Cal WR Coach Geoff McArthur Beat the Cancer He Thought Would Kill Him

Geoff McArthur thought he was going to die.

That was three years ago. Now, in spring ball, McArthur is Cal’s assistant wide receivers coach, tasked with mentoring one of the Bears’ strongest position groups.

But in 2023 he learned the cancer he had apparently defeated the previous year was back, and it had metastasized. He was dealing with stage four DLBCL lymphoma, an advanced stage of an aggressive form of cancer from which only about half the victims survive for at least five years, according to MyLymphomaTeam.

“It’s not good at all,” McArthur said of the prognosis. “I had tumors in my chest, neck, stomach and groin.”

The fact that McArthur is Cal’s alltime leader in career receiving yards (3,188) and single-season receiving yards (1,504 in 20023) and is second in single-game receiving yards (245 vs. Stanford in 2003) and career receptions (202, three behind Keenan Allen) was not any help in this dire situation.

Geoff McArthur as a Cal receiver | Photo curtesy of Cal Athletics

Neither was his experience as a head coach at St. Monica Catholic High School or as the wide receivers coach at St. John Bosco High School.

Reality set in. He was admitted to City of Hope cancer treatment center.

“It’s typically like, ‘Good luck,’ in a sense,” he said. “So I was like, ‘OK, I’m probably gonna die, but I’ve never lived.’ I’ve always had a little bit of fear in my heart. I’ve always been chasing objects and things and attachments. Never really present. Never really lived. Always wondering about what I was going to do in the future or what happened in the past.”

His perspective changed.

“[Cancer] tried to take me out, and when I surrendered to the fact that I would probably die, I started focusing on living presently. It’s funny how my body kind of responded to that more than it did to fear and fighting and clinging to things.”

He’s now in remission, claiming the cancer ordeal was a positive experience because of the things he learned about himself. He says he’s getting stronger every year.

“[My] health is awesome,” he said. “I feel really good about where I am health-wise.

“As long as I’m in the right environment I’ll be fine, and this is the perfect environment.”

McArthur believes the environment created by new head coach Tosh Lupoi can do for Cal what Jeff Tedford did for Cal when McArthur was a Golden Bears player. McArthur notes that Tedford and Lupoi both came to Cal after being coordinators at Oregon.

"History repeats itself," said McArthur, who was personally involved in Cal's rise under Tedford.

McArthur was a member of the Cal team that went 1-10 in the final year under coach Tom Holmoe in 2001. But he was also a member of the Cal team that went 10-1 in the 2004 regular season under coach Tedford.

McArthur will play a role in the Bears’ attempt to uplift the program to Tedfordian heights because McArthur is the assistant wide receivers coach under wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard.

Cal has obvious strengths at two positions – quarterback, where Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele resides, and wide receiver, where Rutgers transfer Ian Strong and Ohio transfer Chase Hendricks live.

There is a long-shot possibility that Jacob De Jesus, who set the school record for receptions in a season with 108 in 2025, might be back at Cal in 2026. But time is running out for a judge to make a ruling on the case that will determine whether De Jesus has another season of eligibility.

McArthur is excited to have the opportunity at Cal. He said he would have joined the Cal staff as a volunteer coach if he had not been hired as a fulltime assistant coach.

And McArthur is ready for whatever presents itself. Adversity is no stranger for McArthur.

“I look forward to adversity,” he said, “and whenever adversity strikes, I wait for it and I pounce on it. What an opportunity to learn about yourself. What an opportunity to grow.”

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