Cal’s season ended with Wednesday night’s 24-13 loss to UNLV in the LA Bowl. What now? Here are some of the problems:

—Will there be a mass exodus to the transfer portal?

The early transfer portal window ends on December 28th, giving players approximately ten days to make this decision. It is likely that more players will leave, but how many and which ones?

Cal coach Justin Wilcox made an interesting statement after the game regarding the number of Golden Bears players (60) who played in the LA Bowl.

“Those guys had to make decisions,” he said, “and we knew there were guys on defense – either they weren’t going to play or they were going to take a certain number of reps.” We knew that from the start and we understand why they make these decisions. We support these guys, so we knew there would be a lot of people attending this game.”

It is unclear whether the “decisions” the players had to make referred to players who were potentially out of the game or to players who were considering transfer or injury restrictions or some other decision. However, the comment is noteworthy.

—Which players will Cal target in the transfer portal?

Obviously, Cal will be looking for a starting quarterback. Third-street quarterback CJ Harris has two seasons of eligibility left and had a pretty good performance as the starter Wednesday, going 13 of 20 for 109 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions, and rushing for 23 yards. If he had played the entire second half. . . Well, we’ll never know.

EJ Caminong played like a true freshman and made his collegiate debut in something of an emergency situation, giving Cal no chance of winning the game. So we don’t really know what he can do.

We know Fernando Mendoza is gone and Chandler Rogers is ineligible to play. And whatever success Cal had in 2024 was the result of Mendoza’s quality play. So Cal needs something similar at the most important position on the field. Can Harris be that guy?

Cal will also be looking for offensive linemen, but the rest depends on which players transfer out.

—Will the overhaul of Cal’s offensive coaching staff have a significant impact on Cal’s ability to score points?

New offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, a former head coach at Boise State and Auburn, will be the focus of whether Cal can do better than the 25.1 points the Bears averaged this season.

Harsin will be Cal’s fifth offensive coordinator under Wilcox, who begins his ninth season at Cal in 2025. Only one of the previous four offensive coordinators left of their own accord.

—Can Cal’s defense be as good as it was this year?

The Golden Bears defense performed well to win Wednesday’s game. The score totaled four plays, three of which occurred when the Golden Bears defense was on the sidelines.

Game 1: UNLV completed a 49-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. OK, that was the defense’s fault for broken coverage.

Game 2: UNLV’s fake punt resulted in a 52-yard gain, moving the ball to the Cal 9-yard line and leading to the Rebels’ second touchdown.

Game 3: Cal quarterback EJ Caminong threw a reverse pass that was not caught, resulting in a fumble that UNLV recovered at the Cal 23-yard line, leading to a Rebels touchdown late in the third quarter.

Game 4: A 38-yard punt return gave UNLV the ball at the Cal 25-yard line, leading to a field goal that gave UNLV a 24-13 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Bears will lose a lot of talent on defense this year, most notably their two first-team All-ACC players – cornerback Nohl Williams and linebacker Teddye Buchanan, both of whom will play in the East-West Shrine Bowl on Jan. 30 – as well as one A number of other experienced players.

—What is Cal’s 2025 schedule?

Cal won’t face any of the ACC’s presumptive powers — Miami, Clemson or Florida State — in 2025. The Seminoles were far from a powerhouse in 2024, but they were ACC champions in 2023 and aren’t expected to be out for long. Miami and Clemson need to find replacements at quarterback, but they appear to be perennial ACC contenders.

The Bears open the 2025 season on the road against Oregon State, whose quarterback is expected to be Maalik Murphy, who was Duke’s quarterback last season and has reportedly committed to transfer to Oregon State.

It remains to be seen whether Cal can compete with elite, well-funded football programs, despite the high cost of sharing revenue with the players expected to start next season. But everything Cal Chancellor Rich Lyons has said publicly on the subject suggests Cal will do its best to keep up. In his post-game comments on Wednesday, Wilcox specifically thanked the chancellor for his support. Asked last week how confident he was that Cal could compete financially with the elite programs, Wilcox said: “Very confident.”

—What is Justin Wilcox’s status?

Some fans want Wilcox fired, but that probably won’t happen. He’s under contract through the 2027 season, and with all the financial problems Cal’s athletic department will face over the next few years, it probably can’t afford to pay the millions it would take to sign Wilcox fired even if she wanted to.

Although Cal (6-7) finished with a losing record for the fifth straight season, the Bears were once again on the verge of having a nice season. They were involved in seven one-score games, but were just 2-5 in those games, and that includes a 1-4 record in games decided by five points or fewer. Sure, winning close games is the sign of a good team, but losing those winnable games shows that the Bears were agonizingly close.

Wilcox’s salary earned him just under $4.7 million this season, including a retention bonus and small bonuses for winning six games, beating Stanford and reaching a bowl game. This does not include any bonuses he might have received based on the players’ academic performance.

He is scheduled to earn around $5.25 million in the final year of his contract in 2027. That’s still about half of what the eight highest-paid college head coaches are currently paid annually, and most of them live in areas with lower costs of living. By 2027, many other coaches will likely be making more than double Wilcox’s salary.

And while winning is a top priority for an FBS head coach, no one can complain about Wilcox’s character or the way he treats his players.

There is no indication that Wilcox plans to leave Cal for another job, but nothing is certain in the rapidly changing world of college football. The job of a head coach at the highest levels of college football and basketball has changed so dramatically in recent years through the transfer portal, NIL and revenue sharing that some are considering quitting. Wilcox noted that the system “needs some work” but seems committed to dealing with it.

Wilcox has been Cal’s head coach for eight seasons, and only one of the Bears’ previous 12 head coaches since 1956 has been their head coach longer. Jeff Tedford was Cal head coach for 11 seasons (2002-2012), and Ray Willsey, like Wilcox, was the Bears’ head coach for eight seasons (1964-1971), since Pappy Waldorf 68 years ago in 1956, his tenth and final season finished.

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