Goff, late commits give Cal plenty of recruiting momentum
7:58 PM PT
From success in the NFL draft, to adding impact players to the 2016 class, to a near-perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) score, Cal is moving in a positive direction and putting itself in position to climb up the Pac-12 recruiting rankings.
“I think we’ve had a good couple of months and created some momentum,” Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said. “We are staying in the conversation with recruits and being able to close some kids who were important to us.”
Jared Goff was tabbed as the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL draft. Dykes saw that as a sizable chip to play on the recruiting trail.
“It gives us credibility as a program and shows that we can develop players, because Jared was certainly a good player coming out of high school, but I don’t know that anybody took a look at him and said, ‘This guy’s going to be the first pick in the NFL draft in three years,’” Dykes said. “When you look at the entire program, it’s a credit to everyone involved.”
Prospects pay close attention to the draft. ESPN 300 quarterback Chase Garbers picked up an offer from Cal this spring, and the nation’s No. 8 pocket passer said Goff going No. 1 caught his eye.
“It definitely gets my attention, especially with a quarterback,” Garbers said. “It shows me they really know what they’re doing and they can develop and produce quarterbacks.”
Cal signed two graduate transfers -- former Texas A&M offensive linemanJeremiah Stuckey and former Texas Tech quarterback Davis Webb -- and landed Demetris Robertson, the nation’s No. 62 overall prospect and No. 6 wide receiver, who waited until well after signing day to select Cal over Georgia, Notre Dame and dozens of other offers.
Cal flew below the radar when it came to Robertson’s recruitment, but going into Georgia and grabbing a top-10 player from that state made a statement.
“Anytime you can go into Georgia and recruit somebody like Demetris Robertson is a big deal,” Dykes said. “It shows you, No. 1, the power of the university. It shows what having a great academic reputation does. If you’re an academically inclined student-athlete, why would you not consider the No. 1 public university in the world?”
Bringing Webb into the fold should give Cal another talented quarterback and represents another recruiting win. Webb originally committed to Colorado after announcing his intentions to leave Texas Tech as a graduate transfer.
“I don’t see it being a trend for us,” Dykes said of looking for a one-year answer at quarterback via graduate transfer, something Oregon has done for two consecutive years. “But sometimes things that fit, fit, and the best thing you can do is be open to things that make sense.”
Dykes said his program no longer needs to take bodies simply in order to build depth or in the hopes that something will work out down the road, as recruiting has taken an upturn after signing his fourth class in Berkeley.
“Our recruiting is much better than it was,” Dykes said. “It’s gotten better and better and better all the time. This year’s class will be better than the previous two classes, and we feel really strongly about the previous two classes, especially when we got the mid-semester players. Every one of them met or exceeded our expectations.”
Dykes said the Golden Bears are getting “our kind of guys” -- a phrase popularized by Washington coach Chris Petersen while at Boise State, but used by a number of head coaches -- in this class. Dykes said it means “getting longer, more athletic, increasing our speed and getting bigger on both offensive and defensive fronts.”
ESPN 300 wide receiver Taariq Johnson -- 6-foot-2 and 213 pounds -- is part of this 2017 class, as is 6-1 cornerback Je-Quari Godfrey-Baggett and 6-4 defensive tackle Gabriel Cherry. Given Robertson’s commitment and a continued presence in the Southeast, Cal also finds itself in the mix for prospects who likely wouldn’t have been looking at the Golden Bears in previous years. After decommitting from Alabama, No. 2 running back and No. 23 overall prospectCam Akers released a top-10 list that featured Cal along with Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Ole Miss and Tennessee.
Cal’s recruiting efforts also received a big push from the recently released APR scores. The football program scored a 997 out of a possible 1,000 -- a huge shift from the sub-930 scores Cal posted in back-to-back years before Dykes arrived. Dykes said the tangible proof that his players are succeeding academically gives weight to Cal’s most popular recruiting pitch.
“I think the biggest part of [our recruiting success] was the 997 APR,” Dykes said. “If you’re going to recruit under the premise of we’re the No. 1 public school in the world, then you better be graduating your student-athletes.”
