Below is a chart of offense, defense and total production of the California Golden Bears football program during Dykes' tenure as head football coach, along with who would be the lowest ranked team during this time period (in purple) and the average team (sky blue). As you may notice, California has been trending downward over the last few years under his tenure. All rankings in this blog come from my Complex Invasion College Football Production Model. More details about the program under Dykes are after the chart below, including his original contract (and recent contract amendment) are linked below.
Sonny Dykes (2013 - 2016) [2016 contract amendment]
2013
At the end of the regular season the Golden Bears were 1-11 and bowl ineligible, while playing against an "tougher" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that their strength of schedule was between one to two standard deviations lower than the "league's" average SOS. The Golden Bears only win was over FCS Portland State (37-30) and their worst loss was to #104 ranked Colorado by a score of (24-41). California had the #119 ranked team in total production with the #98 ranked offense and the #124 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.
2014
The Golden Bears again finished the regular season at 5-7 and were again bowl ineligible. California played against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS. The Golden Bears best regular season game was a victory (31-24) over #81 Northwestern and their worst loss was to #51 ranked Washington by a score of (7-31). Overall, the Golden Bears had the #84 ranked team with the #38 ranked offense and the #115 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.
The Golden Bears again finished the regular season at 5-7 and were again bowl ineligible. California played against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS. The Golden Bears best regular season game was a victory (31-24) over #81 Northwestern and their worst loss was to #51 ranked Washington by a score of (7-31). Overall, the Golden Bears had the #84 ranked team with the #38 ranked offense and the #115 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.
2015
California finished the regular season overall at 7-5 (bowl eligible) and defeated by #37 ranked Air Force in their post-season bowl game by a score of (55-36) to finish the season at 8-5. California played against a "tougher" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS. The Golden Bears best game again was their victory over #4 ranked San Diego State (35-7) and their worst loss was to #54 ranked Oregon (28-44). California had the #41 ranked team in total production with the #9 ranked offense and the #102 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.
2016
At the end of the regular season the Golden Bears were 5-7 (and were bowl ineligible) playing against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, which means that their current strength of schedule was plus or minus one standard deviation of the "league's" average SOS. The Golden Bears best win was over #43 ranked Utah (28-23) and their worst loss was to #116 ranked Arizona State by a score of (41-51). California had the #98 ranked team in total production with the #39 ranked offense and the #122 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.
Texas and Charlie Strong
Georgia State and Trent Miles
Fresno State and Tim DeRuyter
Purdue and Darrell Hazell
LSU and Les Miles
Florida International University and Ron Turner
Baylor and Art Briles