Justin Wilcox on Why He Turned Down Oregon...

[Charles Fischer]

So...I guess the offer did happen on Friday and on Saturday morning. I have real concerns about the judgment of Rob Mullens...yet he hired Lanning!  Go figure.

Cal’s Justin Wilcox Responds to Why He Turned Down Oregon Offer by Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report

 

[Guest Axel]

Wilcox was tight-lipped about the reasons he chose to stay at the very underwhelming football program at Cal. We're left to ponder those reasons for ourselves, but suffice it to say, let's hope that Wilcox is not offered the Oregon job again anytime soon. I, too, have serious concerns about Rob Mullens' judgment. He offered the mediocre Wilcox the head-coaching position not once, but twice. 

 

When Wilcox's Bears supplant Oregon as the elite team in the Pac-12 North, I expect to see pigs performing aerial acrobatics in the skies outside my window. 

[81DuckAlum]

On 12/16/2021 at 12:29 AM, Charles Fischer said:

I have real concerns about the judgment of Rob Mullens...yet he hired Lanning!  Go figure.

Ditto!  I.......

Edited December 16, 2021 by 81DuckAlum

[Utki]

I guess this means Phil Knight wanted Wilcox? I can't comprehend it any other way.   

[woundedknees]

I still think there's some prevarication going on here. 

 

I may not be a corporate CEO level thinker, but growing up In a a family that was pretty successful in multiple business ventures,  the idea of this offer doesn't make sense from a business perspective. 

Don't fool yourself. 

 

OREGON's brand of football is too big of a BUSINESS to to hurry the hiring process,  and settle for mediocrity.

[Guest KingT]

Winning or losing, I think some of these guys have quality of life issues that are significant. In Mario's case, Miami versus Eugene is a no brainer for most, right? In Wilcox case, he seems to fit into the Norcal East Bay lifestyle nicely and probably has no interest in uplifting his family for similar money/terms. Some of the non Berkeley neighborhoods are quite nice and comfortable and my guess is he enjoys that lifestyle such that moving anywhere is probably not attractive. I lived in East Bay myself for more than 10 years and despite all the junk going on in/around the Bay, it's a very nice place to live.

[Haywarduck]

I didn't believe it until he pulled out the boxes of t-shirts Mullens had made. Once again reporting where there were no facts, just saying what people want to believe.

[HappyToBeADuck]

Thank you Coach Justin Wilcox for having the academic prowess to decline the offer.

 

The Oregon HC position has become and will forever be a pressure cooker position.

[Flyin Vee]

Having been in business for many years, my spidey senses tell me:

*oregon made the offer knowing he would decline-twice.  These things are not done in a vacuum. The ducks can tell the “back to our roots” section- we tried- twice, and Wilcox gets to solidify his commitment to his current and future teams. 

 

Count me as really liking the hire, to take from good to great- He will be a great bus driver, now let’s see who else gets on his bus.

 

of course I could be completely full of crap as my wife of 45 years reminds me daily.

[30Duck]

As strong as the pull to "Go home" can be in players and coaches, some resist it with the same intensity. Bill Walton's son went to Arizona, Chad Cota's son went to UCLA, Alex Molden's went to some school I can't remember now.

 

Add to that Oregon is a national brand, and I see why Justin might prefer the relative tranquility of being the Coach at Cal. I don't think the seat will ever get hot for Justin as he works on the "unfinished business" of getting the Bears to the Rose Bowl. 

[Annie]

On 12/16/2021 at 6:55 AM, Flyin Vee said:

Having been in business for many years, my spidey senses tell me:

*oregon made the offer knowing he would decline-twice.  These things are not done in a vacuum. The ducks can tell the “back to our roots” section- we tried- twice, and Wilcox gets to solidify his commitment to his current and future teams. ...

And thus maybe the offer was such that they were pretty sure he'd turn it down.

[Haywarduck]

My experience says Mullens was doing what needed to be done as the acting AD. He needed to fulfill NCAA requirements for interviewing a diverse group of candidates, check. He needed to interview an alumni to appease the alumni base, check.  He also needed to look like he was bringing back the offense, check.

 

While this was going on the real work was being done, by those who lead the decision making process. The press had no idea about this process so they made up all kinds of stories about Mullens actions. 

 

Everyone has their role and Mullens did his very well. Most importantly the Oregon Football Program made the right decision.

[AllOregon]

All good thoughts, but I do not see Rob and Phil playing.a bluff game of chicken.  If it was offered, it was meant to get JW.

 

But unless I missed it, I still did not see JW confirm it nor substantiate the Friday and Saturday attempts.  All stories I have seen still only point to Canzano as the source.  And he missed badly on so many other items that I just do not fully believe him on details, until he publicly shares his source or substantiates it elsewhere. UO declined to respond to the story. 

