Cal football coach Justin Wilcox gets mic'd up for close look at Bears

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With Cal's late-night win over 14th-ranked Washington on Saturday, Golden Bears coach Justin Wilcox now has a winning record (14-13) in his two-plus seasons in Berkeley.

After inheriting the program from Sonny Dykes, 42-year-old Wilcox is trying to build a winning culture, and he let NBC Sports Bay Area catch a glimpse of what he's working on, granting exclusive access to Monday's practice.

"We hold them to really high standards, but that's what this place is about," Wilcox said. "You gotta have something to you. You gotta have the 'figure-it-out factor,' as we call it. This place attracts people like that. It's a big draw for us."

Two days after the big win, Wilcox allowed NBC Sports Bay Area to mic him up for Cal's practice, and the relationship with his players was on full display. There was no yelling, no scolding. Only teaching.

"I just love how even-keeled he is. No matter if we do good or do bad, he's always ready to coach us, no matter what," Bears cornerback Camryn Bynum said. "Fix any mistakes, even if we had the best game we ever played -- he's always finding something to fix. As a player, he always holds us accountable to always get better every single day."

The last time the Bears made consecutive bowl appearances was 2008 and 2009. Wilcox is trying to end that drought this season, but he knows his 2-0 team has much work to do.

"To do what we want to do as a team, it's imperative that we improve every week," Wilcox said. "If they continue to practice like this and pour their heart into the meetings, we will improve, but we're a long way from where we could be."

The Bears will host North Texas on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. PT, and then travel to Oxford, Miss., to face Ole Miss before Pac-12 Conference play resumes.

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