Cal fires head coach Sonny Dykes
Cal is making a change.
After multiple reports emerged Sunday afternoon, the school confirmed it has decided to fire head coach Sonny Dykes. Dykes just finished his fourth season with the program. The team won eight games, including its first bowl game since 2008, in 2015 before finishing 5-7 this year. Overall in Dykes’ four-year tenure, Cal had a 19-30 record, including a 10-26 mark in Pac-12 play.
“This was an extremely difficult decision and one that we take very seriously. There was no rush to judgment; we wanted to be thorough and thoughtful. Ultimately, it was a combination of factors that brought us to this outcome. We are continuously evaluating our program and looking for ways to make it better – whether that’s through additional academic support, recruiting, facilities, staffing, culture, leadership or anything else that can help our football program succeed. Primarily, we want what’s best for our student-athletes and have a head coach in place who is fully committed to our program and our university,” said athletic director Mike Williams.
“Coach Dykes clearly built up our program – both on the field and in the classroom – and he leaves Cal in a stronger position than when he arrived. For that alone, he deserves credit and our thanks. After our bowl win last season, we showed our commitment to him with a contract extension. But after looking at a number of factors after the end of this season, I felt that we needed a change of direction for the good of our student-athletes and our program.”
The news, the timing especially, comes as a surprise. Cal hasn’t played a game since it finished its season with a 36-10 win over UCLA on Nov. 26. Since then, a bevy of schools have made coaching changes but Cal is making its move with national signing day less than a month away.
Cal now becomes the second FBS opening, joining Western Michigan, which is looking to replace P.J. Fleck after he left for Minnesota.
“I understand that the timing may not be ideal – it rarely is. We did not want to make this decision until we were ready and did so for the health of our football program and department. Our objective is long-term financial sustainability for our department,” Williams said. “In order to do this, we understand that investing in football is critical. We believe that this change will reinvigorate the program, stimulate lagging ticket sales and renewals, and energize our donor base.”
Dykes arrived at Cal in December 2012 after three seasons as the head coach at Louisiana Tech, where he had a 22-15 record. Before his time at Louisiana Tech, he was an assistant at Arizona, Texas Tech, and Kentucky, among others.
During his tenure, Dykes has been connected to quite a few other openings around the country in past offseasons. He reportedly interviewed for the Baylor opening recently, as well as the opening at Missouri last offseason. Dykes also reportedly spoke to Houston about its head-coaching position in 2014. Those interviews, Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman reports, did not “sit well with the Cal administration or the players.”
In his statement, Cal AD Mike Williams specifically pointed to finding a coach who is “fully committed” to Cal.
“I have been in close contact with Director of Athletics Mike Williams in recent days about this matter. I fully support his decision and am convinced that it is in the best interests of our student-athletes, the program, and the University,” said Cal Chancellor Nicholas Dirks.
With Dykes out of the picture, offensive coordinator Jake Spavital will serve as Cal’s interim head coach. Spavital is reportedly under consideration for a promotion to head coach, but Wisconsin defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox appears to be the top candidate to replace Dykes, sources told Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde. And given the timing of the news, speculation will persist that Chip Kelly could be the target.
Dykes, Forde reports, is getting a $6 million buyout from the school.
For more Cal news, visit GoldenBearReport.com.
More college football from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
