Justin Wilcox (American football)

Justin Wilcox
Sport(s) Football
Current position
Title Head coach
Team California
Conference Pac-12
Record 8–10
Biographical details
Born (1976-11-12) November 12, 1976
Eugene, Oregon
Alma mater University of Oregon
Playing career
1996–1999 Oregon
Position(s) Defensive back
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2001–2002 Boise State (GA)
2003–2005 California (LB)
2006–2009 Boise State (DC)
2010–2011 Tennessee (DC)
2012–2013 Washington (DC)
2014–2015 USC (DC)
2016 Wisconsin (DC)
2017–present California
Head coaching record
Overall 8–10

Justin Draper Wilcox[1] (born November 12, 1976) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at the University of California, Berkeley.

Early years

Born in Eugene, Oregon, Wilcox grew up as the younger of two sons on a family farm (wheat and cherries) in nearby Junction City. He played quarterback at Junction City High School and led the team to the 3A state title as a junior in 1993. He graduated in 1995 and considered Stanford and Arizona, but followed family tradition and accepted a scholarship to Oregon under head coach Mike Bellotti.[2]

Playing career

After redshirting his first year at Oregon, Wilcox found himself buried on the depth chart and switched to defensive back. A nickel back as a redshirt freshman, he lost most the 1996 season to a knee injury. Wilcox became a fixture at safety until his senior season of 1999, when he was asked to fill a void at cornerback.[3] He was invited to an NFL training camp with the Washington Redskins in 2000, but did not make the final roster.[2] Wilcox graduated from Oregon in 1999 with a degree in anthropology.[4]

Coaching career

Assistant coaching career

Wilcox began his career as a college football coach in 2001 as a graduate assistant at Boise State, under new head coach Dan Hawkins. After two seasons as a graduate assistant, he left for the Bay Area to coach the linebackers at California under head coach Jeff Tedford.[3] After three seasons at Cal, Wilcox returned to Boise State in 2006 as the defensive coordinator under new head coach Chris Petersen. In four years the teams lost only four games, with a 49–4 (.925) record,[3] and his defenses were statistically among the highest-rated in the nation.[5]

Following the 2009 season, Wilcox accepted the defensive coordinator job at Tennessee under new head coach Derek Dooley. In late December 2010, it was reported that Wilcox was a candidate to replace Will Muschamp, who left Texas for Florida.[6] On New Year's Day, Wilcox announced that he would return to Tennessee for the 2011 season.[7]

Early on January 2, 2012, reports emerged that Wilcox was to become the new defensive coordinator at Washington in Seattle, under head coach Steve Sarkisian. The position was vacant due to Nick Holt's termination days earlier,[8] and the announcement was made official later that night.[9] The Huskies were 7–6 in 2012 and won the Las Vegas Bowl. Washington was 9–4 in 2013 and won the Fight Hunger Bowl; Sarkisian left after the regular season for USC.

Wilcox followed Sarkisian to USC and was the defensive coordinator; the Trojans went 9–4 in 2014 and won the Holiday Bowl. After five games in 2015, Sarkisian was fired and succeeded by Clay Helton. The Trojans finished 50th nationally in scoring defense (25.7 points per game) and 65th in total defense (400.8 yards per game) in 2015,[10] and Wilcox was terminated the day after the loss to Stanford in the Pac-12 championship game.[11]

On January 28, 2016, Wilcox became the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, under head coach Paul Chryst.[12] The Badgers went 11–3 and won the Cotton Bowl with a defense ranked in the top ten in a number of categories.[13]

California

On January 14, 2017, Wilcox was introduced as the 34th head coach of the California Golden Bears.[14] The Bears went 5–7 during Wilcox's first year in 2017, with wins over North Carolina, Ole Miss, and #8 Washington State, and three losses by three points or fewer.[15]

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
California Golden Bears (Pac-12 Conference) (2017–present)
2017 California 5–72–75th (North)
2018 California 3–30–3(North)
California: 8–102–10
Total:8–10

Coaching tree

Notable head coaches under whom Wilcox has served:

Family

Wilcox is the son of Dave Wilcox, an All-Pro linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[16] Inducted in 2000, he played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), from 1964 to 1974, all with the 49ers.[3] From Vale in eastern Oregon, Dave played college football at Boise Junior College, then transferred to Oregon in 1962.

Justin's brother, Josh Wilcox, was three years ahead in school and played tight end for the Ducks and two seasons in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints. Justin's uncle John Wilcox also played in the NFL, in the early 1960s.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Justin Draper". Oregon Ducks. Archived from the original on March 4, 2000. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Bob Condotta (January 7, 2012). "How UW's Justin Wilcox grew from small-town kid to big-time coach". www.seattletimes.com. Seattle Times. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Justin Wilcox". www.utsports.com. University of Tennessee. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Justin Wilcox profile". Cal Athletics.
  5. ↑ "Justin Wilcon". www.broncossports.com. Boise State University. Archived from the original on 2012-09-30.
  6. ↑ "Vols' Wilcox ponders move to Texas". www.espn.com. ESPN Internet Venture. December 20, 2010. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  7. ↑ Austin Ward (December 13, 2010). "Justin Wilcox committed to staying with Vols". www.GoVolsextra.com. Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  8. ↑ Chris Low (January 2, 2012). "Vols lose assistants to Washington". www.ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Wilcox, Sirmon Named To UW Football Staff". www.GoHuskies.com. University of Washington. January 2, 2012. Archived from the original on January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  10. ↑ Jeff Potrykus (January 27, 2016). "UW turns to ex-USC coordinator to lead defense". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  11. ↑ Beacham, Greg (December 6, 2015). "USC's Helton fires 4 assistants, including Wilcox". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  12. ↑ "Wilcox named defensive coordinator". www.uwbadgers.com. University of Wisconsin. January 28, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  13. ↑ Galloway, Jason (January 2, 2017). "Badgers football: Justin Wilcox's first season at Wisconsin a major success". Wisconsin State Journal.
  14. ↑ Wilner, Jon (January 14, 2017). "Cal officially names Justin Wilcox coach". San Jose Mercury News. (California). Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  15. ↑ Wild, Andrew (November 30, 2017). "Cal football had severe highs, lows in Justin Wilcox's 1st year". The Daily Californian.
  16. ↑ Greif, Andrew (September 28, 2017). "In Justin Wilcox's first season, Cal exceeding expectations entering Oregon matchup". The Oregonian.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.