Gilbertson Out As Cal Coach After A 3-8 Year Ex-Idaho Coach Has Only One Winning Season In Four Years At Pacific-10 Conference School

Keith Gilbertson, who led California to just one winning season in four years as head football coach, was fired Monday just two days after the Bears ended a 3-8 season with a loss to archrival Stanford.

Cal athletic director John Kasser met with Gilbertson Monday and they reached a financial settlement for the final three years of his contract.

After meeting with his assistants, Gilbertson went home and was unavailable for questions.

“We felt the need to go in a new direction,” Kasser said. “He’s a fine, fine person and I’m just sorry things didn’t work out for the best here for him.”

The Bears were 20-26 under Gilbertson, who made $225,000 a year.

Gilbertson said he would spend some time with his family in the next few days and was not set on any future plans.

Longtime friend Dennis Erickson, coach of the Seattle Seahawks, said he wouldn’t have an opening for Gilbertson, but would consider him if he had the opportunity.

“He’s one of the greatest football coaches in the country,” Erickson said. “I think Cal made a mistake.”

“We feel like we have a lot of potential in our football program,” said Kasser, noting a nationwide search is planned. “We feel there is a tremendous opportunity for a new coach to have an immediate impact due to the high level of returning talent and quality student-athletes Keith has recruited.”

Gilbertson was a surprise in 1992 when he emerged from a field of four to succeed Bruce Snyder, who quit to accept a more lucrative deal at Arizona State. Gilbertson, a respected and beloved offensive coordinator at Washington after a successful head-coaching stint at Idaho, went 4-7 his first season at Cal.

A 9-4 season in 1993 that included a victory in the inaugural Alamo Bowl earned Gilbertson a three-year extension on his original five-year contract. The Bears proceeded to go 4-7 in 1994 and 3-8 this season as attendance declined.

Sources in the Cal athletic department said Gilbertson was in rough waters with the administration for what was perceived as a tendency toward indecision and disorganization.

In three years at Idaho, 1986-88, Gilbertson coached the Vandals to two Big Sky Conference championships and a cumulative record of 28-9. The 11-2 record in 1988 was the best in school history.

Gilbertson spent the next three seasons as an assistant at Washington, with his retooling of the Huskies offense considered one of the main elements in the team’s share of the 1991 national championship.