BERKELEY - Today’s media session with Cal head coach Justin Wilcox was significantly more content-packed than the typical media scrum after practice, with Wilcox verifying the news that true frosh QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele had indeed been named the starter heading into Cal’s 8/30 season opener in Corvalis vs Oregon State.
"Practice, walk-throughs, reps, production, all the above," Wilcox noted as reasons for the frosh QB winning out over Ohio State junior transfer Devin Brown. "We felt like he earned it. We also feel like Devin is a really good football player. We think Devin has ability to be a winning starter at this level but Jared earned it.
“His accuracy down the field, keeps his eyes down the field really well, those two things showed up. He's very, very coachable. He learns quickly.
"He's a young guy. He's a freshman, got to college in January, so he had spring ball first time, doing a lot of things, spring workouts, spring practice, calling a play in a huddle, cadence, all those things. I think his knowledge of offense and he picks things up very well. He learns, and like I mentioned, he's very, very coachable guy. And then you have the accuracy and the ability to make the throws down the field, which we felt like he did a nice job of. He feels the pocket really well.
Wilcox was asked what stood out about Sagapolute’s mental impact to make the big leap to starting his true freshman season.
"Just his demeanor," Wilcox noted. "I mean, he comes out here every day the same guy. He's very, very competitive. He's quick to smile, but he's a very competitive guy and that shows up on the practice field, meeting room. He's still learning. This is all a lot of these are firsts for him. He has the ability to learn. And I think where you get concerned is when a guy gets here and you have the same coaching points over and over and over again and it's not resonating, but he's a guy that has shown he can learn and digest it out on the field, he's got the right demeanor.
“He's very comfortable in his own skin. He's a confident guy. He's very easy for people to get along with and talk to. But we're not asking Jaron to shoulder every load out there. We need everybody on the team to help him, and you know, the offensive line and the tight ends, I go back through this again. So from a leadership standpoint, he has leadership abilities.He can continue to grow in terms of his leadership and also the physical part of the game and the coaching. He's just got a lot on his plate right now, but I'm more than confident that he can handle all of it.”
The last Cal QB to start as a freshman was Cal great Jared Goff in 2013 for the Bears. Wilcox was asked if he sees any similarities between the two players at the same points in their young careers.
"I remember Jared when he was in high school," Wilcox said. "I remember watching him play, and then obviously, when he was here, I wasn't here, but competing against him, and then just watching him on tape a lot. He was always such a cool customer. You know, he didn't seem to get real up and down. He's very steady. And a lot of great quarterbacks have that character trait with their ability to stay in the moment, not get too high or too low. I see some of those same character traits with Jaron. You know, I don't like comparing people, everybody's unique, but yeah, he has some of that, just a pretty even keel guy, and so we don't get the sense like it's going to be too big for him. I just think he's got that demeanor that's very calm and collected and competitive."
Saturday’s second scrimmage startted to bring potential starters and rotational players better into focus, starting with the offense.
"The scrimmage, we had a live portion, and I think we got about 35 plays in there," Wilcox noted. "The defense tackled much better than they did the first scrimmage the week prior, which was good to see. The offense, especially the backs, had some really nice runs. We did a lot of situational football into half, into game which I thought the offense managed. We had some really good learning in there and did a nice job getting some scoring drives in those into half, into game situations. When it comes to the positions, there are some positions that are starting to take shape.
“Certainly, O-Line, I think we're getting closer and closer, but at this point, there's five guys taking the field with the ones. We're probably playing more than five guys. Would we love to see five maybe take another step forward and create some distance between themselves and the twos? Yeah, that'd be great. But right now, as long as they're all getting better, we can work with that. So I think the O-Line group, the ones and some of the twos are being more and more solidified at this point. Now, can that change in the next two weeks? Absolutely.
“Tight end position, same thing. There's really kind of three guys getting a lion's share in there.
“The running back position, to be honest, right now it's kind of 1A, B and C. All three of those guys have shown to be productive in different ways. We got some really good physical runs this past Saturday, which was great to see.
“The receiver group - Jacob de Jesus continues to flash each and every day. We've seen what Trond (Grizzell) can do. And then that three through seven or eight in the receiver room, it's again, who can take a step forward and create some separation for themselves and we're going to play multiple guys at those positions.
