| Year: | 2020 |
| Team: | California Golden Bears |
| Sport: | football |
| Conference: | Pac-12 Conference |
| Division: | North Division |
| Short Conf: | Pac-12 |
| Record: | 1–3 |
| Conf Record: | 1–3 |
| Head Coach: | Justin Wilcox |
| Hc Year: | 4th |
| Off Coach: | Bill Musgrave |
| Oc Year: | 1st |
| Off Scheme: | Spread option |
| Def Coach: | Peter Sirmon |
| Dc Year: | 1st |
| Codef Coach1: | Tim DeRuyter |
| Codc1 Year: | 1st |
| Def Scheme: | 3–4 |
| Stadium: | California Memorial Stadium |
The 2020 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California, Berkeley during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by head coach Justin Wilcox, in his fourth year as head coach. The team's offense was led by Bill Musgrave, who replaced Beau Baldwin; Baldwin left to become the head coach at Cal Poly.[1]
On August 11, 2020, the Pac-12 Conference canceled all Fall 2020 sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] On September 24, it was announced that a seven-game season would be played in 2020, and the schedule was officially announced on October 3.[3] Due to additional COVID-related game cancellations, the Bears ultimately only played four games and finished with a 1–3 record for the season, with the sole win coming against No. 23 ranked Oregon.
| Back | B | Center | C | Cornerback | CB | Defensive back | DB | |||
| Defensive end | DE | Defensive lineman | DL | Defensive tackle | DT | End | E | |||
| Fullback | FB | Guard | G | Halfback | HB | Kicker | K | |||
| Kickoff returner | KR | Offensive tackle | OT | Offensive lineman | OL | Linebacker | LB | |||
| Long snapper | LS | Punter | P | Punt returner | PR | Quarterback | QB | |||
| Running back | RB | Safety | S | Tight end | TE | Wide receiver | WR |
Nine Golden Bears graduated in 2020,[4] and three were selected in the 2020 NFL draft.
| + class="nowrap" | 2020 California offseason departures | |||||||
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | S | 6'1 | 202 | Senior | Declared for NFL draft, drafted in the third round by New York Jets. | |||
| 6 | S | 6'2 | 210 | RS senior | Declared for NFL draft, drafted in the fourth round by Atlanta Falcons. | |||
| 89 | LB | 6'3 | 235 | Senior | Declared for NFL draft, drafted in the sixth round by Arizona Cardinals. | |||
| Ricky Walker III | 21 | WR | 5'11 | 190 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| Colt Doughty | 42 | LB | 6'1 | 230 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| Trey Turner III | 5 | S | 6'1 | 185 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| Lone Toailoa | 55 | DE | 6'2 | 290 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| Chinedu Udeogu | 91 | TE | 6'4 | 275 | Senior | Graduate transfer to Illinois. | ||
| Gabe Siemieniec | 46 | PK | 6'1 | 210 | Senior | Graduate transfer to Louisiana Tech. | ||
| Greg Thomas | 39 | PK | 5'9 | 165 | Senior | Graduated |
On January 3, 2020, Cal announced that it would hire former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave as its next offensive coordinator, replacing Beau Baldwin. Musgrave, an Oregon alumnus like Wilcox, began his coaching career as quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders in 1997. He last coached at the collegiate level as an offensive coordinator for Virginia in 2001–2002.
On January 10, Angus McClure was announced as the next offensive line coach.[5] McClure spent 11 years at UCLA. Four days later, Aristotle Thompson was hired as the running backs coach.[6] Thompson was the running backs coach at Cal Poly prior to being hired at Cal.
Cal's defensive line coach, Gerald Alexander, was hired to the same position by the Miami Dolphins on January 24.[7] Cal announced it would hire former Arizona defensive coordinator Marcel Yates to replace him the following day.[8]
On March 4, it was announced that Peter Sirmon would be made co-defensive coordinator alongside Tim DeRuyter.
In the 2020 Pac-12 preseason media poll, California was voted to finish in second place in the North Division.[9]
| Media poll (North Division) | |||
| 1 | Oregon | 222 (35) | |
| 2 | California | 176 (3) | |
| 3 | Washington | 161 | |
| 4 | Stanford | 105 | |
| 5 | Oregon State | 76 | |
| 6 | Washington State | 58 | |
Cal's 2020 regular season was announced on January 16.[10] The Golden Bears had 3 games scheduled against UNLV, TCU, and Cal Poly, but canceled these games on July 10 due to the Pac-12 Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]
On August 11, the Pac-12 Conference canceled all Fall 2020 sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] However, following an agreement that boosted testing capacity for players and personnel,[12] the conference announced it would play a seven-game football schedule beginning in November.[13] The schedule would see Cal play all five division opponents, Arizona State from the Pac-12 South division, and a season-closing game against the equally-ranked team in the opposite division (the division winners will play each other in the conference championship, while the team that finishes second in the North division plays the team that finishes second in the South division).
On November 13, Cal's scheduled game at Arizona State for November 14 was canceled after a COVID-19 outbreak within the Arizona State program.[14] The Pac-12 then announced that Cal would instead play at UCLA on the morning of November 15;[15] the Bruins' scheduled game against Utah had also been canceled after Utah had a COVID-19 outbreak.[16]
| Original 2020 California Golden Bears schedule | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Opponent | Site | |
| August 29 | at UNLV* | Allegiant Stadium • Paradise, NV | |
| September 5 | TCU | California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA | |
| September 12 | Cal Poly | California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA | |
| September 26 | California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA | ||
| October 3 | Martin Stadium • Pullman, WA | ||
| October 10 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA | ||
| October 17 | California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA | ||
| October 24 | Reser Stadium • Corvallis, OR | ||
| October 31 | California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA | ||
| November 7 | Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ | ||
| November 21 | California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA (Big Game) | ||
| November 27 | California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, CA (rivalry) | ||
See also: 2020 UCLA Bruins football team and California–UCLA football rivalry.
See also: 2020 Oregon State Beavers football team.
See also: 2020 Stanford Cardinal football team and Big Game (American football).
See also: 2020 Oregon Ducks football team.
See also: 2021 NFL draft.
| 4 | 125 | CB | Minnesota Vikings |