For Cal football, the good news is that the 2017 season doesn’t start until Sept. 2, leaving the team with almost seven months to get ready for its opener against North Carolina. The bad news? Every other team has those seven months, and almost none of them will have to break in a new coaching staff as late as the Bears will be forced to.
The Cal athletic department will be expecting a true overhaul of the football program under Justin Wilcox, but if its short-term expectations have not adjusted to the dicey situation it put Wilcox under by hiring him almost two months after most new coaches are hired, they are bound to be disappointed.