In his interview with Canzano, Akili Smith said he would be shocked that JW turned it down and would not know why he would.  And Akili clearly was in the middle of all this, and pushing for JW’s  hire, and would have reason to be in the know.  He very possibly was the leak of the letter but that is for another thread.

There are so many possibilities.  Like a verbal discussion of terms that says, “hey if we do this you cannot bring Coach A with you or we want this strategy instead or $ are X not Y.”  If not a match, candidate says I do not want it that way, I want Z instead.  University says nope, we don’t want your way, so both sides walk away without a formal HR university offer.  Those formal state system offers have paper trails.  Show me the formal trail or named UO admin. source  then I will believe it, need more than a reporter who notoriously mis-reports stuff.

[Jon Joseph]

OR: 'I don't need the pressure of being expected to win the conference year after year and I scored a nice pay raise.'

[woundedknees]

On 12/16/2021 at 6:55 AM, Flyin Vee said:

Having been in business for many years, my spidey senses tell me:

*oregon made the offer knowing he would decline-twice.  These things are not done in a vacuum. The ducks can tell the “back to our roots” section- we tried- twice, and Wilcox gets to solidify his commitment to his current and future teams. 

 

Count me as really liking the hire, to take from good to great- He will be a great bus driver, now let’s see who else gets on his bus.

 

of course I could be completely full of crap as my wife of 45 years reminds me daily.

Hey, justin...Justin.... we know Oregon is a vastly superior opportunity to what you have going on at Cal. How about ditching what you've built, hiring a completely new staff, and moving to the nice little bungalow well provide in the Whitaker neighborhood?

 

Seriously,  it's possible JW fell in love with the area when his Dad was a 49er...

Edited December 16, 2021 by woundedknees

[WiseKwacker]

What we know is that Mullins apparently offered the job to Wilcox not once, but twice. What we don't know is why Wilcox turned it down. My guess is that he was aware of the letter that went--basically on his behalf--to Mullins by the former Duck players. Did he think that letter pressured Mullins into offering him the job by default? Had he paid any attention to Duck fan websites where support for him was lukewarm at best?  Did the offer come with some "conditions" he didn't like?  (You have to bring Musgrave with you. Or, you can't bring _____ with you.)  What is his dad's relationship with Phil Knight? Phil attended Oregon several years before Wilcox, but you've gotta assume the two are well familiar with each other. Was that a factor in Wilcox saying, "no?"

 

I doubt we'll ever know the answers to those questions. But, as each day passes, it truly becomes less and less important. My focus now is on what Dan Lanning is doing to move the Ducks ahead to the next level.

[kirklandduck]

We may never know the actual details and sequence of events that led up to the offer to Wilcox and his declining of it.  All we can do is speculate based on what we do know. 

 

My guess is that there was a lot of pressure on Mullen to include consideration of candidates with Oregon roots due to the impression of Oregon being a "stepping stone" program (it's really not).  So he brought in multiple Oregon boosters beyond just Phil Knight to hear their thoughts and came up with a plan for Wilcox and/or Chip Kelly BUT with a back-up plan with a candidate of his own (Lanning).  That allowed him to cover his butt if Wilcox accepted and then went mediocre or bombed in the next few years as well as getting his candidate should he decline the offer.  

 

Mullen is smarter than a lot of people give him credit for.

Edited December 16, 2021 by kirklandduck

[David Marsh]

I also heard the pay Oregon offered Wilcox was rather low... it was a deal meant to be refused but would appease the pro-Wilcox boosters. 

 

Also the Oregon pressure cooker is such that someone like Wilcox might not want that level of pressure. Oregon has become a brutal program with its expectations. 

[kirklandduck]

On 12/16/2021 at 10:36 AM, David Marsh said:

I also heard the pay Oregon offered Wilcox was rather low... it was a deal meant to be refused but would appease the pro-Wilcox boosters. 

 

Also the Oregon pressure cooker is such that someone like Wilcox might not want that level of pressure. Oregon has become a brutal program with its expectations. 

I can definitely see both of those being factors.  I mean, what kind of salary would Wilcox command based on his career results so far?  Definitely no where near $7 million...

[David Marsh]

On 12/16/2021 at 10:38 AM, kirklandduck said:

Definitely no where near $7 million...

And as we have seen with Lanning's contract... he isn't getting paid that 7million... at least not yet. 

[Haywarduck]

On 12/16/2021 at 10:34 AM, kirklandduck said:

 Mullen is smarter than a lot of people give him credit for.