7:58 PM PT
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Erik McKinneyESPN Staff Writer
From success in the NFL draft, to adding impact players to the 2016 class, to a near-perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) score, Cal is moving in a positive direction and putting itself in position to climb up the Pac-12 recruiting rankings.
“I think we’ve had a good couple of months and created some momentum,” Cal head coach Sonny Dykes said. “We are staying in the conversation with recruits and being able to close some kids who were important to us.”
Jared Goff was tabbed as the No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL draft. Dykes saw that as a sizable chip to play on the recruiting trail.
“It gives us credibility as a program and shows that we can develop players, because Jared was certainly a good player coming out of high school, but I don’t know that anybody took a look at him and said, ‘This guy’s going to be the first pick in the NFL draft in three years,’” Dykes said. “When you look at the entire program, it’s a credit to everyone involved.”
Prospects pay close attention to the draft. ESPN 300 quarterback Chase Garbers picked up an offer from Cal this spring, and the nation’s No. 8 pocket passer said Goff going No. 1 caught his eye.
“It definitely gets my attention, especially with a quarterback,” Garbers said. “It shows me they really know what they’re doing and they can develop and produce quarterbacks.”
Cal signed two graduate transfers -- former Texas A&M offensive linemanJeremiah Stuckey and former Texas Tech quarterback Davis Webb -- and landed Demetris Robertson, the nation’s No. 62 overall prospect and No. 6 wide receiver, who waited until well after signing day to select Cal over Georgia, Notre Dame and dozens of other offers.
Cal flew below the radar when it came to Robertson’s recruitment, but going into Georgia and grabbing a top-10 player from that state made a statement.
“Anytime you can go into Georgia and recruit somebody like Demetris Robertson is a big deal,” Dykes said. “It shows you, No. 1, the power of the university. It shows what having a great academic reputation does. If you’re an academically inclined student-athlete, why would you not consider the No. 1 public university in the world?”
Bringing Webb into the fold should give Cal another talented quarterback and represents another recruiting win. Webb originally committed to Colorado after announcing his intentions to leave Texas Tech as a graduate transfer.
“I don’t see it being a trend for us,” Dykes said of looking for a one-year answer at quarterback via graduate transfer, something Oregon has done for two consecutive years. “But sometimes things that fit, fit, and the best thing you can do is be open to things that make sense.”
Dykes said his program no longer needs to take bodies simply in order to build depth or in the hopes that something will work out down the road, as recruiting has taken an upturn after signing his fourth class in Berkeley.
“Our recruiting is much better than it was,” Dykes said. “It’s gotten better and better and better all the time. This year’s class will be better than the previous two classes, and we feel really strongly about the previous two classes, especially when we got the mid-semester players. Every one of them met or exceeded our expectations.”
Dykes said the Golden Bears are getting “our kind of guys” -- a phrase popularized by Washington coach Chris Petersen while at Boise State, but used by a number of head coaches -- in this class. Dykes said it means “getting longer, more athletic, increasing our speed and getting bigger on both offensive and defensive fronts.”
ESPN 300 wide receiver Taariq Johnson -- 6-foot-2 and 213 pounds -- is part of this 2017 class, as is 6-1 cornerback Je-Quari Godfrey-Baggett and 6-4 defensive tackle Gabriel Cherry. Given Robertson’s commitment and a continued presence in the Southeast, Cal also finds itself in the mix for prospects who likely wouldn’t have been looking at the Golden Bears in previous years. After decommitting from Alabama, No. 2 running back and No. 23 overall prospectCam Akers released a top-10 list that featured Cal along with Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Ole Miss and Tennessee.
Cal’s recruiting efforts also received a big push from the recently released APR scores. The football program scored a 997 out of a possible 1,000 -- a huge shift from the sub-930 scores Cal posted in back-to-back years before Dykes arrived. Dykes said the tangible proof that his players are succeeding academically gives weight to Cal’s most popular recruiting pitch.
“I think the biggest part of [our recruiting success] was the 997 APR,” Dykes said. “If you’re going to recruit under the premise of we’re the No. 1 public school in the world, then you better be graduating your student-athletes.”
