California interviewed Wisconsin defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox earlier this week, and now the two sides have reportedly made their mutual interest official.
According to Brett McMurphy of ESPN, the Golden Bears will hire Wilcox to serve as their new head coach on a 5-year contract.
Wisconsin DC Justin Wilcox reaches agreement to become Cal’s coach, sources told @ESPN. Wilcox will receive a 5-year deal, source said
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 14, 2017
Wilcox, 40, has never served as a head coach previously, but has extensive experience on the West Coast. A Eugene native, Wilcox played at Oregon in the late ’90’s, then began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Boise State in 2000. His first full-time job came as the linebackers coach at California under Jeff Tedford, then landed defensive coordinator jobs at Tennessee, Washington, USC and, of course, Wisconsin.
His Badgers defense ranked 18th nationally in yards per play allowed and fourth in scoring in 2016. In 2017, Wilcox will inherit a defense that ranked 122nd and 127th in those respective categories.
The Golden Bears, who fired Sonny Dykes on Jan. 8, finished 5-7 in 2016 and have finished below .500 in four of their last five seasons.