Latest Newsletter From Cal’s Director Of Athletics
Cal Family –
What a weekend! For the third straight time, we went down to Stanford and celebrated on the field after winning the Big Game! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of watching our fans stream out of the stands to celebrate with our team after beating our rivals – which we have now done for four of the past five years! I couldn’t be more proud of the fight our team showed, and how we filled up Stanford Stadium with Blue & Gold!
Leading up to the Big Game, we hosted some incredible events. On Friday night, we hosted the biennial Big Game Reception in Atherton where nearly 200 Cal alums and supporters gathered to celebrate the annual rivalry. On Saturday, we hosted our Big Game Tailgate for over 150 Cal fans – who all showed up, even despite the rain!
Saturday’s win also kept us eligible for a bowl game, setting up a huge showdown at UCLA this weekend at the Rose Bowl! When we beat the Bruins, we will be going bowling! We would love to see as much of our Cal Family as possible down in Pasadena to root on the team – make sure to register for the last tailgate of the season if you plan to join us! This is an incredibly resilient team that has had to contend with a very challenging schedule, and they continue to grind. Go Bears!
I wanted to take a moment to extend my sincerest thanks to all of you for your unwavering support at our home football games this season. We played our final game at California Memorial Stadium and came away with a thrilling victory over Washington State, and it was a perfect way to wrap up the 100th year of CMS. It was exciting all season to see so many of you get behind our team – students, alums, government officials, campus leaders and more. I know our team feeds off the energy all of you provide, and I could feel it during that exciting fourth quarter against Washington State. Thank you!
We continue to immerse ourselves in transition planning with the ACC, and our team of senior administrators – Jenny Simon-O’Neill, Gordon Bayne and Bob Jacobson – joined me on a trip to Charlotte last month to participate in the conference’s fall meetings. We continued to discuss scheduling for all of our sports and engaged with our counterparts from all of the other ACC institutions. I continue to be impressed with the conference office, and our future colleagues from each school, and returned home more convinced than ever that the ACC is a fabulous fit for Cal.
I was grateful to have the opportunity – along with Chancellor Christ, Coach Madsen and Coach Smith – to join a panel discussion with the UC Berkeley Board of Trustees about the value of Athletics on our campus. As Chancellor Christ has repeatedly said, Athletics serves as a key catalyst to bring together our entire campus community. We discussed future ways we can continue to leverage Cal Athletics to help create lifelong relationships and memories.
I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that our field hockey team had a true “mic drop” moment, winning its first-ever America East Tournament championship in its final year in the conference! We had three thrilling victories to win the conference championship – each coming by one goal and two in overtime. The conference title gave us a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006! I am very proud of Coach Onstead, her student-athletes and staff for their accomplishments.
I also wanted to offer a huge congratulations to men’s soccer head coach Leonard Griffin for being named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year! Coach Griffin more than doubled the team’s win total from last season in just his second year leading our program, and we know even bigger and better successes lie ahead.
As we near the next football transfer portal period opening on Dec. 4, I want to once again emphasize the importance of NIL giving opportunities and just how paramount it has become in recruiting. This is a critical time for our programs to make sure they are equipped with all of the tools possible to recruit the best and brightest to Cal. If you haven’t had a chance to engage with the California Legends Collective yet, now is the perfect time. Click here for more.
With Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday, we have so much to be thankful for here at Cal, and you – our Cal family – is something I am grateful for each and every day. You make what we do here possible and I, on behalf of my colleagues, coaches, staff and student-athletes, thank you for your support.
For a recap of some of the news during the past month, make sure you check out the links below!
Go Bears!
Jim
LATEST NEWS
Five Golden Bear Programs Earn Newmark Award
ACC Announces Conference Football Matchups For 2024-30
Theo Robertson Named Men’s Basketball Color Analyst
Cal Wins America East Tournament
Mark Madsen Era Begins With Victory
Leonard Griffin Named Pac-12 Coach Of The Year
