Terrific win. Offense is a bit clunky but love how this team plays. Defense and hustle all game.

A bunch of stuff to throw at you after today's Cal Pro Day. Daniel Scott was the top prospect to participate alongside punter Jamieson Sheahan, receiver Kekoa Crawford and running back Marcel Dancy. Scott did not run the 40-yard dash, but Crawford posted an unofficial best time of 4.42, which would have tied him for ninth among all receivers at this year's draft. That could be enough to get the former Bears pass catcher an opportunity with a team.

Sheahan struggled a bit with some misplaced kicks and one ball nearly went into the stands, but he was able to have some bright moments as well. Dancy had a really great catch toward the end of his workout session.

Here's all my coverage of the day including clips of the workouts plus photos and interviews with Scott and former Bears DB Chris Conte, who is helping Scott in the process and worked with him during today's session.


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Personally love the C logo with the Bear in it. Hopefully Nike might be keeping it? Or does crying Bear come back?

Videos

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Notes and observations

Cal held its first scrimmage of the spring Saturday and the Bears went close to 90 plays over a couple hours focused on different situation at times but mostly it was live action simulating a game. There were bright moments on both sides of the ball, but the defense certainly seemed to control things for the most part. It was the best chance for us to see live game action over an extended period, and it brought some more insight into this year's team.

Here are some quick notes and observations from Scrimmage 1.

• The defense played well throughout the scrimmage and avoided the big chunk plays that it has focused on defending through the first full week of work. Limiting explosive plays has been at the forefront of the defensive approach this spring, and that group did a good job of not allowing the offense to find much room down the field.

• In particular, the linebacker unit was impressive for the Bears. Each player had his hand in stopping the offense in some way Saturday. Newcomers David Reese and Sergio Allen made an impact. Reese was disrupting plays all over the field and his play was highlighted by two batted passes at the line against Sam Jackson V. Ethan Saunders and Kaleb Elarms-Orr both had sacks in the scrimmage while Stanley McKenzie had two tackles for loss. Craig Woodson intercepted Jackson for a pick-six as the Cal quarterback looked for Mavin Anderson on a rollout to the right. Woodson jumped the route and stepped in front of Anderson to make the play.

The defense was also able to jump on two fumbles by Jackson in the scrimmage as well. One of them came on a toss from Jackson to Jaydn Ott and it was picked jumped on by Allen to give the ball back to the defense. The other mishandled ball came on a poor toss attempt from Jackson to Ott that was scooped up by Myles Jernigan and returned for a touchdown. Justin Wilcox pointed to both instances as moments that simply can't happen for the offense, and the defense took advantage of them.

• Ashton Stredick was a highlight player for the offense in the scrimmage as he put together the best day among the running back group. It was a solid week for that unit, but Ott said he hoped the running backs had performed better as a whole on Saturday. Byron Cardwell didn't make much noise, but Stredick had some highlight runs including a rush that went for 54 yards down the right sideline. Ott had a 43-yard rushing score on a nice misdirection play in which the defense (and myself) thought Jackson had the ball on a designed run only to see Ott leak out to the other side of the field for an easy score.

• Kicker Michael Luckhurst had a couple opportunities for field goals and he connected from 38 and 42 yards out on both of his attempts.

• It was the first practice with referees, and there were a number of penalties that negated big plays – mostly for the offense. A delay of game negated what would have been the biggest play of the day for the offense on a deep pass from Jackson to Monroe Young. It would have been a completion of close to 60 yards. Ott had two rushing touchdowns, Stredick had another and Fernando Mendoza also had a rushing score for the offense in the scrimmage. Mendoza was part of the best looking pass play on the day as he found Trond Grizzell on a back shoulder throw right at the pylon for a 17-yard completion. Grizzell's catch was the best one of the day for the offense and came against Isaiah Young in coverage.

The defense continues to shine during spring ball as the Bears head toward the halfway point. Friday's practice, which will be the last until April 5, will serve as the second scrimmage day for the team. Justin Wilcox has his players focused on finishing this segment of the spring strong and he reiterated that after Wednesday's work at Memorial Stadium.

Here's a rundown of some notable takeaways after watching the team get back to work Wednesday.

• The energy was a bit of an issue Monday, but that wasn't the case Wednesday. The players seemed to be back and engaged as they near the end of this portion of spring practice. There weren't many miscues throughout the day and most of the team period were played with good intensity.

• I took far fewer notes today than I have in the other days as the two sides were a bit more even than they have been in recent practices. The defense continues to remain ahead of the offense in most areas, but the offense has been pushing along and is looking a bit more refined than earlier in the spring. There were three team segments on the day and each had some highlight plays on both sides of the ball.

Junior defensive back Isaiah Young was the star of the day during the team periods. After nearly having an interception early in practice, he was able to get one in the second team period when he snagged a pass away from Fernando Mendoza on a ball pushed down the field. Mendoza was definitely frustrated by the play as it was a pass that was nowhere near the receiver and would have taken a brilliant throw to complete. It turned into an easy pick for Young. He had a second interception on a 1v1 scenario to end practice and ultimately Wilcox had him break down the team afterward.

• Wednesday was a return to early-spring form for quarterback Sam Jackson. He still has been limited on his deep throws, but his running ability came alive again today, and it led to an impressive rushing score of about 45 yards for the TCU transfer. A lot of his work in the passing game during Wednesday's practice came in the rollout game. That was sometimes by design and sometimes not as the pass rush tended to get home often throughout the day. Jackson opened up the first team period with a pass to Monroe Young for about 25 yards that really sparked a nice showing for him when there was time to throw, of course.

• Young remains one of the top performers in spring so far and he has become a favorite target for Jackson. The veteran Cal receiver looks to be taking the next step in his development and seems to be poised to be a key part of the offense in a variety of ways for the Bears as they build the new system under Jake Spavital.

• As spring continues to play out it has become increasingly clear that the strength on offense is going to be running the ball regardless of how much progress Jackson makes. He along with Jaydn Ott and Byron Cardwell has a chance to be potent against any team heading into the fall. Cardwell, the transfer from Oregon, had the other big run on the day with a 55-yard score up the middle on a play that he showed great patience with. Cardwell waited for the hole to open up before making his move up the field and eventually broke away for the run.

• Defensively, the focus on making an impact at the line of scrimmage continues to shine. Everyone from the defensive line to the secondary has been making plays in the run game while also making life difficult on the quarterbacks in the passing game. Today was probably the most uncomfortable the quarterbacks have been in the pocket and there weren't many instances where they were able to hang in the backfield for long to make plays.

Craig Woodson and Nate Rutchena teamed up for a sack against Jackson early in the first team period while newcomer David Reese and Ieremia Ieremia were able to converge on Jackson for another sack in the second team period. Quarterbacks aren't allowed to be tackled, but both players were there and the play was called dead in both instances.

• Linebacker Blake Antzoulatos and Isaiah Young were the two defensive players that managed to bat down passes on the day while Mayze Bryant had a pass breakup on a play against Jaiven Plummer in the red zone. Another big play on defense came from defensive back Raymond Woodie III as he forced a fumble against Ott early in the second team period.

• Offensively, Mendoza had the big passing connection of the day as he hit Plummer down the field for close to a 50-yard play with Bryant in coverage during the second team period. Michael Luckhurst was used more than in any other practice, and he had a strong performance with a 44-yard field goal capping an solid day for the Cal kicker.

Media is not allowed to record any of the team periods, but you can see some of the one-on-one battles from today's practice in the clips below.

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POST-PRACTICE INTERVIEWS

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Looks like he used to be an assistant at Oregon?

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b.../mike-anderson-file-lawsuit-vs-st-john-firing

I like that universities are going this path. Probably won't win, but make it difficult for these clown coaches to collect millions of dollars after they've done a crap job. The idea that glorified PE coaches are getting generational wealth contracts has in some ways started the downfall of college sports. Says the old guy saying get off my lawn.

The Bears were back on the field Monday for the sixth day of practice at Memorial Stadium. It was the first day of work since Saturday's scrimmage, and the Bears went without full pads to begin the week.

VIDEOS

• Practice clips

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• Post-practice interviews

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NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

- Better intensity was the gist of the post-practice message from Justin Wilcox today. I was wondering while watching practice if there would be some type of comment about it because it did feel like the most low-energy practice so far this spring. Andrew Browning was really on the defensive line about not being fully awake today. Nate Burrell even acknowledged it himself and started to get on the rest of the defensive line about having more energy.

- One sign of progress coming out of Saturday's scrimmage was that there were far fewer visible mistakes during practice on both sides of the ball. The team periods were a lot more clean than some of the action Saturday, and that was something the staff had mentioned needed to improve. The was one bad snap from Dylan Jemtegaard that ended up slipping by Fernando Mendoza for a big loss. Outside of that there was a lot of clean play all the way around.

- The Bears have stuck with the same first offensive line unit for the last few practices and it continues to be T.J. Session at right tackle next to Sioape Vatikani with Brian Driscoll at center, Ender Aguilar at left guard next to Brayden Rohme. It felt like one of the better days for that unit overall outside of a miscue by Aguilar with a false start early in the first team period. The strength continues to be in the running game for that group, and that continued Monday. You can see some of the head-to-head work between the offensive and defensive lines in the practice clips above.

- It was a light day for Jaydn Ott at running back as Oregon transfer Byron Cardwell took most of the first-team reps during the team periods today. Ashton Stredick again was able to make some breakaway plays including an 18-yard run up the middle late in practice. Beaux Tagaloa was the real star of the running back group in Monday's practice as the Cal fullback had ample opportunities to carry the ball with the second group. Spavital called three straight running plays for Tagaloa and he picked up about 20 yards in those opportunities and all of them came with some kind of contact against a linebacker or DB.

- The best offensive play of the day went to Sam Jackson V who had was was ultimately called a 40-yard rush but could have gone for more had the play been allowed to finish. It was called dead when he broke through the last defender but it was a nice play design that featured a fantastic block from a pulling Vatikani that opened up the hole Jackson used to break the run.

- Defensively, the pass rush continues to be the very effective and there were a ton of big tackles made across the board. Myles Jernigan had another sack working against Aguilar late in the first team period. Transfers Sergio Allen and David Reese combined for a sack of Jackson plus Reese followed that up with another sack shortly after that. Most of the sacks could be credited to the coverage down field as Jackson didn't have many places to go with the ball in those instances.

- Kaleb Elarms-Orr had a tackle for loss and a big stop against Cardwell holding him to 1-yard shortly after the TFL. Myles Williams also had a tackle for loss in that team segment taking down Cardwell. He followed that up with a nice stop for no gain. Williams was among the most active and impactful players during all the team periods today.

- Illinois transfer receiver Brian Hightower is doing more and more each day over the last couple practices. He's been working with the receivers early in practice allowing him to catch passes with the quarterback group. There is some definite rust there, but he has some promise for sure. Once the team breaks out into individual and team periods he ends up leaving to go work on his own as he works his way back.

Didn’t see this posted but congrats to Alex Pribble!

What ever happened to him.He was a really top player before car wreck

Andre Kelly, leading UCSB to a tourney birth and Matt Bradley leading SDSU to the sweet sixteen...can't make this stuff up

Didn't realize he'd transferred from Arkansas to Oral Roberts for this season. The team went 30-5 and lost in the first round of the Tournament to Duke. He played about 25 minutes/game and had considerably better numbers than at Cal or Arkansas.

Ok guys, I have dug up some more information about the Cuonzo Martin coaching job rumors. At the moment, Missouri and Illinois appear to be the two schools most at play. Below is information about both programs, who they're prioritizing, the skinny on Cuonzo's contract buyout, etc.

Missouri: People close to the AD at Missouri have recommended Cuonzo Martin for the job. I know who the people are, but I will shield their identity. I'll just say this, they are high ranking people in the basketball industry. Another person close to the situation says that the AD at Missouri really likes Cuonzo as well. So, it sounds like Missouri really does see Cuonzo Martin as a viable candidate.

As far as how much Missouri is willing to pay, I've heard something in the range 7 years, $3M per, though it depends on who they hire.

With that being said, everything I'm hearing seems to point to Tom Crean being the top choice for Missouri at this time. A person close to the situation tells me that IF Crean to Missouri happens, he expects it to happen by the middle of next week. If it's a week out (next weekend) and Crean hasn't been hired by Missouri, then things could get interesting. It sounds like if Crean doesn't go to Missouri, Cuonzo Martin suddenly becomes a top candidate.

Illinois: I have now heard from multiple sources now that if offered the job, Cuonzo Martin would likely take it. That part seems to be well established. However, Martin is not the top choice for the Illinois job at this time. Gregg Marshall at Wichita State is the top choice for Illinois, but I'm hearing if Missouri hires Crean, Marshall would likely aim for Indiana.

The bottom line with Illinois is that IF Illinois offers Cuonzo Martin the job, oddsmakers say he takes it. But, the big question with Illinois is will they offer him the job or not. It sounds like Marshall is their top choice and that they have a few others they would consider as well.


Indiana: Indiana opens up if Tom Crean gets canned, obviously. I've heard nothing about Cuonzo Martin being linked to the Indiana job, but where Indiana comes into play is that could affect the coaching pools that Illinois and Missouri could draw from. Doesn't seem to really affect Missouri since they want Tom Crean.

However, it could affect things with Illinois since Gregg Marshall is the guy they want. If Gregg Marshall chooses to leave Wichita State for Indiana, that bumps Cuonzo Martin up the list for the Illinois job, but it doesn't necessarily sound like Cuonzo Martin is the #2 choice for Illinois if they can't get Marshall. He just becomes another possible candidate for them to choose from.

My take:

I want to make it clear that at this time, I do not see Cuonzo Martin leaving Cal. I have a hard to time seeing him leave when he's finally getting the recruits he wants and is finally going to have a team of all his recruits (Rooks coming back next year).

But, what is interesting is this general consensus that he would take the Illinois job. It sounds like Illinois is the job he'd really go after and take if offered. Missouri on the other hand, it sounds like they'd have to wine him and dine him a little bit more and sell it to him, but if they are willing to really show him the money, he might leave. He has roots in St. Louis and recruits heavily out of that area, so he would definitely entertain the idea it sounds like.

It's also important to remember that last year, he was linked to the Georgia Tech job. Connor Letourneau was very adamant that Cuonzo was looking at the Georgia Tech job, so it isn't like he hasn't been linked to other jobs before.

A lot of people seem to think that Cuonzo Martin is a guy who is willing to leave Cal if given the right opportunity, but it's hard to know how much of that is coming from Cuonzo himself and how much of that is just people assuming he'd want out.


What Cuonzo Martin has said:

"Same thing as last year [when these rumors came up.] I work for Cal. My job is to do my job. Anything other than that I don't consume myself with it."

Interpret that however you'd like. I personally interpret that as him saying he's happy with where he is and doesn't look to change schools. It's important to understand that this does not refute anything said above. When the general consensus from multiple people within the basketball industry is that he'd take the Illinois job, I take that very seriously. Still, it's important to note what Martin has said on record about the subject.

As sort of a bonus, reports came out last year that strongly refuted the Georgia Tech reports, likely coming from Cuonzo Martin's camp.

Cuonzo Martin's contract (buyout) with Cal:

The real important part of Cuonzo Martin's contract is his buyout, or what he'd have to pay to take another job without being fired.


The exact figures are as follows: If Martin chooses to leave Cal before April 14, 2017, he owes Cal $1.1M. That falls to $1M if he leaves between April 15, 2017 and April 14, 2018. If Martin leaves between April 15, 2018 and April 2019, he would owe Cal $750K.

From what I'm hearing, the buyout wouldn't be that big of a factor. It's actually pretty low relative to other buyouts. So, if some program really wants Cuonzo, that won't deter them from my understanding. Schools know he has that buyout, so the fact that his name is popping up indicates to me that the buyout wouldn't be that big of a factor.

The bottom line:

Cuonzo Martin isn't going anywhere right now. He's under contract for Cal and still has the postseason to look forward to whether it's the NCAA Tournament or the NIT. He's been very adamant that he's happy at Cal and wants to continue to build a program here at Cal. I think we need to respect his on the record comments and take him at his word that his focus is on Cal.

That being said, it sounds like if Illinois offers him the job, odds are very good he takes the job based on everything I've heard. Missouri, not as likely, but it does sound like if the can't get Tom Crean, they'd really go after Cuonzo Martin and make him a strong pitch. It appears as though Cuonzo Martin is higher up on the list for Missouri, but he is also a possible candidate for Illinois.

If Cuonzo Martin really believes that he has better odds at building a program at Missouri and landing the types of kids he wants, then he very well may take the Missouri job if Illinois doesn't come knocking. Do keep in mind he's had several recruits not get past admissions at Cal (Hickman, Dillard, Jolly, Cornish, etc.) That could be a motivation for him to go elsewhere.

As for the contract buyout, that doesn't appear to be that big of a deterrent. $1.1M isn't that big of a buyout and it drops to $1M later in April. It sounds like if Missouri or Illinois really want Cuonzo Martin, the buyout wouldn't deter them at all. As for Cuonzo, it sounds like he'd have no issue with the buyout either if Illinois comes knocking and it probably wouldn't be a deal breaker if he really believed Missouri was the place for him.

Lastly, I want to make it clear that I am not trying to create the vibe that Cuonzo Martin is looking to leave Cal and I'm also not trying to create the vibe that there is no chance he'd leave. Both remain possibilities and a lot of it ultimately seems to boil down to what happens with other coaching candidates and where Cuonzo ranks on the pecking order of Missouri and Illinois.

Stay tuned for more developments in the coming weeks.

I'll have a more lengthy writeup in a bit, but here are some quick-hit notes from today's practice that was drenched for about the first 30 minutes.

• Overall, I thought the defense made some strong improvement from the first day. That group honestly looked a little lax on Wednesday, and today there was a lot more fire from that group and some improved play during the team periods. There was a lot more pressure being applied to Sam Jackson V and the other quarterbacks with a few sacks coming out of that. QBs are not able to be tackled right now but those sacks were still credited.

One of the big ones came from Myles Williams as he flew in off the edge before Jackson had anywhere to go. Stanley McKenzie was also able to get some good pressure up the middle with that first group as well during the early team periods. Myles Jernigan was also credited with a sack against Jackson.

• When the pass rush is getting home, that obviously means there are some issues up front. I thought the offensive line performed much better earlier in the week than it did today. There were a few too many breakdowns in pass protection and Jackson, in particular, had some issues staying clean in the pocket. He was scrambling a lot more today than Wednesday and it led to some errant passes from time to time.

• The offense overall continues to come into focus a bit more, and today there were some new wrinkles being added with sweeps and a lot of motion. That's been a clear major element of the offense so far. There is a lot more movement than I can remember at all under Musgrave. The formations are anything too exotic but Jake Spavital is moving guys around all over the field and using them in different ways. One example of that was a 75-yard run on an end-around from Mavin Anderson that he took up the right sideline untouched for a score.

• Overall, it was a bit of an inconsistent day across the board for the quarterbacks. Sam Jackson continues to look strong with his ability to push the ball down the field. He hit Anderson on a deep ball and found Monroe Young on another one that went about 40 yards. Fernando Mendoza had some highlight plays including a nice ball thrown to tight end Elijah Mojarro on the left side. However, he was also intercepted by Nohl Williams on a throw that should have probably went another direction. Mendoza was looking for Chris Rogers on the play and Williams did a nice job of going up to make a play.

• It's hard not to like anything that Jaydn Ott does when he gets the ball, but he was really showcasing his skills in Saturday's practice. He didn't break anything away, but he put together some decent runs that picked up 10+ yards and was really effective in the red zone. The offensive line did a good job run blocking today and opening up some holes for him.

I'll have practice clips, interviews, photos and a longer writeup a little later.

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I caught up with recent Cal offensive line visitor Mark Schroller who continues to see his offer list expand heading into the spring. The Bears have yet to officially offer him, but he is a target for the staff and Cal remains one of the schools in most consistent contact with him up to this point. The recent trip to Berkeley was the first in a string of visits that will take him to Arizona, Arizona State, Tennessee, Auburn and Wisconsin in the coming weeks. He also plans to visit UCLA at some point this spring is well.

Mike Bloesch left a good impression on the Mission Viejo lineman, and he is likely going to make a return trip to Cal at some point.

"Coach Bloesch is a very knowledgeable coach who is also personable," he said. "It is not difficult to talk to him and he has a great personality. I have the impression that he is a very good offensive line coach who will develop players and build close relationships with them."

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Any smoke around who we might land at QB and OL?

