Cal has officially completed their staff for the 2021 season with the addition of Keith Heyward as the outside linebackers/nickelbacks coach, taking the spot of former co-defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter. Cal also lost head strength and conditioning coach Torre Becton to Texas, bringing in Brian Johnson from Arizona (via a stop at Arkansas State) to replace him.
This has been a recurring theme at Cal throughout Wilcox's tenure, where the Bears have had to replace at least one coach every offseason over his first four years in Berkeley. Only two coaches remain from the initial staff, both with different titles from when they started.
Original Staff: 2017 Season
Beau Baldwin - Offensive coordinator/RBs
Nick Edwards - Wide Receivers
Marques Tuiasosopo - QBs/Passing Game Coordinator/Recruiting Coordinator
Steve Greatwood - Offensive Line
Charlie Ragle - TEs/Special Teams Coordinator
Tim DeRuyter - Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers
Jerry Azzinaro - Defensive Line
Tony Tuioti - Outside Linebackers
Gerald Alexander - Defensive backs
Of this initial group, only Jerry Azzinaro left after one season, leaving to become UCLA's defensive coordinator, a role he is still in under Chip Kelly. This initial staff was before the NCAA instituted a 10th assistant coach in college football, allowing for the addition of one more on-field position coach.
2018 Season Staff
Baldwin - Offensive coordinator
Edwards - Wide Receivers
Burl Toler III - Running Backs
Greatwood - Offensive Line
Tuiasosopo - QBs/Passing Game Coordinator/Recruiting Coordinator
Ragle - Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator
Tuioti - Defensive Line
DeRuyter - Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers
Peter Sirmon - Associate head coach/Inside Linebackers
Alexander - Defensive backs
In the wake of Azzinaro leaving, Tony Tuioti coached the defensive line during the 2018 season, Tim DeRuyter took over the outside linebacker group, and the newly hired Peter Sirmon took over the inside linebackers. Sirmon stepped down from his position at Louisville in order to reunite with Justin Wilcox.
Cal also brought in former Bear Burl Toler III, who had worked at Cal as a quality control coach from 2013-15. Toler was the newly allowed 10th assistant at the time. Cal also brought in Andrew Browning in 2018 as a quality control coach, as Browning was not retained after Sean Kugler was fired at UTEP.
2019 Season Staff
Baldwin - Offensive Coordinator/QBs
Toler - Wide Receivers
Edwards - Running Backs
Tuiasosopo - Tight Ends
Greatwood - Offensive Line
Andrew Browning - Defensive Line
DeRuyter - Defensive coordinator/Outside linebackers
Sirmon - Co-Defensive coordinator/Associate head coach/inside linebackers/recruiting coordinator
Alexander - Defensive backs
Ragle - Special Teams coordinator
This was the year of the offensive shakeup, where Beau Baldwin returned to coaching quarterbacks, Burl Toler took over the wide receiver group, Nick Edwards took over the running back room, and Marques Tuiasosopo oversaw the tight ends (which he coached at USC).
With Tony Tuioti leaving Cal for Nebraska right before the start of spring football in the leadup to 2019, Browning stepped in where he left off. Sirmon also added a couple of titles to his name, likely having the most titles in Cal football history.
2020 Season Staff
Bill Musgrave - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Aristotle Thompson - Running Backs
Toler - Wide Receivers
Tuiasosopo - Tight Ends
Angus McClure - Offensive Line
Browning - Defensive Line
DeRuyter - Associate head coach/co-Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers
Sirmon - Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers/Recruiting Coordinator
Marcel Yates - Defensive Backs
Ragle - Special Teams Coordinator
2020, the most chaotic year, provided the biggest switch in Justin Wilcox's coaching staff. Beau Baldwin and Nick Edwards left for Cal Poly, where Baldwin was hired as the next head coach. Steve Greatwood retired following the Redbox Bowl and Gerald Alexander took the defensive backs coach job with the Miami Dolphins.
To replace them, Justin Wilcox went back to his roots. A longtime Oregon connection brought Bill Musgrave to Berkeley, a common friend brought Aristotle Thompson up the coast to the East Bay, the Boise State connection brought Marcel Yates in, and Angus McClure's northern California roots brought him onto Cal's staff.
2021 Season Staff
Musgrave - Offensive Coordinator/QBs
Thompson - RBs
Toler - WRs
Tuiasosopo - TEs
McClure - OL
Browning - DL
Sirmon - Defensive Coordinator/ILBs/Recruiting Coordinator
Keith Heyward - Outside Linebackers/Nickelbacks
Yates - Cornerbacks and Safeties
Heyward will now take over the outside linebacker group and the nickel group, which leads to speculation that Cal will be using more of the 'Star' position, a hybrid OLB/Nickel/Safety spot that they started working in during the spring of 2020. Daniel Scott, Trey Paster, and early enrollee Hunter Barth could see some time here.
At this point in his Cal tenure, Justin Wilcox hasn't fired an assistant coach, and has only had to replace one assistant three out of the four years he has been at Cal. From his initial staff, only Marques Tuiasosopo and Charlie Ragle remain. Overall, Wilcox has had seven assistants leave, and has made eight hires since his initial staff, a surprising level of continuity given the movement of coaches in college football.
