Pac-12 exodus 'shocking' and 'sad' for Cal head coach Justin Wilcox

Control what you can control. That was the message coming out of Cal's fourth training camp practice to end a week that will forever change the football program and the conference it belongs to. Five more teams left the Pac-12 this week with Oregon and Washington opting to make a move to the Big Ten in 2024 while Arizona, Arizona State and Utah decided to follow Colorado to the Big 12 next year. USC and UCLA already made the decision to move to the Big Ten last year sparking the most recent round of conference realignment.

It has left Cal in a conference made up of just four schools with Oregon State, Washington and Stanford as the last remaining institutions.

There is much to be decided still for those remaining programs including whether or not they have to look for a new home as well. That will come in time, but for now head coach Justin Wilcox has been left with a wide range of feelings after the latest movement.

"There's no denying the significance of this, this is as big a deal as it gets to be," he said Sunday after the Bears' fourth training camp practice in what was his first opportunity to speak with reporters since the news broke Friday. "This is really kind of shocking. Personally, it's sad. I grew up around the Pac-10, Pac-12 Conference, watching it and fortunate to be a part of it. Coached in it for a long time.

"It's really sad. From what I know, it probably didn't need to come to this, but things happened along the way and really unfortunate. Really unfortunate. It's frustrating. There's some anger in there. But, right now, what we're focused on is this season. There's still a lot to be determined for us, the conference moving forward. There's people working on that, but right now, coaches, we're all in with our players and this season."

Wilcox did not get into specifics about his conversations with the Cal administration regarding the next steps in the process for the school, but he was clear Sunday that his views have been expressed.

"They know how I feel and we feel as a program," he said. "Our feelings as a team have been made known to Jim [Knowlton] and the chancellor (Carol Christ). I'm not privy to all their discussions. There's a lot of people working on it. They know how important it is, but I just go back to right now, for us, it's the team and preparing for Sept. 2 and this season."

Cal players who spoke after Sunday's practice acknowledged that conference realignment has been a topic of discussion in the locker room, but it has also not been something the players have focused on with a task at hand to continue preparing for the season.

"For us as players, we don't really know too much about what's gonna happen," redshirt junior defensive back Craig Woodson said. "We hope to just continue to play at the highest level possible, but when we're out here on this field we just wanna get 1 percent better every day and make sure we focus on what's important and what's in front of us right now, which is winning games.

"Being ready for September when it comes to UNT, so that's just the main focus for the team."

Woodson added that he doesn't believe there is great concern right now that players will want to leave the program because of the uncertainty about the future. He says there's still "unity" within the locker room and leaders on the team continue to push focusing an the upcoming season over things they cannot control.

Wilcox says the question about the future has already come up in recruiting, and he has relayed a similar message.

"There's concern from everywhere, I mean I get it," he said. "It's a big deal. Again, this is as big as it gets when you talk about conferences and realignments, and all those things. Yeah, absolutely. Right now we don't have enough information to answer all the questions we're getting.

"I don't have enough information to answer all your questions or the recruit's. There will be things happening. I mean, they're happening right now. I imagine the decision makers that are involved in these calls are working on it, but what we can control right now is what happens on the practice field and meetings. The answers that everybody is looking for, us included, we don't have those yet. I don't have those yet."

Wilcox said "sooner than later" when asked when a decision about Cal's future plans would have to be made for the Bears.

"What does that mean? Is that days, is that a week? I don't quite know," he said. "But sooner than later."