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Northeast Mississippi CC linebacker Keaton Thomas has emerged as a high-level option late in the cycle after putting together an impressive 2023 season. He racked up over 100 tackles this year to go with a couple interceptions. He's a converted safety who is a bounce back from West Virginia. He's developed as a linebacker over the last year and now has the attention of several Power Five programs including the Mountaineers, Colorado, Baylor and NC State to name a few. It is looking like the Bears are going to need some more depth at the linebacker spot next season, so it is not a surprise to see the staff pushing for a playmaker who could help immediately. He'll have three seasons of eligibility left and will be a mid-year transfer wherever he ends up. As of now, Cal is the only official visit he's scheduled.


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Right here:

Wondering if we are getting another bite at the apple? Second tweet says a P12 school has expressed interest....

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Hey @Ryan Young will you be offering a portal tracker/article of sorts that is specific to Cal? Where is Rival's portal tracker?

There are a number of intriguing players already hitting the portal. Indiana is seeing an exodus of player including both starting tackles. Michigan State is also seeing some players. There are some Ivy Leaguers Cal will also be looking at i imagine.

If I was Cal FB head honchos, my wish list for the portal would be:
1) OT
2) DE (especially if Reese doesn't apply for another year of eligibility)
3) WR
4) Safety
5) IOL

Last portal season, Cal did really well thanks to @Sebastabear and co at Cal Legends! This time we should even be more attractive (If we get the $$$$ of course) as we have Mendoza & Ott, bowl bound, and playing a national schedule with the ACC.

GAME DETAILS

Cal (3-5) vs. Butler (7-2)

Time: 9 a.m. PT
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana | Hinkle Fieldhouse
Watch: FS1 | Dan Hellie (PxP) & Casey Jacobsen (Analyst)
Listen: 810 AM & The Varsity App | Justin Allegri (PxP)

The Bears are set to face off against Butler in their first true road test of the season in Indianapolis, and have guard Jalen Celestine active again for the first time in a few weeks.

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Follow along here:

Reports state that Cal is set to hire Sterlin Gilbert as its quarterbacks coach following the departure of Jake Spavital earlier this month, as first reported by John Brice of FootballScoop.com Saturday. Spavital guided the Bears as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach this season prior to his recent move to Baylor.

Cal announced Saturday morning that graduate assistant Mike Saffell would be promoted to the role of tight ends coach, so Gilbert would complete the staff on the offensive side of the ball, though the move has not been announced by the program.

Per football scoop Cal has hired Sterlin Gilbert at the new QB coach. He was an offensive analyst at Ole Miss, was an OC at Syracuse, Texas, Tulsa and Souther Florida.

Mike Saffell hired as Cal’s new TE Coach. It will be interesting to see how he will recruit the TE position.

There's a bunch of different awards that come out this time of year, and Cal figures to have a good amount of players mentioned. We'll use this space to keep track of all the honors and definitely let me know if you see any that I missed.

RB Jaydn Ott | Pac-12 First Team All-Conference, Polynesian Bowl Player of the Year award (finalist), AP First Team All-Pac-12

ILB Cade Uluave | Pac-12 Defensive Freshman Player of the Year, College Football Network Freshman All-American (Flex position), The Athletic Freshman All-American (first team)

P Lachlan Wilson | Pac-12 Second Team All-Conference

OLB David Reese | Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention

DB Craig Woodson | Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention

QB Fernando Mendoza | Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year Honorable mention

TE Jack Endries | College Football Network Freshman All-American Honorable Mention, College Football News First Team Freshman All-American, The Athletic Freshman All-American (second team)

DL Brett Johnson | Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year (semifinalist)

OL Matthew Cindric | Pop Warner College Football Award (finalist)

Nobody here finds any reason to post about this, even though it's arguably the most important issue y'all could possibly be discussing if you care about Cal sports? This is even more important than conference alignment, and nobody cares?

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Jadyn Robinson (formerly at Long Beach Poly, now at San Juan Hills in Orange County) trimmed his list to eight schools today and Cal is part of the list. I spoke with him about the options remaining in the picture and you can read the full update at the link above. The Bears have certainly grabbed his attention so far and he has some connections to DeSean Jackson that have put Cal in a good spot. A commitment to one of the schools could end up happening in short order. I'd say Utah and Texas are out front at the moment but there's time for others to make a move. Burl Toler III has done some good work in this one for the Bears.

"They show me tons and tons and tons and tons of love. It's California, so I know I wouldn't be going too far, but they show me a lot of love. Love the receiver coach (Burl Toler III), love the staff. Love everybody. Love the head coach. Great coaching staff, great things going on over there."

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Looks like there's a need for another CB.

After a standout season for several Cal players, a handful of them were rewarded by conference coaches Tuesday when the Pac-12 postseason awards were announced.

Cal’s starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza was the other Cal player to earn freshman honors, being recognized as an honorable mention for the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman Player of the Year award. The Bears also earned recognition at the first team All-Pac-12 level, with star running back Jaydn Ott being selected alongside Oregon State’s Damien Martinez on offense, while punter Lachlan Wilson earned second-team honors.

Outside of first and second team All-Pac-12 selections, two Cal players earned honorable all-conference recognition: outside linebacker David Reese and defensive back Craig Woodson.

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The New York Jets QB was on the Pat McAfee show this week and made sure to shout out his alma mater for its win over UCLA.

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Cal receiver Brian Hightower is opting out of playing in the bowl game to prepare for a run at the NFL.

We'll continue to track any other players who opt out of the bowl game as they become known and finalized.

Cal Independence Bowl opt-out list

- WR Brian Hightower

The latest:

His relationship with Peter Sirmon could play a huge role here:

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Cal with some good news today for its game against Santa Clara. Keonte Kennedy is set to make his Bears debut after dealing with a hand injury. A big boost for Mark Madsen’s team.

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Linebacker Cade Uluave has been named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year leading a group of six players from Cal to earn postseason honors. Running back Jaydn Ott (1st team) and punter Lachlan Wilson (2nd team) are the two Bears to be represented on the all-conference teams. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza earned an honorable mention nod for Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, which went to Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita.

Cal outside linebacker David Reese and defensive back Craig Woodson earned all-conference honorable mention selections rounding out the group.

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Archbishop Riordan senior linebacker/safety/quarterback Tobey Weydemuller picked up a preferred walk-on offer from the Bears two days ago and he wasted no time making a decision. He committed to Cal this morning.

Weydemuller has battled injury in high school but remained productive. He’s expected to play linebacker in college giving Cal another depth piece at the position.

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The latest:

Like many programs throughout the country, Cal will be hosting a group of official visitors this weekend in hopes of adding to the 2024 recruiting class prior to the early signing period in a few weeks. The trend for many programs has been to push key official visits until after the regular season (or in June) to give the staff a better opportunity to focus on those recruits without worrying about getting ready for a game. As such, Cal will be hosting some key remaining targets in the class and here is the list (some of which you have already known earlier in the week).

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Cal found out its bowl game destination and opponent Sunday, and is now preparing to head to Shreveport, Louisiana to face Texas Tech in the Independence Bowl Dec. 16. Cal’s head coach Justin Wilcox, as well as Fernando Mendoza and Bryan Roppolo, the Independence Bowl Foundation Chairman, addressed some key questions ahead of the bowl game.

With lots of speculation given the opening of the transfer portal window and coaching staff movement, here are the key takeaways from Sunday’s media availability following the announcement.