The Cal Poly Mustangs have parted ways with head coach Paul Wulff. Wulff went 10-24 overall and 5-19 in Big Sky games in his three seasons with the school. Wulff’s first two seasons featured identical 3-8 records, followed by a 4-8 campaign this year.
Wulff took over the Cal Poly program in 2023, following Beau Baldwin‘s three-year stint. Baldwin joined Cal Poly in the 2020-21 COVID-impacted year and went 4-21 overall. In 2023, Cal Poly started 2-1, but lost in four games in a row, with three of those games against top 25 Big Sky foes. The Mustangs were 3-5 entering November and lost the final three games to finish 3-8.
In 2024, the Mustangs opened 2-2 before losing five straight games. Like 2023, the middle of the season featured three straight games against ranked Big Sky opponents. Cal Poly opened the 2025 season 3-2 with a road win at then-21st-ranked Sacramento State. For the third straight season, three straight games against ranked foes resulted in losses and started a six game losing streak. The Mustangs won the season finale at home versus Eastern Washington, but finished 4-8.
Cal Poly was Wulff’s third stint as a head coach in college football. In 2000, he took over the reins at Eastern Washington, where he guided the Eagles for 8 seasons. He went 53-40 overall and 32-24 in the Big Sky, including three playoff appearances in his final four seasons. He was then named Washington State‘s head coach in 2008, where he went 9-40 overall and 4-32 in the Pac-10/12. For his career, Wulff is 72-104 and 41-75 in conference games.
Wulff spent time with the San Francisco 49ers, South Florida Bulls, and Iowa State Cyclones before returning to the FCS in 2016. He was named the assistant head coach and offensive line coach at Sacramento State for the 2016 through 2018 seasons. In 2019, he spent a season with UC Davis, and then joined Cal Poly as the offensive line coach for three years in 2020.
Wulff is the seventh FCS coaching change to occur in the current cycle. Albany (CAA), Hampton (CAA), Portland State (Big Sky), Samford (SoCon), Southern (SWAC), and Weber State (Big Sky) have also announced changes. The full list can be found here.
Photo Credit to Cal Poly Athletics