"Defense, Cade is going to start and play as long as Cade can play. Aidan Keanaaina, the same with Ryan McCulloch. TJ Bush has done a really nice job at the other edge. There's going to be multiple edges at play.
“The young D-Linemen have flashed. They need to be more consistent, but those guys continue to flash.
“The secondary, Zeke (Masses) and Paco (Brent Austin), who start at corner, they're the clear starting corners. And at safety, Isaiah Crosby, Aidan Manutai, Dru Polidore and then Jordan (Sanford) and Tristan (Dunn) have both done some good things.
“And then inside linebacker position opposite Cade, the guy who's made a really big jump this camp is Luke Ferrelli. He's done an excellent job. He had a little bit of an injury that slowed him down at the end of last week, but he's good to go. He's had a really good camp. And then Harrison Taggart and Buom Jock have also made some really good plays. Aaron Hampton has showed up. But you know that spot opposite Cade, Luke's taking a big step, and those other guys are still pushing.
“So we're going to play. Two kickers. Here's one for you: We'll have two kickers - not at the same time. Abram (Murray) hit the kickoffs deep into the end zone on Saturday, which was great to see. Really nice seeing that. We put some pressure on the kickoff team to launch those deep into the end zone and he did that so that's that's good. And then Chase (Meyer) has done a nice job with the PAT/ field goal game."
Stay tuned for more on the Bears as they prep for their season opener in 12 days.
Hate to be a NegaNancy, but can we make predictions here?
He'll get his ass whipped every game because of poor line protection and crappy play call, yet still have a decent year, but then get lured away at the end of season with a bunch of cash.
If you want to bash the O-linemen and the offensive coordinator, then why not just say that and not use the new QB's name to suck people into reading your downer post.
I, on the other hand, hope new the kid will turn out to be the next Paul Larson, and not the second coming of Ronnie Knox. If you don't know who these people were, look them up, and become an actual Cal fan, not just in name only.
If you want to bash the O-linemen and the offensive coordinator, then why not just say that and not use the new QB's name to suck people into reading your downer post.
I, on the other hand, hope new the kid will turn out to be the next Paul Larson, and not the second coming of Ronnie Knox. If you don't know who these people were, look them up, and become an actual Cal fan, not just in name only.
I remember them very well. Paul Larson is my favorite Cal player ever! I think the O line will be o k. I see Jaron as a cross between Vince Ferragamo and Rich Campbell. Great post, as always, SFCB.
If you want to bash the O-linemen and the offensive coordinator, then why not just say that and not use the new QB's name to suck people into reading your downer post.
I, on the other hand, hope new the kid will turn out to be the next Paul Larson, and not the second coming of Ronnie Knox. If you don't know who these people were, look them up, and become an actual Cal fan, not just in name only.
I don't remember these players because I'm not 130 years old.
Anyway, I wasn't knocking any player. I hope he does great. I was just knocking the tradition of Cal suffering from mediocrity year after year.
You cannot tell me this kid was more of a leader than Brown. You could attempt to tell me he's more of an athlete, and Justin referenced his ability to throw down field, but my gut is telling me they're going with the rookie because they fear they'll lose him if they don't. Like if Brown starts and performs well, then stays two years, JKS will bounce. But if JKS falters then he loses leverage, and they can then play Brown.
Maybe we're all wrong, and JKS is some dazzling frosh. But I doubt that's how it plays out.
If you want to bash the O-linemen and the offensive coordinator, then why not just say that and not use the new QB's name to suck people into reading your downer post.
I, on the other hand, hope new the kid will turn out to be the next Paul Larson, and not the second coming of Ronnie Knox. If you don't know who these people were, look them up, and become an actual Cal fan, not just in name only.
Based on dwindling stadium attendance and TV viewership, I don't think we're in a position to be raising the bar on what an "actual Cal fan" is. And I'll bet plenty of those folks who spend the big bucks for those empty chairback seats on the west side know who Paul Larson is, but they don't show up for the games. Are they actual Cal fans?
I'd say anybody who goes to the trouble of signing up for BI, aside from the obvious trolls, is an actual Cal fan. In fact, anybody who watches two Cal games, either in CMS or on TV this season is a Cal fan. When it comes to Cal football (or basketball, for that matter) we're not in a position to be picky. There aren't a lot of us, so let's all be friends.
