Bear Insider Video: Curley Young Talks About Future at Cal and More
After his standout performance at Cal camp over the summer, Cal defensive coordinator and linebacker coach Tim DeRuyter made a point to spend time with Hendrickson (Pflugerville, Texas) High School linebacker Curley Young, Jr, along with his father, letting them know he loved the rising senior’s versatility and athleticism.
“None of other programs did that with us,” said Curley Young, Sr, who played collegiate basketball at Maryland and East Carolina. “He let us know he felt like Cal could use Curley in lots of different ways in their defense.
“You just look at the expertise they have at his position, with Coach (Justin) Wilcox, Coach DeRuyter and Coach (Peter) Sirmon -all having been defensive coordinators and linebacker coach, we knew Curley would get top-notch coaching at Cal.
“In high school, his team just played him where they needed him, usually at defensive end. At Cal, he’ll be able to play his more natural position at linebacker. He can play outside and pressure the edge or he can play inside and get after it sideline to sideline.”
Even playing out of position, a quick look at Young’s senior film shows a relentless player with high pursuit skills, long arms and big-hitting style of play. Already boasting 23 reps of 225 on the bench and an estimated 35 inch vertical and hand-timed 4.5 forty, some time in Cal’s strength and conditioning program should only increase Young’s size and strength. And with his father checking in with 6’4 height, some more growth might be in the cards for Young, Jr, as well, who also played basketball and ran track earlier in high school.
“I’m looking forward to that,” said Young of Cal’s S&C program. “I want to see how they’ll help me build up my body and see how big I can get while maintaining my speed. I’m going to start my workouts early. I have them on my phone.
As for his decision to sign with Cal, Young felt a high comfort level in his first trip to Berkeley and the feelings only grew over time.
“When I went down there on my official and unofficial visits, it went great. It felt like home,” said Young. “The coaches are great. They really tell you how they want to develop you.”
The strength of a Cal degree was also high on Young and his family’s list of priorities and helped seal the deal with the talented linebacker, who was a member of the National Honor Society.
“The education there is like the best in the country, so it was a no-brainer to go there,” said Young, would like to study engineering or business, if possible. “They’re the number one public school in the country, so it doesn’t get any better than that. That’s what my mom stressed to me the most. She wants me to get the best education I can so that was a no-brainer for us.”
“That was the leading aspect of my decision,” said Young’s mother, Toni, in supporting her son’s decision to commit to Cal. “They’re the number one public university in the country, with 450,000 alumni across the world. The Cal-Berkeley degree is highly-recognized. I was a bit skeptical, even though they’re the number one public university in the country, but let me tell you, that was a huge piece of my decision. Huge.”
Another element that makes the cross-country move easier for Young and his family was the preponderance of Texas preps in Young’s 2019 recruiting class, where he’ll join Houston offensive lineman McKade Mettauer and Dallas-area commits Miles Williams, Myles Jernigan and Craig Woodson at Cal this summer.
“There’s something about that Southern hospitality and Southern feel he’s going to be able to connect with,” said Young’s mother, Toni. “Austin and Dallas are only two-and-a-half to three hours away. We go there all the time. Same with Houston. We go there all the time, too. So Houston, Dallas, Austin, yeah absolutely.”
Cal’s work ethic and culture was another selling point with the Young family, as well.
“As far as the players and the coaches, I thought it fits well with the kid we raised,” said Toni Young. “We raised him to be an extremely hard worker and when we went to practices, we saw kids that worked really hard. The coaches, they’re very smart and intellectual, even the kids, as well. We raised him to be very studious on the classroom, as well as on the football field, and I feel that the Cal culture brings that element to the table. We feel like that’s something our son needs and want, 100%.”
To hear more from Young on how he got his start in football, the bonds already forming with the 2019 class, thoughts from his mom and more, use the embedded viewer below: