Former Philadelphia Eagles star named as a 'wild card' option for recently opened Power-4 college football head coach job

A former Philadelphia Eagles star was named this week as a potential "wild card" candidate for a recently opened Power-4 head coaching job in college football.

The California Bears fired head coach Justin Wilcox this past weekend.

Wilcox, a former Oregon Ducks defensive back, had been the head coach at Cal since 2017. He went 48-55 during his time in Berkeley.

Former Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson is a "wild card" candidate to replace Justin Wilcox at California

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman named former Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson as a "wild card" candidate to replace Wilcox at California.

Jackson, who retired as an Eagle in 2023 after signing a one-day contract, is in his first season as the head coach at Delaware State.

The former Philly wide receiver led the Hornets to a 8-4 record during the 2025 regular season.

"One wild card to keep in mind is Delaware State coach DeSean Jackson, a former All-America wide receiver at Cal," wrote Feldman. "The 38-year-old, who was one of the most dynamic players in Cal history, has one year of college coaching experience, but it’s been impressive. He took over a Hornets program that had gone 2-21 the previous two seasons and has wasted no time pumping life into Delaware State football, leading it to an 8-4 season. It would still seem like a long shot that Jackson would end up with the Cal job after only one year of college coaching experience, especially given the credentials of some of the other candidates we expect to be in the mix for this job."

Jackson is likely down the list for California, but you never know how these college coaching searches will play out.

If Cal hears no a couple of times, they may give Jackson a call to see if he's interested in taking over for Wilcox.

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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Nov 25, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.