This piece originally appeared in our twice-weekly sports newsletter Section 415. Sign up for the newsletter here and subscribe to the Section 415 podcast wherever you listen.
It’s been a long time since there was genuine, sustained college football fever in the Bay Area, and when NIL collectives began paying student-athletes in 2021, it seemed as if Cal and Stanford’s programs might fade into obscurity.
The emergence of the transfer portal, a wild wave of conference realignment, and prolonged on-field struggles for both programs created the perfect storm for the new college football world to leave the Bay Area behind.
When the Pac-12 disintegrated, Cal and Stanford found a home in the ACC, but it seemed unrealistic to think the Bears and the Cardinal might compete for conference titles on the football field with the likes of Clemson and Miami.
So far, they haven’t.
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Cal’s seven regular-season wins in 2025 are its most since 2019. Stanford’s four wins this year are tied for its highest total since 2018.
The reality is a large percentage of graduates from both universities likely wouldn’t care if they stopped competing in football altogether. But despite the headwinds, Cal and Stanford are pressing forward, more determined than ever to compete in a sport in which the odds have historically been stacked against them.
Last November, Stanford hired two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up Andrew Luck to fill a newly created GM role. In March, Cal responded by bringing in former NFL head coach Ron Rivera to fill the same, first-of-its-kind position in Berkeley.
Both Luck and Rivera spent their first year on the job securing critical financial resources that can theoretically bankroll better rosters. They also spent recent weeks completing coaching searches and identifying new leaders for the Cardinal and the Bears.
On Tuesday, Luck sat at a podium in Palo Alto alongside former teammate Tavita Pritchard, a fellow Stanford quarterback who was introduced as the program’s new coach. Three days later, Rivera sat alongside former Cal defensive lineman Tosh Lupoi, a prolific recruiter who will take over the Bears after Justin Wilcox was fired during his ninth season as head coach.
Lupoi wasted no time getting to work. He left his introductory press conference, booked a ticket to Hawaii (opens in new tab), and spent two hours convincing freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to stay in Berkeley next season.
Neither Pritchard nor Lupoi has ever been a head coach, but both have played and worked as assistants at their respective programs. Pritchard started under Jim Harbaugh and called plays under David Shaw while Lupoi played and coached under Jeff Tedford, teaming up with Aaron Rodgers, Marshawn Lynch, and DeSean Jackson.
Pritchard and Lupoi understand the challenges Stanford and Cal face as well as anyone. They’ve each recruited players to their alma maters but have never had the type of resources that are available to them now. Each coach reports to a GM who is dedicated to raising money, acquiring talent, and developing the infrastructure that will be necessary to keep building momentum if and when their programs do succeed.
Lupoi might not be the next Tedford, and Pritchard probably isn’t going to be the next Harbaugh, but give Cal and Stanford credit. At a time when they could easily fold and give up on football, both programs are making high-profile hires, significant investments, and public commitments to building better teams.
No one knows if any of this will work, but for both Cal and Stanford, it’s far better than standing on the sidelines.
