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The California Golden Bears will be facing a new adversary for the 2025 Big Game. Troy Taylor is out at Stanford. The decision was made by new Stanford general manager Andrew Luck.

This decision came in the light of multiple investigations of Taylor’s treatment of various Stanford employees, particularly those who identify as women. More from Xuan Thai of ESPN:

Stanford head football coach Troy Taylor bullied and belittled female athletic staffers, sought to have an NCAA compliance officer removed after she warned him of rules violations and repeatedly made "inappropriate" comments to another woman about her appearance, according to documents from a pair of investigations obtained by ESPN.

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Patterson cited "belittling comments" Taylor aimed at compliance officers, saying he "expressed inappropriate anger and frustration with staff." The coach would go from "sitting there silently to screaming," a witness stated. In some situations, staffers were "scared to death to talk to him."

"[Taylor] loses his s--- over things that aren't that big of a deal," one person told Patterson.

Even staffers whom Taylor viewed as allies described his behavior as "angry, aggressive and belittling at times," Patterson wrote.

"I think people try to tip-toe and try not to get on his bad side," a source knowledgeable with the situation told ESPN.

Multiple staffers expressed a deep sense of fear of retaliation for reporting issues or cooperating with investigators. According to the documents, Doyle told Patterson that he believed Taylor froze him out of meetings because he agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

Patterson wrote that multiple people complained of Taylor repeatedly having "made inappropriate comments" about a female staffer's "appearance, smell, and interest in football."

Taylor finishes his Stanford career with a 6-18 record, including two Big Game losses to his alma mater.

There have been numerous inquiries in the past few years for Cal to look into hiring Taylor for his offensive capabilities. We’d have to guess this investigation should put an end to all of that. It’s likely a very disturbing end for the former Golden Bear coach in major college football.

With this change coming this late in the cycle, Stanford appears as if they will jettison on a full coaching search and might look for an acting head coach for 2025. Given the likely portal changes that will come in the spring cycle as a result, expect Cal to be favorites to take the Axe home for the fifth year in a row.