Wilcox is officially here on a five year deal, so lets do some speculating on who he can get.
With Spavital gone to a school with the same colors, I've been putting together a list of whose names could and should come up in the coming days.
To start, I don't want to say it's a done deal, but it's looking more likely that Ron Gould will return as Cal's running backs coach in the coming days.
Defensive Coordinator
Tosh
A man that needs no real introduction around these parts. Rumor has it that he wants to lead a defense and call plays, something that he'd get the opportunity to do at Cal. I'd speculate that he'd coach the DL as well. Sticking point will be whether he wants to come back home, because Bama wants to keep him around for his recruiting and they can match just about anything money wise. Money will also be an issue, but Wilcox will most likely be paid less than Dykes was (at least in the first year or two), so there may be a bigger pool. Tosh would likely bring former Cal DL Austin Clark back as a GA
In the case that Tosh proves to be unavailable for one reason for another, here are few other possibilities
Jim Leonhard
Currently DBs coach at Wisconsin
Wisconsin fans rave about him as a coach, a former 3-time all-American in Madison, had a 10-year NFL career, but not sure how willing he'd be to leave a place close to home. Young guy as well, in his early 30s
Andy Avalos, Boise State DC
Coached the linebackers at Boise, the DL before that, before getting bumped up to DC. He's a Boise State alum, played there when Wilcox was a grad assistant
Hardy Nickerson Sr. DC at Illinois
Interviewed for the head spot, would admittedly be a long shot for the spot after that, but he reportedly impressed during the interview. Defense at Illinois was solid, not particularly great, but better than Cal's by a lot (which isn't really saying much).
There's also the point of whether they will keep Greg Burns. I believe he'd be willing to stay, but we'll find out more soon on him.
Offensive Coordinator
Without Spavital, their will probably be a shift from the air raid offense to more of a run first spread in lieu of a pro-style/West Coast type of offense, something that Cal is ill-equipped to do at this juncture (no real tight ends, one fullback that's solid). Wisconsin averaged the top time of possession in the country last season, which made their defense successful. Wilcox is going to have to look for someone to do that. The hope would be to keep Brandon Jones as the OL coach, even though his experience is mostly with spread offenses. He was probably the best at coaching up guys, as evidenced by the improvement of guys like Addison Ooms, Patrick Mekari, and Aaron Cochran. Assistant Brian Hamilton has to be given credit in this area as well.
Scott Huff
Co-OC/OL coach at Boise
Another Boise alum who played while Wilcox was there as a GA, along with being the OL coach when Wilcox was the DC. Former OL, another young coach.
Troy Taylor
Current OC at Utah, former Cal QB
Taylor just got hired at Utah within the past month or so, but stranger things have happened. He ran the offense at Eastern Washington last year, where they made it to the FCS semi-finals before losing on a crazy catch against Youngstown State. Also has the pedigree of having coached Jake Browning in HS.
Eric Kiesau
Former Cal WR coach/UW OC/Fresno OC
More likely as a receivers coach than OC, considering he just got fired as OC at Fresno. Coached with Wilcox at UW, was an assistant at Bama with Tosh before that.
Gould's name has been floated as an OC, but I see him as more of an RB coach. Offenses at Davis weren't good while he was there
Former WRs Geoff McArthur and Burl Toler have been rumored as WR coach candidates. Still too early to tell on that
Early list on all of this, when the press conference to make this official happens, we'll know more of who's being retained
With Spavital gone to a school with the same colors, I've been putting together a list of whose names could and should come up in the coming days.
To start, I don't want to say it's a done deal, but it's looking more likely that Ron Gould will return as Cal's running backs coach in the coming days.
Defensive Coordinator
Tosh
A man that needs no real introduction around these parts. Rumor has it that he wants to lead a defense and call plays, something that he'd get the opportunity to do at Cal. I'd speculate that he'd coach the DL as well. Sticking point will be whether he wants to come back home, because Bama wants to keep him around for his recruiting and they can match just about anything money wise. Money will also be an issue, but Wilcox will most likely be paid less than Dykes was (at least in the first year or two), so there may be a bigger pool. Tosh would likely bring former Cal DL Austin Clark back as a GA
In the case that Tosh proves to be unavailable for one reason for another, here are few other possibilities
Jim Leonhard
Currently DBs coach at Wisconsin
Wisconsin fans rave about him as a coach, a former 3-time all-American in Madison, had a 10-year NFL career, but not sure how willing he'd be to leave a place close to home. Young guy as well, in his early 30s
Andy Avalos, Boise State DC
Coached the linebackers at Boise, the DL before that, before getting bumped up to DC. He's a Boise State alum, played there when Wilcox was a grad assistant
Hardy Nickerson Sr. DC at Illinois
Interviewed for the head spot, would admittedly be a long shot for the spot after that, but he reportedly impressed during the interview. Defense at Illinois was solid, not particularly great, but better than Cal's by a lot (which isn't really saying much).
There's also the point of whether they will keep Greg Burns. I believe he'd be willing to stay, but we'll find out more soon on him.
Offensive Coordinator
Without Spavital, their will probably be a shift from the air raid offense to more of a run first spread in lieu of a pro-style/West Coast type of offense, something that Cal is ill-equipped to do at this juncture (no real tight ends, one fullback that's solid). Wisconsin averaged the top time of possession in the country last season, which made their defense successful. Wilcox is going to have to look for someone to do that. The hope would be to keep Brandon Jones as the OL coach, even though his experience is mostly with spread offenses. He was probably the best at coaching up guys, as evidenced by the improvement of guys like Addison Ooms, Patrick Mekari, and Aaron Cochran. Assistant Brian Hamilton has to be given credit in this area as well.
Scott Huff
Co-OC/OL coach at Boise
Another Boise alum who played while Wilcox was there as a GA, along with being the OL coach when Wilcox was the DC. Former OL, another young coach.
Troy Taylor
Current OC at Utah, former Cal QB
Taylor just got hired at Utah within the past month or so, but stranger things have happened. He ran the offense at Eastern Washington last year, where they made it to the FCS semi-finals before losing on a crazy catch against Youngstown State. Also has the pedigree of having coached Jake Browning in HS.
Eric Kiesau
Former Cal WR coach/UW OC/Fresno OC
More likely as a receivers coach than OC, considering he just got fired as OC at Fresno. Coached with Wilcox at UW, was an assistant at Bama with Tosh before that.
Gould's name has been floated as an OC, but I see him as more of an RB coach. Offenses at Davis weren't good while he was there
Former WRs Geoff McArthur and Burl Toler have been rumored as WR coach candidates. Still too early to tell on that
Early list on all of this, when the press conference to make this official happens, we'll know more of who's being retained
