, started off at Tulsa under Gus Malzahn, and has notably served under Kevin Sumlin and Dana Holgorsen at Houston, and then Sumlin at Texas A&M. He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks for the Bears last season. The team was 22nd in the country in points scored per game, but second to last in points allowed.
Whomever Cal hires needs to improve the defense, which was a horrible weak point under Dykes.
