BERKELEY — A major Cal donor said he wants Sonny Dykes to remain the Bears’ football coach but hopes Dykes understands the athletic department’s fiscal responsibilities.

Paul White, the brother of former Cal and NFL star lineman Ed White, said many alums appreciate what Dykes has achieved on the academic side but need to see more success on the field.

Dykes, 13-23 in three seasons at Cal after posting a 7-5 mark this fall, interviewed Tuesday for the coaching vacancy at Missouri. He is believed to be among at least four outside candidates.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported Wednesday that the Tigers had not yet offered the job to anyone. A Cal source said, “I’d be really surprised if this went past Friday.”

So Dykes remained the Bears’ coach on Wednesday, while reportedly recruiting in Southern California.

White, a renowned anesthesiologist who graduated from Cal in 1970, said he hopes Dykes accepts the contract offer the school has made. The school awaits a response from Dykes and his representatives, according to a Cal source.

“I strongly support the cultural change that Sonny has brought to our football program and hope he will stay at Cal,” said White, referring in part to the academic improvements Dykes has overseen within the football program. “However, he needs to understand that after the Jeff Tedford contract fiasco, the university is in a position of having to be conservative when it comes to more guaranteed money and a lengthy contract extension.”

The athletic department was on the hook for a $5.5 million negotiated buyout when it fired Tedford after the 2012 season.

Dykes has two years left on his original five-year contract that pays him $2 million annually — lowest in the Pac-12. Gary Pinkel, who retired last month as coach at Missouri, earned $3,768,000 in 2015, according to USA Today.

In fact, all 13 (out of 14 teams) of the Southeastern Conference 2015 coaching salaries listed in USA Today’s annual survey were at least $3.2 million. The average 2015 SEC coaching salary, according to the newspaper, was $3.95 million.

Only Vanderbilt, a private university that is not required to report salary figures, is not included in the USA Today database.

No figures are available on Cal’s pending offer to Dykes, but it is believed to be closer to his current salary than to the lofty SEC numbers.

Alluding to Dykes’ 0-12 record against Stanford, USC, UCLA and Oregon, White said he other alums are eager for success at a higher level.

“Cal fans want to see us start to compete with the ‘big boys’ for the Pac-12 Conference championship and get back to the Rose Bowl — or national championship — in our lifetime,” White said. “I have confidence Sonny can actually get this done with the recruitment of top student-athletes and further refinements in his coaching system.”

The key question for Cal, he said, is, “Would it really be wise for the athletic department to lock him up in a contract that’s going to have huge financial consequences if things go poorly next year?”

The Bears resume practice Friday. They will learn Sunday whom and where they will play in their first bowl game since 2011.

For more on Cal sports, see the Bear Talk blog at ibabuzz.com/beartalk. Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter at twitter.com/Jeff Faraudo.