Day 4 of Cal spring football practice is in the books. The energy was ramped up another level Wednesday as it was the second day for the Bears in full pads. Justin Wilcox had his group work a few different 11-on-11 team periods with mostly "play the game" situations although practice wrapped up with some red zone work.

Here's some of my quick notes from today's practice after getting another opportunity to see the Bears get back to work.

• One of the biggest takeaways from the day was just how much of a one-two punch the Bears are likely sitting on at running back. Oregon transfer Byron Cardwell had been building up to getting a chance to work with the first unit. That finally happened at length today, and he had his best performance during the team periods. Cardwell was given ample opportunities to work with the first-team offense early in practice and showed flashes of being able to be a physical runner to go alongside Jaydn Ott's speed. His best play, however, came late in the practice on a run to the left for about 17 yards that featured him breaking a tackle and bouncing the run outside for the gain. It sparked a nice cheer from the sideline as it is really the first time he's had a chance to break a run like that so far this spring.

• The running back unit overall probably had the best day of any group with Ott having a few strong runs including a 12-yard rush to the left side during the second team period that gave the offensive a first down. Late in the first team period when the second units had their chance to work against one another, the Bears leaned on Ashton Stredick a ton and he guided the drive with strong run after strong run. I had him down for 20 yards on the drive that started around midfield. His best run came on a short-yardage play right up the middle as he gained a yard to move the sticks.

• Defensively, there weren't any takeaways but there were a ton of disruptive plays both at the line of scrimmage and in the secondary. Isaiah Young, Kaleb Elarms-Orr and Raymond Woodie III all had pass breakups early in practice during a 7v7 segment. Lu-Magia Hearns III had another solid showing today in coverage and he came up with a pass breakup against Chris Rogers on an out route to knock down a throw from Fernando Mendoza.

• It was more of a quiet day through the air for quarterback Sam Jackson V, but he opened the first team period with a 20-yard completion to Mavin Anderson. Jackson again showcased his ability to escape with his feet and that meant a few strong runs including a 10-yard scamper for first down late int he first team period. Fernando Mendoza was again able to have some extended reps with the second unit, and he continues to make some strong plays so far this spring. His ability to gain yards on the ground has been a plus for the Bears through the first four days, and he again showed that he's capable of running similar plays to Jackson on the ground. The highlight was a 45-yard rushing score on a designed run to the left side. He gained 8 yards on a scramble the play before the big touchdown run. Mendoza also accounted for the biggest pass play on the day as he found Trond Grizzell on a screen pass that Grizzell then took 46 yards down the left sideline.

• There was a lot of excitement to end practice as the groups on both sides brought some different energy to the final team periods and end of practice. Beaux Tagaloa had an opportunity for some carries, and he made the most of those chances including wrecking a defender on a run up the middle that ended with a 10-yard gain. The defense really shined in the final minutes with Myles Williams, Muelu Iosefa and Myles Jernigan all getting pressure on a couple of the final plays forcing Jackson out of the pocket. On the play with Williams in his face Jackson was able to throw the ball out of bounds, but Iosefa and Jernigan were able to force him out of bounds for a loss on the next play.

• Mike Bloesch made a move to bring in Ender Aguilar with the first unit at left guard in Wednesday's practice, and he did a good job of holding down that spot that had belonged to Trent Ramsey through the first few days. Sioape Vatikani, Brian Driscoll, Brayden Rohme and Aguilar all had solid wins in one-on-ones Wednesday.

I'll dive into some other things in the practice writeup a little later as well as the post-practice videos and in-practice one-one-one sessions as well.

I'll post several messages to keep the gifs in a single post to a minimum. And now, Ladies and Gentlemen... the world premier of Mark Fox: His Cal story in Gifs

In the past, there was a dark age known as “WYKINNNGGGGGGGGGG” and the fans of Cal emerged battered, bruised and scarred


But then a ray of light emerged! Cal’s athletic leader, known as Jimbo, choose Mark Fox to lead the basketball team into the future. There was much rejoicing


The first season was better than the dark age of Wyking (8th, bitches!) and Cal fans thought that mediocrity was within their grasp


Knowing the team had to improve, Mark Fox went recruiting


He found great players and shouted “SIGNNNNN HIMMMMMMM”

Dependent on if GB and NY can work out a trade but Aaron just announced he wants to play for the Jets. Also said he was 90% retiring until recently. Sounds like he just wanted to leave GB.

