Barring a late snag, Cal has likely found its next offensive coordinator. Former Auburn and Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin has emerged as the leading candidate to take over the offense in Berkeley as was first reported by ESPN early Monday morning.

Bears head coach Justin Wilcox announced last week that there would be a change in leadership on the offensive side of the ball following an inconsistent season that currently has Cal with the 70th-ranked offense among FBS programs.

The group ranks 27th in passing offense but 107th (out of 133 teams) in rushing offense despite having one of the most potent running backs in the country, Jaydn Ott. The Cal star battled injury throughout the season but the Bears still struggled to get any kind of consistency with its rushing attack in Mike Bloesch's first year as signal caller.

The Cal offensive line coach was promoted last offseason when then offensive coordinator Jake Spavital made a surprising jump to Baylor. Bloesch had to deal with myriad injury issues throughout the year but the offensive line was hit particularly hard leading to several different starting lineups being used compounding the running game problems.

Since last week, Wilcox has indicated his hope is to keep his staff intact despite adding a new piece at the offensive coordinator spot. He reiterated that stance when speaking with reporters Sunday following the announcement that the Bears will play in the LA Bowl on Dec. 18.

The eighth-year Cal head coach has not specified whether or not Bloesch will continue call plays in the bowl game against UNLV.

"There's been a lot of progress," Wilcox said. "We can't necessarily announce anything yet. We got some great coaches on our staff, and as I mentioned before, in this era of college football there's a lot of change. There's change on rosters year to year, there's change on staff from year to year. ... That's just part of our game.

"So, in the coming days, there will be some announcements, and we got a lot of great people here that I'm looking forward to having more discussions with and we're moving full speed ahead, as is, with our current staff."

In Harsin, the Bears would add a coach with plenty of experience under his belt. The Boise, Idaho native, who played quarterback at Boise State, has had three college head coaching stints beginning at Arkansas State in 2013 followed by his most successful stretch at his alma mater from 2014-20 before he took over at Auburn in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Harsin holds a career record of 85-36 with 69 of those victories coming while he was leading the Broncos. The 48 year old was last an offensive coordinator while at Texas in the 2011 and 2012 seasons while serving in the position alongside Major Applewhite under Mack Brown.

He was the lone offensive coordinator at Boise State from 2006-10 during which the Broncos had two undefeated seasons and finished with a 61-5 record. That included running back Ian Johnson rushing for over 1,700 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2006 to lead the country.

The ties between Harsin and Wilcox are clear with both having began their coaching relationship as graduate assistants at Boise State in 2001. Wilcox then returned to the Broncos as defensive coordinator from 2006-09 while Harsin manned the offense under head coach Chris Peterson.

Harsin has been out of college coaching since being fired by Auburn in the 2022 season.

The move by Wilcox to shift his staff this offseason means the Bears will have their fourth different offensive coordinator in four years.

Hometown: Boise, Idaho

College: Boise State (2000)

Coaching history

2000 – Eastern Oregon

2001 – Boise State (graduate assistant)

2002-05 – Boise State (tight ends)

2006-10 – Boise State (OC/quarterbacks)

20011-12 – Texas (co-OC/quarterbacks)

2013 – Arkansas State (head coach)

2014-20 – Boise State (head coach)

2021-22 – Auburn (head coach)