Sonny Dykes fired as football coach at California
After a third losing campaign in four seasons, Sonny Dykes has been fired as football coach at Cal.
The Cal Golden Bears went 8-5 in 2015, including a win over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl, led by 2016 NFL No. 1 pick Jared Goff. Hopes stayed high for this past season, with graduate transfer Davis Webb replacing Goff as the starting quarterback, but a 5-7 season led to a bit of speculation about Dykes’ status.
On Sunday, definitive word came regarding Dykes.
BREAKING #Cal has fired head coach Sonny Dykes, a source has told FOX Sports. Story coming on @FoxSports.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 8, 2017
Dykes went 19-30 over four seasons at Cal, with three losing seasons. He made his name as an offensive mind working under Mike Leach at Texas Tech, but over seven combined seasons as a head coach at Louisiana Tech and Cal Dykes has a 41-45 record with just two bowl appearances.
In December, Dykes interviewed for the head coaching opening a Baylor that ultimately went to Matt Rhule. In hindsight now, it’s worth wondering if Dykes’ willingness to look at another job set the stage for him to be fired in Berkeley.
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jake Spavital will reportedly take over as interim head coach in place of Dykes. Spavital coordinated the country’s No. 10 offense this season (513 yards per game), despite the loss of multiple key players from the Golden Bears’ 2015 team, so he is presumably a candidate for the permanent job.
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Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports has already mentioned Wisconsin defensive coordinator (and former USC defensive coordinator) Justin Wilcox as a top candidate for the opening at Cal. But there will surely be some bigger names rumored to be attached to the position. Chip Kelly is at the top of that list of big-name candidates, and he would be assumed to have some interest. Former LSU head coach Les Miles may also surface in the coming days, after apparently having interest in another late head coaching opening at Minnesota.