Draft:Wyndham Chance

Coaching Resume

• 2009 - 2011: Student Manager, Stanford University (D1)

• 2011 - 2013: Student Manager, University of Southern California (D1)

• 2013 - 2015: Graduate Assistant, University of Southern California (D1)

• 2015 - 2017: Quarterbacks Coach, University of La Verne (D3)

• 2017 - 2022: Offensive Coordinator, Fresno State (D1)

• 2022 - 2024: Head Coach, Cal (D1)

• 2024 - present: Head Coach, University of Louisiana at Lafayette (D1)

Coaching Architype:

Recruiting/Tactician

Offensive Scheme

"Jackpot" Offense

• Spread
• Focus on screens & short yardage plays to open up deep shots (the jackpots)
• Leverage mismatches and motions to keep defenses guessing
• 75% pass, 25% rush
• Half back draws after interior is exposed
• Spread the field with screens
• Counter pass-rush with HB screen
• Tempo, tempo, tempo

Personnel/Recruiting

• Quarterback - Above-average speed with a lot of throw power. Need stamina/durability, throw power, speed. Want athleticism, accuracy

• Wide Receivers -
  • Slot: Need route-running, catchability. Want durability, stamina, speed
  • X/Z: Need speed, catchability. Want route-running, durability, stamina

• Running Backs - Need speed & catchability. Want durability

• Tight Ends - Need route running, size, catchability. Want speed, stamina, durability

• Line - Pass-pro emphasis. Need stamina/durability. Want lateral speed, athleticism & size

Defensive Scheme

• Rely on Defensive Coordinator for scheme - Coach Chance is not a defensive mind

• Recruiting emphasis on DE's/EDGE and CB's

• Must have: stamina, durability, speed

• Nice to have: interior size/strength

• Mentality: Bend but not break. Defense will need to keep up with a fast paced game. Offense sets the tone for scoring/time of possession

*All subject to change when first seeing the recruiting board. Will always prioritize talent.

Personal Life

Coach Wyndham Chance was born in Corona del Mar, California, where he developed a love for both catching waves and catching footballs. As the son of Clark Honus, renowned for his contributions to the Blue Jean Committee, music was always an integral part of his childhood - though Wyndham kept a balance between his love of music and football.

Wyndham lived his childhood largely on the road, following BJC during their final tours before breaking up in 1996. The next year, the Honus family moved back to Corona del Mar where Wyndham spent most of his time between school and the beach. During this time, several news outlets reported on Clark Honus making scenes at local fish houses and becoming increasingly unhinged. In a moment of desperation, Wyndham and his mother Dottie reached out to former BJC lead singer Gene Allen to help. This reignited the spirit of BJC with Clark and the two would later announce a reunion concert to mend their differences.

It was after the infamous BJC reunion concert at Red Rocks that Wyndham decided to go by his mother's maiden name. Deterred from a life on the stage and moving back to Corona del Mar with his mother Dottie, Wyndham found a sense of community and comradery as the equipment manager of Sage Hill Lightning Football when he was in 6th grade. With time, Wyndham would find himself reading playbooks and schemes between practices, and as a sophomore became the right-hand-man of Sage Hill's legendary Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Dean Danste.

After leading the Lightning to two straight division championships, Wyndham attended college at Stanford. Coach Chance was still conflicted with what to pursue, however he put his musical past behind and chose where his skillsets applied better - football. In a future press conference for the University of Cal, Coach Chance reminisced on this decision: "I realized I was better suited for touchdowns than tunes, but I still carry a riff or two in my playbook".

Majoring in Kinesiology and acting as a student manager from 2009-2011, Wyndham eventually developed a friendship with future #1 NFL Draft pick Andrew Luck. Chance & Luck spent most of their time in the film room or by the whiteboard memorizing plays and analyzing defensive schemes. Years later during his introductory press conference for Cal, Chance confirmed that Luck influenced his iconic "Jackpot" scheme.

On June 9, 2011 Clark Honus collapsed and passed away in his home in Irvine. This was a pivotal moment in Chance's life, and Chance decided to transfer to the University of Southern California to be closer to home. Chance carried his success from Stanford and impressed Head Coach Lane Kiffen. A student of balance and position, Chance would develop the most under the offensive mind of Kiffen combined with the grit of Defensive Coordinator Ed Orgeron. Chance noted his philosophy changed while witnessing the clash between Kiffen and Orgeron - the Catalina breeze versus the Cajun bonne a rienne, the A-frame to the A-gap.

Career

After coaching changes and graduation, Chance continued at USC as a graduate assistant. Having received his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology from Stanford, Chance left the body and entered the mind by pursuing a Master's in Strategy and Management Consulting, staying with the team after coaching moves. The state of California took to notice Chance's potential as an offensive visionary, and Chance began assisting Interim Head Coach Clay Helton as an unofficial playcaller and defensive spy. When involved, Chance provided tangible value to USC and set his sights on a coaching job.

In 2015, Chance would start his first official coaching job at the University of La Verne as a Quarterbacks Coach. Having the experience of working closely with the likes of Andrew Luck and Cody Kessler, he found immediate success with William Livingston, leading to an 8-2 season. Chance would begin his initial installation of what would become the "Jackpot" offense, but unfortunately led to a lackluster 2-7 season in 2016.

