Big C said:
6956bear said:
Shocky1 said:
Shocky1 said:
6956, 100% that the bears gotta start winning during the 2024 debut season in the acc in order to be in a solid position during the next round of college realignment...the key will be scheduling a winnable game for the 4th out of conference game to round out the roadtrip to auburn & winnable home games against san diego state & uc davis...scheduling a tuff 4th game would be a mistake of epic proportions (kinda like the bearinsider.com ignoring the damage created by knowlton to the revenue sports), the a-b-c scheduling formula is outdated as we need to mirror the sec model of a-c-c-d
there is zero chance that coach wilcox is not gonna be the bears head coach in 2024...hopefully justin will replace the underperforming so'oto with a real special teams coach & personally take over the coaching of the outside linebackers room in hopefully developing an apex predator edge defender that can pressure opposing qbs
elite 8+ winning game programs all got dynamic qb play, nando is a difference maker with 6'5" height allowing him to see the field & his quickly developing ability to ascend thru progressions is gonna result in victories, nandomania is a real thing...with all due respect to chase garbers, qb play has been mediocre at best during the 7 year wilcox era, fernando changes the upward trajectory (and the energy) of the program
but that only works with a strong offensive line & coach bloesch is unequivocally the staff's best coach...despite the brutal loss of leader matthew cindric, the night & day improvement of cal's monster offensive line has resulted in a significant reduction in the # of sacks/qb hurries & the bears are now a transformative 3rd in the pac 12 in rushing yards per game only behind oregon & ucla...yeah it's truly pound for ground at the university of calveston
with 13 high school commits & future schollys to starters jack endries & trond grizzell along with the next punter (flipping asu commit/booming trajectory & hang time kanyon floyd is marshall cherrington's best option on the table), there's not gonna be many incoming portal transfers for 2024
the following 10 bears are gonna be out of eligibility after the 2023 season:
raymond woodie iii
brian hightower
david reese
jackson sirmon
patrick mcmorris
monroe young
isaiah ifanse (luv the work he's doing mentoring the jet on & off the field)
darius long jr
barrett miller
matthew cindric (the smartest bear of them all)
beyond these 10 berkeley grads it will be very insightful to see which other bears with remaining eligibility walk with their families during senior day prior to the final home game against washington state on november 11th
transfer portal schollys are gonna be scarce due to the numbers crunch as outlined above, the staff is gonna be surgical in their extension of actionable offers with cal's monster offensive line the clearcut #1 priority along with any potential impact apex predator edge defender
https://instagr.am/p/CMu5z6ylFwY
the world according to shocky (ur invited to pet my horsey & doggys with me)#
scholly math update:
just to refresh everyone's memories, right now we got 13 2024 high school commits plus 99% probability of schollys being awarded to current starting walk ons jack endires & trond grizzell, that means the bears currently got 15 schollys committed for the 2024 inaugural season in the acc
the number of new scholly players gotta match the number of departing scholly players, got it?
the following 21 players (as of this time, more players might decide to participate in this celebration) are gonna walk as seniors this saturday with their loved ones at memorial stadium, keep in mind that that this don't mean they won't be back for 2024 as guys sometimes walk twice during their time in berkeley
blake antzoulatos: scholly player, eligibility remaining
grant daley: walk on
brian driscoll: scholly player, eligibility remaining
collin gamble: scholly player, eligibility remaining
brian hightower: scholly player, out of eligibility
jeremiah hunter: scholly player, eligibility remaining
brett johnson: scholly player, eligibility remaining
everett johnson: scholly player, eligibility remaining
thomas lee: walk on
mason mangum: scholly player, eligibility remaining
patrick mcmorris: scholly player, out of eligibility
tyson mcwilliams: scholly player, eligibility remaining
barrett miller: scholly player, out of eligibility
kenden robinson jr: walk on
brayden rohme: scholly player, eligibility remaining
tj session: scholly player, eligibility remaining
isaiah young: scholly player, eligibility remaining
matthew cindric: scholly player, out of eligibility
dejuan butler: scholly player, eligibility remaining
jaedon roberts: scholly player, eligibility remaining
craig woodson: scholly player, eligibility remaining
of the guys walking saturday it's the monster's opinion (and not necessarily of the staff) that it's critical the following scholly players return in 2024: jeremiah hunter, brian driscoll, tj sessions & craig woodson
so let's do the math: there are 10 scholly players in the post above that are out of eligibility & there are 8 scholly players with eligibility remaining who are walking who may not return in 2024 (blake, collin, everett, mason, tyson, isaiah, dejuan & jaedon)...so that's 18 potential non returning schollys plus medical retirement(s), football retirement(s) & portal transfer(s)
so right at this moment, the staff's roster management math:
18 potential scholly departures minus 15 probable new scholly additions=3 transfer portal schollys available december 4th when the portal reopens for 30 days
scholly math is FUN#
There will be some portal entries from players not listed.
Yes and they will fall into two categories: 1) players who the staff really wishes were staying and... 2) players who came in on scholly, but haven't been too productive, nor shown great potential
A key to our future will be to have a lot more Cat 2 than Cat1
Yes. I agree 100% that there needs to be few if any from Category 1. The bigger point is regarding scholly math. Cal has taken 13 commits from HS players. adding the 2 walkons to scholies gets them to 15. There is no way cal takes 13 HS commits and leaves just 3 for transfers. And Cal is still hoping for a couple more HS commits. So I do think there will likely be a few players the program loses that they were hoping to keep.
Hunter IMO is likely to test the NFL draft. He needs to close this season out strong. These next 2 games should be good opportunities for him to post some good stats. I agree with Shocky that walking does not mean not returning. Guys like to walk with their class. So some likely will return. Which ones as you point out will make a big difference.
A good finish to the season is crucial. Winning 3 and making a bowl will be tough but finish as well as possible.
My guess with zero inside info is that Cal will be looking for 10+ transfers to add.