Brian Driscoll: Why I Chose Cal

My name is Brian Driscoll. I go to Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, California. I played a little bit of baseball in high school, freshman year, but I pretty much just played football during high school..

My recruiting process started fairly late compared to others. I got my first offer from USD in February of my junior year and Coach Greatwood would offer me about a week later. I was recruited by Pac-12, Mountain West, and Ivy League programs.

After my junior year of football, I didn’t think I was going to be recruited by anyone. I thought maybe I would get a preferred walk-on offer from somewhere or get some D3 or D2 interest. Never did I imagine getting a scholarship offer from a D1 school, so I didn’t really prepare myself for the process.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the recruiting process, I’m a relatively reserved person and I don’t seek or like attention, so when I ended up in the recruiting process where it felt like I was getting bombarded with dozens of different texts and calls and dm’s, it was really overwhelming. Luckily I had my head coach, Ron Gladnick, who guided me through the process and helped me realize how incredibly lucky I was to get these opportunities and be in the recruiting process.

Looking back on it, I’m so happy I went through it all and ended up at Cal. From the first moment I talked with Coach Greatwood, I wanted to be coached by him. I had never heard of him or of his incredible pedigree across the NFL and college football before but just from talking with him on the phone, I could tell he was an honest and good man that was going to push me to be the best player I can be.

Coach Greatwood and Cal took a big risk when they offered me. No power five schools had offered me and I hadn’t been to any camps. All they had was my junior year and sophomore year film and they decided to take a chance on me and I will forever be thankful for that.

I’ve taken three visits to Cal; two unofficial and one official, and all three were amazing. I had never been to the Bay Area before and I was blown away by Berkeley. California Memorial Stadium to me is one of the most beautiful stadiums in America, with an incredible view of all of the bay area on one side and just immense nature and Strawberry Canyon on the other side. There is no other place like it.

I already know Louie Bickett, but I got to meet a lot of the other guys on my official visit. I met a lot of the offensive lineman, and they are a great group of guys and they were all extremely welcoming to me. I also was lucky enough to visit during the Big Game, and even though we didn’t get the outcome we wanted, the stadium was electric and the atmosphere was just incredible.

The coaching staff is awesome. They are a great group of coaches with an incredible amount of experience. I’ve talked mostly with Coach Greatwood. He recruited me and talked with me the most. I have also talked a lot with Coach Wilcox and Coach Tuioti. This coaching staff is one of the best around and I’m excited to play for them.

Cal is one of the best universities in the world. A degree from Cal is like no other, and the alumni base is just incredible. Not many universities have Nobel Prize alumni and Cal has dozens. With a Cal degree I will always be able to succeed in life and I cannot describe how lucky I am to be able to attend a university that is setting me up for life.

I’ll definitely miss my friends, especially my football teammates. I’ve been playing football and baseball and basketball with all of them since we were five years old. Luckily, San Diego is only about an hour and a half flight away and with the internet and today’s technology, I’ll always be able to keep in touch with all of them.

There are a lot of things I’m looking forward to once I get to Cal, but by far I’m most excited for just playing football. I love football and and I love to win football games. I’m ready to get out there and contribute in any way possible, whether it’s in practice or in games, to help this team win games.

I think from the moment that Coach Greatwood offered me, a part of me knew I was going to Cal.

Four months later on my birthday, I was on the phone with a coach from Stanford. They had just begun to look at me around that time and I was excited. I’ll be honest, Stanford was originally my dream school, despite the fact that I had never been there or knew anyone that went there or without truly considering if a tree is a dumb mascot (it is). I had this notion that Stanford is where I wanted to go. So there I was talking with a coach from Stanford on the phone. It was the first time we had talked and he asked me if I was interested in Stanford and I paused for a second and then responded, “Yes of course.” When I said those words, I had cringed. In my gut I knew I was lying. For me at least, I spent the rest of the phone call desperately waiting for it to end. After the phone call I went to my room, closed the door and just sat at my desk and process what had happened.

In the back of my mind during that whole conversation was how different all my conversations were with Coach Greatwood. The idea of going to Cal made me excited and happy. The idea of going to Stanford or any other school just didn’t feel the same. At that moment, I knew I was gonna be a Cal Bear and I made the best decision of my life. I was destined to be a Cal Bear and for the rest of my life I will thank Stanford for helping me make the greatest decision of my life and realizing that I am and always will be a Cal Bear.

Go Bears!