Sonny Dykes is Cal’s 19th football coach in the past 100 years. His predecessors were 12-6 in their debut games since Cal permanently switched from rugby to football:
JEFF TEDFORD, 2002: d. Baylor 70-22
Bears started 3-0, with rout of No. 15 Michigan St., and beat Stanford to go 7-5
TOM HOLMOE, 1997: d. Houston 35-3
A 40-36 shocker over Oklahoma followed, but Bears finished with 3-8 season
STEVE MARIUCCI, 1996: d. San Jose State 45-25
Mooch started 5-0, including win at USC, lost 6 of 7, then took 49ers job
KEITH GILBERTSON, 1992: d. San Jose State 46-16
Bears staggered to 4-7 the year after posting 10-2 mark and No. 7 final AP ranking
BRUCE SNYDER, 1987: d. Pacific 42-0
Future was bright under Snyder, but 31-7 loss to Stanford signaled Big Game woes
JOE KAPP, 1982: d. Colorado 31-17
Bears went 7-4 in Kapp’s debut, but losses were by combined score of 154-38
ROGER THEDER, 1978: lost to Nebraska 36-26
Cal went 6-5 but couldn’t beat USC, UCLA or Stanford
MIKE WHITE, 1972: lost to Colorado 20-10
Bears lost to San Jose St, but 3-8 season ended with classic Big Game win
RAY WILLSEY, 1964: d. Missouri 21-14
A good start went south with five losses to end season at 3-7
MARV LEVY, 1960: lost to Tulane 7-3
A great NFL coach, Levy was 2-7-1 in Cal debut, 8-29-3 in four seasons
PETE ELLIOTT, 1957: lost to SMU 13-6
Elliott was 1-9 in 1st season, then guided Bears to the Rose Bowl a year later
PAPPY WALDORF, 1947: d. Santa Clara 33-7
Beloved coach took over a 2-7 team and went 9-1 before 3 straight Rose Bowls
FRANK WICKHORST, 1946: lost to Wisconsin 28-7
Beat a ranked Saint Mary’s team but not much else in 2-7 campaign
BUCK SHAW, 1945: lost to Saint Mary’s 20-13
Was 4-5-1 in lone season, but never faced Stanford as WWII canceled Big Game
STUB ALLISON, 1935: d. Cal Aggies 47-0
Spectacular debut resulted in 9-1 season and Pacific Coast Conference co-title
BILL INGRAM, 1931: d. Santa Clara 6-2
Bears went 8-2 with four shutouts, including 6-0 Big Game victory
NIBS PRICE, 1926: d. Santa Clara 13-6
Cal’s winningest hoops coach was 3-6 in debut and 0-4-1 in 5 seasons vs. Stanford
ANDY SMITH, 1916: d. Olympic Club 23-0
Magical run began in 1920, with “Wonder Teams” going 44-0-4 over 5 years