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Personally wish we spent one of our full assistant coach spots on STs (maybe even ST/ILB) and kept Barton on staff, rather than having two DB coaches. Barton was the only one really focused on STs on the staff, it seems. Hopefully it’s not an area Wilcox ignores outright

Day 3 of Cal spring football is in the books, and Monday marked the start of the first full week of spring ball for the Bears. There was a little more emphasis on contact today, and a lot more to see than in the previous practices. I'll have a full practice rundown a bit later highlighted by our lengthy conversation with Jake Spavital, but here are some notes and observations to hold you over until then.

Videos

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Notes and observations

• I thought the defense built on what it showed Saturday with another all-around solid performance today. UNLV transfer defensive back Nohl Williams was one of the standouts as he came up with his second interception of the spring during the team period. This time he got Sam Jackson V by jumping a swing route on a ball intended for Mavin Anderson to the right side in the red zone. Williams returned it for a touchdown. Myles Jernigan was another defensive player I thought had an impressive day getting after the quarterback and being disruptive from his OLB position.

• The entire defensive line unit played well during the team portions of practice and was able to generate some pressure from all angles. The running lanes just weren't there as much today for the quarterbacks, and the defensive line had a lot to do with it. Nate Burrell, in particular, had an impressive tackle against Jackson who was attempting to run and would have had nothing but open grass in front of him. Kaleb Elarms-Orr had a nice stop in the red zone at the goal line on a rushing attempt as well. The defense also won the 1v1 battle at the end of practice in a drill where that matched up pass rushers and offensive linemen. The offense had to run to end practice after the loss.

• Along the offensive line, I thought Brayden Rohme had an impressive day overall. In the team period he was doing a good job of keeping Jackson and the QBs clean, but he really excelled in the 1v1 situations both early and at the end of practice. His pass protection abilities in those moments really shined and I don't believe he lost a rep during those periods.

• There were were a couple miscues on the QB-center exchange that led to balls being on the ground. Justin Wilcox mentioned it after practice and made it clear that those types of problems can't come up as the spring unfolds. Spavital expects for it to be cleaned up as the centers and QBs become more comfortable with one another.

• Receivers Mavin Anderson and Monroe Young earned special shoutouts from Spavital for what they have shown through three practices. He had high praise for each of them and Jeremiah Hunter as well as the returning group for the Bears.

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• Both top quarterbacks had some tough moments, but there has been some steady improvement over the first few days of practice. Fernando Mendoza made some impressive plays both on the ground and through the air. He was scrambling a bit more than the staff would like today, but he made some plays happen in those situations including a floated pass over about four defenders to tight end Jack Endries that went for a touchdown late in practice. Jackson had a rushing score in the team period and made a great throw on a slant to Hunter in the red zone for a touchdown to beat Lu-Magia Hearns III.

• Also, one thing that was interesting that was bout half the team stayed out and got in some extra work without coaches for about 15 minutes after practice came to an end. A lot of the usual leaders were out there on the team leading the charge, so that was interesting to see and not something that had happened yet in spring ball. A lot of young guys were getting the opportunity to get some reps that they missed out on during practice it seemed but it was a good sign for leadership in my opinion.

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Here's today's postgame press conference after the season came to an end for the Bears in Las Vegas with a first-round loss to Washington State at the Pac-12 Tournament.

Sorry, I posted this in the "start conversation" link, initially. But is it possible, Ryan, to ferret out who is being consulted on the BB HC hiring? Monty? Braun? BB alums? Is Christ involved? Major donors? It would be great to know, if you could tap into your sources.

Behind paywall.

Ranking all power 5 programs based on their current recruiting potential.

Cal at #60 out of 69. Here’s what they say:

60. Cal — The Bears have a world-class education and a world-class view to sell, and that first one should be enough to draw the interest of players who care about the degree they’ll eventually receive. (This number is larger than you might think.) But Cal’s athletic department and fan base doesn’t share the passion of much of the rest of the Pac-12 — to say nothing of the Big Ten or SEC. — AS
Highest vote: 46 Lowest vote: 66