And I would argue some give him too much credit. How would Mullens do hiring coaches at UW? Would Cristobal have been able to leverage their storied past? Hiring an assistant, or somebody with a losing history hasn't worked out with the dawgs. My take is he does his job well. I highly doubt he was behind contacting Lanning or pushing that pick. I can agree to disagree on this one, and agree it is time to move on.

[DanLduck]

As much as we love our Ducks, living in Eugene, in the liberal NW with the dampness and such isn't for every family. 

 

Not stating hard reasons for saying no is the classiest response. This way no one gets their feelings hurt. 

 

Whatever the reason, it's irrelevant. 

 

But, I think we under estimate how good Wilcox might be. He gives us fits every year.

And let's all admit it, having the HC and both coordinators be alumni would have seemed pretty cool.

At least at first.

 

I am excited to see our growth and development moving forward.

[Marshall Lucky]

Beyond pressure cooker,  look how Mullins dealt with Greatwood, Cambell, and company.   Baby&Bathwater, then if the offers were lowball.....Continuity&Brand my eye.

 

 

[Steven A]

On 12/16/2021 at 2:25 PM, Marshall Lucky said:

look how Mullins dealt with Greatwood, Cambell, and company.

That wasn't Mullens, that is the HC choosing his assistants.  And in the end, it turned out Ok as it got us Mario and his assistants that have now set the recruiting bar.

[Duck1984]

On 12/16/2021 at 8:04 AM, Haywarduck said:

My experience says Mullens was doing what needed to be done as the acting AD. He needed to fulfill NCAA requirements for interviewing a diverse group of candidates, check. He needed to interview an alumni to appease the alumni base, check.  He also needed to look like he was bringing back the offense, check.

 

While this was going on the real work was being done, by those who lead the decision making process. The press had no idea about this process so they made up all kinds of stories about Mullens actions. 

 

Everyone has their role and Mullens did his very well. Most importantly the Oregon Football Program made the right decision.

Was Mullens conducting interviews at Oregon as a smoke screen while the PKs (Uncle Phil and former AD Pat Kilkenny) were flying private jets to the real negotiations?

Edited December 17, 2021 by Duck1984

[Haywarduck]

On 12/16/2021 at 5:02 PM, Duck1984 said:

Was Mullens conducting interviews at Oregon as a smoke screen while the PKs (Uncle Phil and former AD Pat Kilkenny) were flying private jets to the real negotiations?

We don't know much for sure, other than Canzano had no clue. My bet the PK's were extremely involved in who would be the next coach, and Mullens knew the rules and how to be an AD.

[CalBear95]

On 12/16/2021 at 8:19 AM, AllOregon said:

But unless I missed it, I still did not see JW confirm it nor substantiate the Friday and Saturday attempts.  

THIS

 

He never said he was offered.  He answered in vagaries which, were I in the middle of a contract extension conversation, I would be more than happy to create the narrative that (1) you almost lost me, (2) but I stayed because I am bullish on the future, and (3) who knows what happens with the next offer. 

 

I still don't buy he was offered.  The word choice he uses is vague to the point that it lets you fill in the narrative.  If he said "I turned it down because we can do great things here" then I would gladly get on the 'what was Mullens thinking' and 'wow, it is better to be lucky than good' train.  But, again, I don't.

[Duck1984]

On 12/16/2021 at 5:51 PM, CalBear95 said:

THIS

 

He never said he was offered.  He answered in vagaries which, were I in the middle of a contract extension conversation, I would be more than happy to create the narrative that (1) you almost lost me, (2) but I stayed because I am bullish on the future, and (3) who knows what happens with the next offer. 

 

I still don't buy he was offered.  The word choice he uses is vague to the point that it lets you fill in the narrative.  If he said "I turned it down because we can do great things here" then I would gladly get on the 'what was Mullens thinking' and 'wow, it is better to be lucky than good' train.  But, again, I don't.

Negotiations aren’t often easy to explain when they fall apart.

 

I suspect a lot of “what would it take?” type conversation took place, and the numbers were close enough to counter a few times.  

It’s entirely possible that negotiations also happened with the Cal AD, and Wilcox was happier with that outcome.

[Washington Waddler]

On 12/16/2021 at 1:20 AM, Axel said:

I, too, have serious concerns about Rob Mullens' judgment. He offered the mediocre Wilcox the head-coaching position not once, but twice. 

     

     Judging from the player lobbying that went on during Mario’s hire, and the letter from past players that seems to have affected the 2nd Wilcox offer, I can’t quite shake the feeling that Mullens has a need to not shoulder the load for his choices, but share that responsibility.

 

     While that obviously can’t carry any weight in the eyes of the public, it still makes me wonder if it colors his decision making process.