Since Jim Knowlton has taken over the athletic department at the University of California on April 9th, 2018, Cal Athletics has taken a significant step backwards in nearly every metric.

Some highlights of the Knowlton Era:

• Football: 1 bowl win. No winning seasons since 2019. Have become a consistent bottom feeder in the PAC 12. CMS is mostly empty for any non-Stanford home game.
• Basketball: 0 winning seasons. 0 NCCA tournament appearances. Best finish was 8th in the Pac 12 in 2019. 2022/23 was the worst season in Cal Men’s basketball history. Knowlton passes on Dennis Gates(Mizzou) and Tommy Lloyd(Arizona). Knowlton decides to keep coach Mark Fox on after 3 losing seasons, no signs of progress and historically terrible recruiting classes. Attendance is at historic lows.
• Non-Revenue Sports: Knowlton has followed in his predecessor Mike Williams footsteps and has overseen non-rev/Olympic sports slide towards average. Under AD Sandy Barbour, Cal consistently competed for the Capital One Cup, an award for the nation’s best all-around athletic department. Under Knowlton, Cal usually finishes in the middle of the pack. Under Knowlton Cal has only won 4 national titles. (S/O to Men’s Water Polo and Swimming)
• Scandal: Most recently it was announced Knowlton and assistant AD Jenny Simon-Oneill(who should also be fired) are under investigation for general negligence and protection of former Cal Women’s Swimming Coach Teri McKeever. McKeever has been accused of verbally and emotionally abusing former members of the swim team. Comments about weight, appearances, and race. I recommend everyone read the Daily Cal’s story for more info: https://dailycal.org/2023/03/24/cal-ad-jim-knowlton-reportedly-under-formal-investigation-by-uc-berkeley

With yesterday’s announcement that AD Knowlton is now under investigation for sheltering McKeever, I wanted to create this petition for Cal fans and alums to have a chance show Chancellor Christ and the UC Regents their outrage and disappointment at the Knowlton regime at Cal Athletics. 

This comes at the time where Cal needs to make a critical Men’s Basketball hire. The university needs to step in as soon as possible. Cal fans are either enraged or completely checked out.

The state of the department is an embarrassment to alumni. To truly be the greatest public school in the world, we need to have a world class athletic department. We are miles away from that, but its time to take a step in the right direction.

#KnowltonOut