Cal's defensive line coach, Gerald Alexander, was hired to the same position by the Miami Dolphins on January 24.

[8] Cal announced it would hire former Arizona defensive coordinator Marcel Yates to replace him the following day.

[9] On March 4, it was announced that Peter Sirmon would be made co-defensive coordinator alongside Tim DeRuyter.

In the 2020 Pac-12 preseason media poll, California was voted to finish in second place in the North Division.

[11] The Golden Bears had 3 games scheduled against UNLV, TCU, and Cal Poly, but canceled these games on July 10 due to the Pac-12 Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[3] However, following an agreement that boosted testing capacity for players and personnel,[13] the conference announced it would play a seven-game football schedule beginning in November.