CALIFORNIA JUSTIN WILCOX – HEAD COACH • Went 5-7 and 2-7 in Pac-12 play in his first season after being named California head coach in January 2017. • Began the season with a 3-0 mark, which included wins over North Carolina, Ole Miss, and then-No. 8 Washington State for Cal’s first win over a top-10 team since defeating USC in 2003. • Spent his previous 11 seasons as a defensive coordinator for five different schools, including two Pac-12 programs (USC, Washington) and was the Golden Bears’ linebackers coach from 2003-05 in his first position as a full-time coach. • Acted as the defensive coordinator for Cotton Bowl champion Wisconsin in 2016, following time spent in the same role at Boise State (2006-09), Tennessee (2010-11), Washington (2012-13) and USC (2014-15). • Helped Wisconsin to an 11-3 overall mark in 2016 and assisted the team in winning the Big Ten West Division with a 7-2 league mark. • Helped improve the Cal defense, allowing 14.2 points fewer per contest than the previous season, ranking 21st in defensive touchdowns (4) and 27th in fumbles recovered (10). • Graduated with a B.A. in anthropology, from the University of Oregon, where he played safety and cornerback from 1996-99, named second-team All-Pac-10 and earned Pac-10 All-Academic honors in 1999. • Father, Dave, is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he played linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers (1964-74). His uncle, John, and brother, Josh, also played in the NFL. PATRICK LAIRD – REDSHIRT SENIOR RB • Selected to the 2018 Doak Walker Award Watch List and Maxwell Award Watch List. • Earned All-Pac 12 Honorable Mention and was first-team Pac-12 All-Academic last season and second team Pac-12 All-Academic in 2016. • Played in 11 games with eight starts in 2017 and led the team with 191 carries for 1,127 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. • Is the 16th rusher in Cal history to run for 1,000 yards in a single season and first since Daniel Lasco in 2014. • Recorded 45 catches for 322 yards and one touchdown for the most catches by a Cal running back since Todd Powers had 45 in 1988. • Ran for 214 yards against Oregon State for the 10th best single-season rushing game in school history and fifth best in the last 25 years. • Ranks 12th among the nation’s leading returning rushers with 102.5 rushing yards per game. • One of 10 national semifinalists for the Burlsworth Trophy, an award given annually to the nation’s most outstanding football player who began his career as a walk-on, later awarded a scholarship in the fall camp of 2017. • Nominated for the 2018 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® by the American Football Coaches Association for his work off the field. • Announced the Patrick Laird Summer Reading Challenge last April to promote the importance of youth reading and has visited more than 20 schools in the Bay Area and his hometown of San Luis Obispo, Calif. • Laird is an All-American and national honors candidate for the AFCA Good Works Team, Campbell Trophy, Doak Walker Award, and Senior CLASS Award for the 2018 season. • Joined the Golden Bears from Mission College and is a double major in business administration and political science. JORDAN KUNASZYK – REDSHIRT SENIOR ILB (Pronunciation kuh-NAW-shick) • Led California with a career-high 74 tackles last season while adding 6.0 tackles for loss (-41 yards), 3.5 sacks (-37 yards), and tied a team-high two interceptions that he returned for a team-high 53 yards. • Game-high 16 tackles against Colorado. • Recorded 11 tackles against Washington State and set career highs of 2.5 sacks and 31 tackles for a loss. • Became the first Cal player to earn the Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week award and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week twice throughout the course of the season. • Led Cal in tackles five times (at Oregon, vs. Washington State, vs. Arizona, at Colorado, at Stanford). • On the 2018 preseason watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy given annually to the college football defensive player who best exemplifies the IMPACT acronym of Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. • Named preseason third-team All-Pac-12 by Athlon Sports for the upcoming season. • Earned Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention honors in 2016. • A native of Roseville, Calif., Kunaszyk came to the program as a transfer from American River College following the 2015 season and graduated from Roseville High School. CAL 2018 PAC-12 FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY.