Assistant coaching career Wilcox began his career as a college football coach in
2001 as a
graduate assistant at
Boise State, under new head coach
Dan Hawkins. After two seasons as a graduate assistant, he left for the
Bay Area to coach the
linebackers at
California under head coach
Jeff Tedford. After three seasons at Cal, Wilcox returned to Boise State in
2006 as the defensive coordinator under new head coach
Chris Petersen. In four years the teams lost only four games, with a record, Following the 2009 season, Wilcox accepted the defensive coordinator job at
Tennessee under new head coach
Derek Dooley. In late December 2010, it was reported that Wilcox was a candidate to replace
Will Muschamp, who left
Texas for
Florida. On New Year's Day, Wilcox announced that he would return to Tennessee for the
2011 season. Early on January 2,
2012, reports emerged that Wilcox was to become the new defensive coordinator at
Washington in
Seattle, under head coach
Steve Sarkisian. The position was vacant due to
Nick Holt's termination days earlier, and the announcement was made official later that night. The Huskies were 7–6 in 2012 and lost in the
Las Vegas Bowl. Washington was 9–4 in
2013 and won the
Fight Hunger Bowl; Sarkisian left after the regular season for
USC. Wilcox followed Sarkisian to
USC and was the defensive coordinator; the Trojans went 9–4 in
2014 and won the
Holiday Bowl. After five games in
2015, Sarkisian was fired and succeeded by
Clay Helton. The Trojans finished 50th nationally in scoring defense (25.7 points per game) and 65th in total defense (400.8 yards per game) in 2015, and Wilcox was terminated the day after the loss to
Stanford in the
Pac-12 championship game. On January 28,
2016, Wilcox became the defensive coordinator at
Wisconsin, under head coach
Paul Chryst. The Badgers went 11–3 and won the
Cotton Bowl with a defense ranked in the top ten in a number of categories.
California On January 14, 2017, Wilcox was introduced as the 34th head coach of the
California Golden Bears.
2017 The Bears went 5–7 during Wilcox's first year in
2017, with wins over
North Carolina,
Ole Miss, and #8
Washington State, and three losses by three points or fewer.
2018 2018 represented the first of two winning seasons Justin Wilcox has achieved to date as a head football coach. The Bears went 7–6 during Wilcox's second year in
2018. The Bears upset #15
Washington 12–10 and defeated
USC 15–14 at the Coliseum in Los Angeles to snap a 14-year losing streak to the Trojans. The Bears lost 10–7 in overtime to
TCU in the
2018 Cheez-It Bowl. In contrast to his predecessor,
Sonny Dykes, Wilcox emphasized a strong defense, cutting Cal's points allowed per game from 42.6 (2016) to 20.4 (2018). However, the Bears’ offensive efficiency ranked as the second worst among all Power Five teams. After the regular season, Wilcox signed a new five-year contract to coach the Bears through the 2023 season.
2019 2019 represented the second of two winning seasons Justin Wilcox has achieved to date as a head football coach. The Bears improved to an 8–5 record under Wilcox in
2019. They achieved their highest ranking since 2009 when they were ranked No. 15 after a 4–0 start to the season. After defeating
Stanford in the
Big Game for the first time since 2009, the Bears earned bowl-eligibility two years in a row, again for the first time since 2009. The Bears defeated
Illinois 35–20 in the
2019 Redbox Bowl. To date, 2019 proved to be the only year in which Justin Wilcox achieved a bowl victory and last winning season in his career as a head coach.
2020 2020 was the first of five consecutive losing seasons (to date) for Justin Wilcox. The Bears finished 1–3 in a COVID-shortened
2020 season, with their lone win coming against #21
Oregon.
2021 2021 was the second of five consecutive losing seasons (to date) for Wilcox. In 2021, the Bears went 5–7, including wins over
USC and
Stanford. Cal notched a
Big Game record 636 total yards of offense in a 41–11 victory over Stanford. After the season, Wilcox was offered the head coaching position at
Oregon but turned it down. In part due to his willingness to stay in Berkeley, Cal gave Wilcox a new contract extension keeping him at Cal through the 2027 season.
2022 2022 was the third of five consecutive losing seasons (to date) for Wilcox. Cal finished 4–8 in 2022, the program's third straight losing season. Following a six-game losing streak, Wilcox fired offensive coordinator
Bill Musgrave and offensive line coach Angus McClure. The Bears defeated Stanford 27–20 to win the Big Game for the third time in four seasons, and the first in Berkeley since 2008.
2023 2023 was the fourth of five consecutive losing seasons (to date) for Wilcox. The Bears finished 6–7 in 2023, the fourth consecutive losing season under Wilcox. They achieved road wins over rivals
Stanford and
UCLA to earn bowl eligibility for the first time since 2019. Cal's 27–15 victory in the
Big Game was the program's third straight win over Stanford, and fourth in five years. The Bears were trounced 34–14 by Texas Tech in the
Independence Bowl.
2024 2024 was the fifth of five consecutive losing seasons (to date) for Wilcox. The Bears finished 6–7 again in 2024, and 2–6 in conference in their inaugural season in the
Atlantic Coast Conference. Cal defeated Stanford 24–21 in the Big Game, their fourth straight victory, and fifth in six seasons. Notably, Cal was 2-5 in games decided by less than seven points, and lost four consecutive games by a total of nine points. The Bears lost 24–13 to UNLV in the
LA Bowl.
2025 In the offseason before the 2025 season, every single one of the running backs on Wilcox's team transferred to other schools. Wilcox also lost quarterback
Fernando Mendoza to
Indiana University, where Mendoza won the 2025
Heisman Trophy. On September 21, 2025, Wilcox's Cal team was shutout by San Diego State by a final score of 34–0. Cal had been 14 point favorites to defeat San Diego State. Through ten weeks, the Bears' opponents were a combined 24–34. The Bears played games against FCS Texas Southern and Mountain West Conference member San Diego State. Excluding these two teams, the Bears' Power-5 opponents have a combined record of 14–30. Cal fired Wilcox with one game remaining in the 2025 season, shortly after getting blown out by archrival Stanford University by a score of 31–10 in the 128th
Big Game. In his nine year tenure at Cal, Wilcox had losing records in conference play every season. ==Family==