And anybody who wants to create a "downer post", well it's their choice and I can't blame them because Cal hasn't had a winning conference record in 16 seasons, so the trend is not going up. Right now, we're all somewhere on the continuum: Wild Optimism -----------------------------Ambivalence---------------------------Suicidal
Let's see where we are halfway through the season.
You cannot tell me this kid was more of a leader than Brown. You could attempt to tell me he's more of an athlete, and Justin referenced his ability to throw down field, but my gut is telling me they're going with the rookie because they fear they'll lose him if they don't. Like if Brown starts and performs well, then stays two years, JKS will bounce. But if JKS falters then he loses leverage, and they can then play Brown.
Maybe we're all wrong, and JKS is some dazzling frosh. But I doubt that's how it plays out.
Brown is a good leader, too, but JKS outplayed him in the back half of spring and in fall camp so far. If that were not the case, I can't see them starting a true frosh and risking their necks.
You can't cost yourselves potential wins because you think a highly-recruited QB might bolt if he doesn't start.
Players can say anything and anyone can believe anything they want but see if you think JKS is the type of guy you're describing in this interview the other week talking about starting vs backing up.
Hate to be a NegaNancy, but can we make predictions here?
He'll get his ass whipped every game because of poor line protection and crappy play call, yet still have a decent year, but then get lured away at the end of season with a bunch of cash.
You read it here first.
So you believe Harsin will call "crappy" plays? Or that he doesn't know how to design an offense, or game plans, or call plays?
You cannot tell me this kid was more of a leader than Brown. You could attempt to tell me he's more of an athlete, and Justin referenced his ability to throw down field, but my gut is telling me they're going with the rookie because they fear they'll lose him if they don't. Like if Brown starts and performs well, then stays two years, JKS will bounce. But if JKS falters then he loses leverage, and they can then play Brown.
Maybe we're all wrong, and JKS is some dazzling frosh. But I doubt that's how it plays out.
In today's college football landscape we have to get used to the idea that we could always lose our players. It's unfortunate but it's the reality of things. We JUST saw that first hand. Sure if he didn't get immediate playing time JKS, or any highly recruited football player for that matter, might want to transfer to get that elsewhere. But he could also light the world on fire and have a great first season and now we have to worry about other schools coming in to poach him also.
Being a locked-in starter and doing well is no guarantee that a player will stay at a school when you weigh it against against the other factors of NIL, pro development, brand visibility, CFB playoff chances, coaching turnover, etc.
It's dumb to worry about anything other than actual on-field results and doing what's best for the team because making decisions based on risk of transferring is short-sighted. Losing teams also lose players. If we get the on-field results it's actually the best way to shore up all those other factors which collectively will end up making it easier for us to keep players.
If you were going to take any other approach to it, then it'd make more sense to suggest that Wilcox prefers a higher ceiling in spite of the lower floor a true freshman might have and is gunning for immediate and/or impactful results because he doesn't know if he'll be around in 2 years and can't count on being able to use a player in 2027. But even in that case he doesn't make this decision unless there's he's been shown that reason to believe in the high ceiling because even this short-term approach doesn't invalidate the idea that he needs to show improvement ASAP.
You cannot tell me this kid was more of a leader than Brown. You could attempt to tell me he's more of an athlete, and Justin referenced his ability to throw down field, but my gut is telling me they're going with the rookie because they fear they'll lose him if they don't. Like if Brown starts and performs well, then stays two years, JKS will bounce. But if JKS falters then he loses leverage, and they can then play Brown.
Maybe we're all wrong, and JKS is some dazzling frosh. But I doubt that's how it plays out.
Wilcox has to win THIS SEASON or he is fired. This is not a secret. There is no long game to play for here. Worrying about who the quarterback is going to be in 3 years is at the BOTTOM of his list of concerns.
If JKS won the battle it means JKS won the battle in practice. There is nothing more to look into here.
Does that mean JKS will play better on Saturdays than Brown? No. Some players practice better than they play and some players play better than they practice. I'm hopeful we will get to see both of them shine and contribute to wins this year.
Hate to be a NegaNancy, but can we make predictions here?
He'll get his ass whipped every game because of poor line protection and crappy play call, yet still have a decent year, but then get lured away at the end of season with a bunch of cash.
You read it here first.
So you believe Harsin will call "crappy" plays? Or that he doesn't know how to design an offense, or game plans, or call plays?