Despite the record, the "Jackpot" offense gained popularity around the region. Some reports indicate offers were made to Chance in 2016, but in 2017 Chance was hired as Offensive Coordinator at Fresno State. In his first season, France led Fresno State to a 10-4 record, averaging 36.3 PPG. In 2018, the Bulldogs finished 12-2. To some, this seemed like a grand-slam for the program, however, the results speak for themselves the next two seasons:

• 2019: 4-8

• 2020: 3-3*

*Covid year

However in the 2021 season, Coach Chance stood in the face of adversity and prevailed with a 10-3 season. After Fresno State's thrilling 31-24 victory over UTEP in the 2021 New Mexico Bowl, Chance shed light on his mentality throughout the tumultuous, but rewarding journey:

"There's always a chance. Always a chance. It's been a long ride, but we were able to put out a pretty sick product out there today and send these seniors out with a bang. It was pretty wild, the coaching staff really got in tune with the world's rhythm and tapped into that nectar. At team breakfast, I told the guys we gotta do this for Vic [Victor E. Bulldog III]. Gotta enter his brain waves and pounce hard. So pumped we could deliver before his retirement."

Asked about how he was able to finally cash in with the "Jackpot" scheme, Coach Chance paused:

"You guys know I'm a big George Clooney fan. Unreal filmography. During Covid, the world really stopped to a halt, man. It was tough. We were a little upset about the lack of leadership, both from the conference and our country's medical experts. We can save that for another conversation [press laughs]. Anyways, so I was at home with my dogs and caught a little bit of Ocean's Eleven. Can't get enough of the cat and mouse game between Ocean and Benedict. I was pretty moved by Danny Ocean's quote when he was talking to Rusty: 'Play long enough, you never change the stakes. The house takes you. Unless, when that perfect hand comes along, you bet big, then you take the house.' During the offseason, we really had a good feeling we had the perfect hand, and we bet big. I'm not going to lie, there were moments we wondered if we were staying at the table too long, if the "Jackpot" was just a mirage in the Mojave. But these seniors man, they led us to the water."

Along with the 2021 Bulldogs, Coach Chance found himself having the perfect hand(s) to climb the coaching ladder. Going all in, Coach Chance accepted a Head Coach offer from the University of California, Berkeley.

These next two seasons, Coach Chance was on the verge of calling 1-800-GAMBLER. The Golden Bears ended the 2022 season with an abysmal 4-8 record, 2-7 in the PAC-12. Along with busting at the table, Coach Chance's adversarial relationship with Cal Athletic Director Jim Knowlton put a lot of pressure with the upcoming season. Coach Chance was very outspoken with the direction the PAC-12 was heading. Although he was the newest (and youngest) coach in the conference, he wasn't afraid to challenge Knowlton, imfamously stating:

"You know, this reminds me of 2020. Covid. Remember how wild that was? Nobody knew anything. We were lied to. Gaslit. I see the same shit happening with the PAC-12. We're told this is inevitable, the Revelations of the conference. No social distancing or double-masking is going to stop the Big 10 or the Big 12 from infecting us. Devouring us one by one. Unless we stick together, have faith in our immune systems, and put an end to the charade. Our preventative measure is to trust our research, trust our intuition, and land a fucking TV deal. I haven't heard anything from Jim. I would welcome whatever word salad that conference leadership is telling him to say."

This did not sit well with Knowlton, who later said, "Yes, I've heard the candid feedback from some of our athletic programs. We're currently weighing all options for the future of the conference, and our personnel."

With the PAC-12 future hanging by a thread, Coach Chance continued implementing the "Jackpot" during the offseason. It was September 1, 2023 when it was announced that Cal would be joining the ACC in 2024. "I'm bummed man. I'm just bummed. So much history, culture, pride is being dismantled right before our eyes, man. While I'm excited for the future of Cal athletics in the ACC, I can't help but feel defeated. I'm just a kid from Corona del Mar. I grew up with the Conference of Champions. So many memories watching a night game while my dad was away jamming out. It helped raise me, molded my psyche. No offense to the ACC, but I wish this would have gone differently."

The final season of the PAC-12 turned out to be Coach Chance's last at Cal. A true culture fit, betrayed by bureaucrats and greed - a common theme in his life. Many fans noticed parallels between Coach Chance's farewell season and his father's farewell concert, with the Athletic noting, "... unhinged with no shits to give. What happened to 'Catalina Breeze'?".

It turned out, this was just the thing a program far from home needed. The Golden Bears ended the PAC-12 farewell season with a 6-7 record, a slight improvement from the 2022 season. After the season, Coach Chance was again asked about the shortcomings of the "Jackpot", and his two years at Cal:

"Things take time, man. I wish I had more. I wish we could've done this the right way. You're not going to get a Royal Flush on your first hand. No way. These kids deserve better than the hands they were dealt these last two seasons. We were on the cusp of taking the house. We really were. The best jams are the long ones - they take turns, sometimes they enter pretty weird territory. But weird can be good, weird can work. Weird can carry you to a gnarly crescendo, and we were so close to finding our sound."

In December 2023, Coach Chance took a chance. A Southern California local would become the next Head Coach in a place, a culture unfamiliar to him. Truly entering uncharted waters, Coach Chance moved to the swampy, Creole capital of Lafayette to coach the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns.