Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News has some good news. A coaching decision is expected by this weekend!
Cal has narrowed its coaching search and is expected to have a successor to Sonny Dykes in place by the weekend, according to sources.
Some of our Golden Blogs people in the know seem to indicate a decision is coming even sooner.
we should actually know tonight, btw. https://t.co/o8S6OuLgK9
— Nam Le (@AGuyNamedNam) January 12, 2017
waiting for more details to trickle in but we have reason to believe a hire has been made. just working on identifying who.
— Nam Le (@AGuyNamedNam) January 13, 2017
We have two reported finalists for the job, with perhaps a third sneaking in.
- Wisconsin defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox. Wilcox has sounded like the favorite for awhile. He was the first name mentioned after the firing of Sonny Dykes. There is also some speculation that former Cal assistant and current Alabama assistant Tosh Lupoi could join Wilcox as his defensive coordinator.
- Current Cal offensive coordinator and interim head coach Jake Spavital. Cal would probably hire Spavital if they wanted to maintain continuity with the current staff.
Wilner also mentions another prominent candidate.
- Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo. From new cutting edge offense to offense that’s been around since the beginning of football, Niumatalolo’s triple option could prove to be the newest addition to a wide variety of Pac-12 flavors.
These are a few other names mentioned.
- Washington co-defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake. Lake has been propped up as a potential coach by both Chris Petersen and Washington’s defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski.
- USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin. Martin’s name has been circulated by Bruce Feldman. I’m still not certain how interested Martin is in the job.
- Washington offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith. This is the first I’ve heard of Smith’s name. Washington’s offense was very strong in 2016, but was the weaker part of the Huskies squad the previous two seasons and struggled more against elite units.
Cal fans, your thoughts on this potential final list?