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This shouldn't come as a surprise and is more of a formality than anything, but Terrence Brown has officially received the defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator position on Justin Wilcox's staff. Brown will presumably be the leader of the secondary group with Allen Brown helping him on the back end. Tre Watson was in a similar position previously so it only makes sense that Brown is elevated as the senior member of the staff.

In addition to TB being promoted, defensive assistant Mike Bruno is now officially the inside linebackers coach for the Bears. Bruno has become Peter Sirmon's right-hand man and was previously with the Bears from 2018-21 before stints at UNLV and Minot State. He returned to the team last year and essentially was the inside linebackers coach already. He presumably will hold many of the same duties after already working closely with the inside linebackers last season. During spring ball and camp, Bruno pretty much runs all the drills so this will help him be even more hands on and give Sirmon some relief to pay attention to other groups.

The new rules the NCAA put into place last year that allow more on-field coaches mean the promotions can now take place. Bruno has already been active on the recruiting trail going back to last month, and he should continue to provide plenty of support there as well. He's definitely earning a reputation as a strong recruiter.

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High three-star tight end Taimane Purcell has set an official visit with Cal for the weekend of May 29. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound prospect from the Kamehameha School in Honolulu also set an official visit with Oklahoma State today. That one will take place early on April 4-6. He added an offer from USC on Monday while programs such as Oregon, Tennessee, Nebraska, Florida, Michigan State and UCLA are also part of his offer list.

The Bears hosted Purcell on campus for a visit during the season when he made it out to watch Cal host Syracuse.

Cal has continued to ramp up its recruiting efforts in Hawaii on the heels of the success it had in the 2025 cycle adding three players from the state including quarterback Jaron Sagapolutele.

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A very good article that gives us some hope that JW will decide to return with Drej, JOJ, BJ and Lee (with likely returning CJ and Spencer).

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I watched Madden Soliai at the Polynesian Bowl and he was impressive. He's undersized but doesn't play like it and was all over the field making plays left and right against a good group of receivers. Cal was one of his early offers, and the Bears have continued to prioritize the 5-foot-10 cornerback recruit in the 2026 cycle. Famika Anae and Mike Bruno made it out to Hawaii last month for an in-home visit, and the Bears have done a good job of staying in his ear.

He's not moving quickly through the process but having a couple teammates now on the roster at Cal will certainly help the Bears. Utah is the biggest competition right now, but Cal will remain in the mix as he pushes forward in the process.

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USC has decided it will follow the lead of Nebraska, Ohio State and others in going away from a spring game this year. It's an interesting move by programs to combat presumed tampering by other schools. With the spring transfer window opening up April 16, programs seemingly do not want to have their teams on display to allow other teams to see the players and make a push for them to enter the portal. That point is what was brought up explicitly by Matt Rhule at Nebraska. Texas and Steve Sarkisian joined the fray today by announcing that the Longhorns will also not be having a spring game or showcase of any sort.

USC is opting to have a "fan appreciation" event in the summer to give fans an opportunity to meet the team but that is obviously not the same as seeing the players in action on the field.

One of my favorite parts of covering Cal is that I actually get to see football because of the open practices. USC is closing up its practices (something it enacted last season) as teams begin to go on full lockdown mode. The Bears have not officially announced their plans for the final practice of the spring though in recent years Cal has wrapped up spring ball with their showcase event that is mostly a scrimmage but partly a regular practice as well. It's not a true spring game, so the Bears have been ahead of the curve in a way.

It is all very interesting to see what is going on across the landscape. Cal actually gets a solid crowd for its spring showcase, so it will be interesting to see if that remains in place as more and more programs are looking like they will not be holding them moving forward.

The college game is changing and more teams are going to an NFL "OTA" type of approach for the spring, and that has brought about the recent change along with the concerns about tampering.