Joel Klatt Praises Justin Wilcox, But Not Cal's 2025 Roster

Joel Klatt likes Cal coach Justin Wilcox, but he doesn’t like Cal’s prospects for 2025.

Klatt, a Fox Sports football analyst, took on the challenge of predicting which teams will improve from last season and which teams will regress on a recent “The Joe Klatt Show.” He ranked his top five teams he would “Buy,” suggesting they will be better in 2025, and ranked five teams he would “Sell,” indicating they will be worse in 2025 than they were in 2024.

Guess which category Cal falls into? The Golden Bears barely make it, but they come in at No. 5 on the “Sell” list. Klatt goes out of his way to praise Wilcox, and virtually apologizes for placing Cal on this list at No. 5. But he claims the transfer portal has just done too much damage to the Cal’s roster to predict a good 2025 season for the Bears.

Klatt’s top five in his “Buy” rankings:

---1. Clemson

---2. Michigan

---3. Utah

---4. Washington

---5. North Carolina

Klatt’s top five in the “Sell” rankings:

---1. Tennessee

---2. Wisconsin

---3. Syracuse

---4. BYU

---5. Cal

Below is Klatt’s entire show regarding his Buy/Sell picks, and you have to move to the final three minutes of the show to hear his comments about Cal.

Here is what Klatt said about the Golden Bears:

”I wish that this coach and this team wasn’t on this list, but you got to analyze the tea leaves and look at what’s going on.

“I thought this team in a lot of ways even overachieved last year, even though they weren’t .500; they were 6-7. Fifth straight losing season for them, and they probably were hit harder than anyone else in the portal, and that’s Cal. Cal is getting crushed in the portal, and it’s a tough place to win. They don’t support their football program.

“Justin Wilcox is a terrific coach. He’s got a new offensive coordinator in Bryan Harsin. Again, going 6-7 at Cal is really difficult to do.

“They lost several key playmakers. They lost their quarterback, Fernando Mendoza. He went to Indiana. Jaydn Ott, their running back, went to Oklahoma. Their tight end, Jack Endries, went to Texas. They can’t compete, and this is a team that is going to have a roster that is like, Who are these guys?

“They gave up the most sacks in the nation last year with 51 [actually 50 according to the NCAA and 49 according to Cal’s statistics]. Wilcox got the defense back to a place where they can play decent defense amd then he lost his coordinator, Peter Sirmon, to the NFL.

“They’ve got a tricky opener in Corvallis, then they have Minnesota in the nonconference. I know the ACC schedule isn’t bad, but everyone’s going to have probably better talent than them because they lost almost their entire roster. They got crushed in the portal. This is one of those teams you look at, and it’s like very tough to compete.

“So that’s a sell for me, 6-7 last year, Cal is a sell. I love Justin Wilcox and I hope he gets a chance to succeed somewhere some day. Maybe it’ll be at Cal. I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe it will.”

On3 adds this comment about Klatt’s decision to rank Cal No. 5 on his “Sell” list:

---5. California Golden Bears

The NCAA Transfer Portal wasn’t kind to California this offseason. After posting a 6-7 record last season, California lost 33 players to the transfer portal in the winter and spring, including its star QB, running back and tight end.

Although California added 33 players via the transfer portal in response to its losses, Klatt isn’t convinced that the replacements will be adequate. As a cherry on top, California lost defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon to the NFL this offseason.

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