By Stewart Mandel, Ralph Russo, Chris Vannini and Christopher Kamrani

Cal fired ninth-year head coach Justin Wilcox on Sunday, a day after the Bears’ stunning 31-10 loss to rival Stanford. Wilcox was 48-55 and had not finished with a winning record since 2019, though the Bears are currently 6-5.

Offensive analyst Nick Rolovich, who was fired as Washington State’s head coach in 2021 for refusing to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for state of Washington employees, will serve as interim head coach. Rolovich has a 33-33 record in five-plus seasons as a head coach at Hawaii and Washington State. In January, he lost his lawsuit against Wazzu alleging the school violated federal and state laws by discriminating against him based on his religious beliefs.

Cal’s last regular-season game is Saturday against 8-3 SMU, which will advance to the ACC Championship Game with a win.

Wilcox’s team was just two weeks removed from an upset at then-No. 14 Louisville that secured bowl eligibility for a third straight season. But Cal imploded Saturday night in Palo Alto, breaking a four-game winning streak over Stanford in a game that saw the 3-7 Cardinal return two fumbles for touchdowns and Cal commit 120 yards of penalties.

Wilcox since the summer had reported to former NFL head coach and Cal alum Ron Rivera, who was named general manager of the football program in March and took over supervisory duties after athletic director Jim Knowlton retired.

Cal’s 2025 prospects seemed dim before the season after the program saw an exodus of high-profile transfers like quarterback Fernando Mendoza, now a Heisman frontrunner for Indiana. But the Bears got off to an encouraging 5-2 start thanks in part to breakout freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. They have lost three of four since.

Cal has been stuck in a state of mediocrity for more than 15 years, far removed from the success Jeff Tedford had for much of the 2000s when he coached stars like Aaron Rodgers and Marshawn Lynch. Rivera has made it clear in public comments he expects the program to become nationally competitive again.

“We’re in a good position now,” he told The Athletic earlier this month. “We have a good young quarterback, and we want to build around him and build toward the future.

Some potential names to watch for the job include Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi (a Cal alumnus), UConn head coach Jim Mora, San Diego State head coach Sean Lewis and UC Davis head coach Tim Plough.