When Justin Wilcox took over as California's head coach, he promised a hands-on retooling of the Golden Bears' beleaguered defense.
And when Wilcox lined up as quarterback of Cal's scout team during Monday's practice, players realized that their coach had meant what he said -- in a literal sense.
There Wilcox was, coaching up his new defense not from the sideline -- but from smack dab in the middle of the fray, as quarterback with a coach's whistle in his mouth.
"He was blowing the whistle, pressuring everyone to pick up the intensity," linebacker Cameron Saffle said.