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I'm just here for the hilarity that should be interim coach Nick Rolovich in Berkeley

Who Dat?

California has fired football coach Justin Wilcox before the regular season finale, according to a report from On3’s Pete Nakos. He was in his ninth season with the program. During his time with the Golden Bears, Wilcox compiled a 48-55 overall record. He was 26-47 in conference play, with those games split between the Pac-12 Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Yes it's nine years of mediocrity under Justin Wilcox, but what are Cal's better options when mediocrity is their football ceiling?

A Cal Sports Blog states Cal’s consent to football mediocrity the following way: “To start with, some of the institutional support Wilcox is starting to receive is the kind of thing that would be considered standard operating procedures for most P5 schools. But Cal’s recent history, budgeting reality, and increasingly academic focus means that this kind of support must be earned . . . but not necessarily via wins and losses. No, Justin Wilcox appears to tick every single box a Cal coach can for administrators and big money donors tick outside of that most important box [(winning)]. He’s largely drama free and doesn’t spend time complaining about the kind of Berkeley-specific logistical hurdles that certain other Cal coaches have complained about. He’s connected to the glory days of Jeff Tedford. He’s displayed a level of loyalty to Cal that, quite frankly, Cal hasn’t earned.”

This was written in 2021, before the NIL had started hollowing out Cal's roster every offseason, and before Cal's disastrous move to the ACC, a move which has accelerated the irrelevance of college football in the Bay Area (see below image). It's that much more difficult to field not only mediocrity, but basic functionality, and in Wilcox, Cal at least had someone somewhat stabilizing them through a situation that increasingly became worse. To the point I don't believe Cal will bother having a football program in another ten years.

To the point I don't believe Cal will bother having a football program in another ten years.

Question... 

How soon behind them do the rest of the dregs of P4 conferences (my alma mater included) follow that example?

I had thought that. As long as the B1G money keeps flowing, I'm not sure any conference teams can afford to stop football. 

TBD if the B1G's power programs will remain in the B1G. If they break off to form a superconference with the SEC's helmets (and a few others), the money dries up, and then I could see it happening.