BERKELEY — Convinced his Cal football team needed an injection of talent after four straight losing seasons, coach Justin Wilcox and his staff took an offseason leap into the transfer portal and emerged with 24 players who have previous experience playing on Saturdays.
“The number of one-score games that we were on the wrong end of isn’t acceptable,” said Wilcox, whose program has lost 14 games by a touchdown or less over those four years.
The Bears will get their first feedback on whether the retooled roster gives them a boost when they take on FCS-level UC Davis on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
Including freshmen, the Bears will have 54 newcomers suit up for their season opener. But it’s the program’s heaviest-ever infusion of transfers that could generate immediate impact. The recruiting website On3 rated Cal’s transfer class the 13th-best in the country.
U.C. Berkeley Cal Bears football team head coach Justin Wilcox, center, watches over the first day of practice on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Berkeley, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
“I think the true test is game day. I have a lot of confidence in the guys that returned and then the guys that we added . . . but there is a process in terms of playing together, creating that chemistry, which is really, really important,” Wilcox said. “I’m excited for us.”
Twenty-two of those players have combined for 541 games at previous four-year schools. And many of them have quickly found places on Cal’s depth chart. Twenty — not including placekicker Ryan Coe — appear on the two-deep. As many as 11 could be starters on Saturday.
The Bears, who were 6-7 a year ago and played in their first bowl game since 2019, added speed at wide receiver and in the defensive secondary and created competition throughout fall camp that Wilcox believes will improve his team.
No one was going to challenge All-Pac-12 and preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference running back Jaydn Ott. But there were position battles at most positions on both sides of the ball.
California Golden Bears running back Jaydn Ott (1) scores a touchdown during the first half of their game at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Even at quarterback, where returning starter Fernando Mendoza held the No. 1 spot through the end of spring ball, Wilcox declined to announce who will take the first snaps against the Aggies. Chandler Rogers played 36 games at Louisiana-Monroe and North Texas the past three seasons, passing for more than 7,000 yards with 53 touchdowns.
All three wide receiver spots could have new starters courtesy of the portal, two offensive line starters played elsewhere last year and running back Kadarius Calloway (Old Dominion) and tight end Corey Dyches (Maryland) are sure to get playing time.
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On defense, where the Bears are hoping to rebound after their worst performance of Wilcox’s seven-year run, inside linebacker Teddye Buchanan (UC Davis) and cornerback Marcus Harris (Idaho) have won starting jobs. As many as eight other transfers figure to be in the rotation.
The process with so many newcomers, Buchanan explained, involves “everyone coming together and . . . figuring out our identity as a defense.”
Defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon has been encouraged by how quickly they have assimilated.
“The guys that are coming through via transfer portal and junior college now, all of them are bringing improved maturity,” Sirmon said. “Those guys are coming in a little more prepared.”
Cal, 11-0 all-time vs. UC Davis, will get a better gauge of its improvement a week from now when it hits the road to face Auburn of the Southeastern Conference. The Bears open their first ACC schedule on Sept. 21 at Florida State.
“It’s going to be an exciting year,” Wilcox said. “We’ve been too close too many times. Now it’s up to us to win those close games.”
