The 2016 California Golden Bears football team represented the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in the

2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 26, 2016 and ended on D ...

. The Bears were led by fourth-year head coach

Sonny Dykes Daniel "Sonny" Dykes (born November 9, 1969) is an American football coach, and a former college baseball player. He is currently the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU), and previously served in the same role at Southern Meth ...

and played their home games at Memorial Stadium. Shortly after the conclusion of the 2015 season, Dykes stated that he did not anticipate any staff turnover. However, offensive coordinator Tony Franklin resigned from his position at California a few weeks after Dykes made this statement. Franklin left to take up the same position at

Middle Tennessee State Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight undergraduate colleges as well as a college of graduate studies, together of ...

, citing a desire to move closer to his family in Kentucky. Dykes replaced Franklin with

Jake Spavital Jacob Stephen Spavital (born May 1, 1985) is an American college football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the California Golden Bears. He previously served as the head football coach at Texas State University from 2019 to 2022. Coachi ...

, who had recently been fired by

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. Like Dykes, Spavital was from Mike Leach's Air Raid coaching tree. An additional signing from that lineage was the transfer of quarterback Davis Webb from Texas Tech; Webb completed his bachelor's degree in three years transferring to Cal for his final year of eligibility as a graduate student. Cal went 5–7 in 2016, winning only 3 out of their 9 Pac-12 games. Dykes once again lost to Stanford at home by two touchdowns and to USC in Los Angeles by three touchdowns. His team also lost to

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

of the Mountain West Conference. Highlights of that season were Cal's second straight beating of then-No. 11

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and the team's win over

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. This was the first time that Dykes was able to lead the team to beat one of Cal's three traditional rivals – Stanford, UCLA and USC. In his only season as Cal's quarterback, Davis Webb beat Jared Goff's passing attempts and completions records, and equaled his marks for 300-yard passing games (10) and touchdowns (43), with 37 in the air and six on the ground. Webb was drafted in the third round by New York Giants. Sonny Dykes was fired on January 8, 2017. He finished at Cal with a four-year record of 19–30. The firing came as a surprise, as his contract was previously extended and most coaching changes come right after the end of a season and not the following year. Two of the stated concerns were Dykes' commitment to the program, as at the end of 2016 Dykes was interviewed by

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

for their head coaching position, and the significant decreases in home game attendance – thirty percent fewer season tickets were renewed for 2017 than for the previous year.

Personnel

Coaching staff

Roster

Schedule

:Source: 2016 California Golden Bears Football Schedule ;Notes

Game summaries

vs. Hawaii

Calling the game for ESPN: Allen Bestwick, Mike Bellotti and Warren Smith.

At San Diego State

Texas

At Arizona State

Utah

At Oregon State

Oregon

At USC

Washington

At Washington State

Stanford

UCLA

References

{{California Golden Bears football navbox , state = expanded

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

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