Cal Football

With Fall Football Back, Bynum Announces Return

By Jim McGill

October 5, 2020

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The Bears received a big boost with the announcement from fifth year senior cornerback Camryn Bynum that he’ll be returning for his senior season in 2020. Bynum had previously announced that he’d be foregoing his final season of eligibility when it seemed unlikely that the Pac-12 would play this fall, leaving him too little time to prepare for the NFL combine and draft were he to play in the spring.

In a Zoom call with the local media Bynum said he made the decision to return over the past weekend.

‘Now that season pushed up to November, December I had no reason not to play,” Bynum said. “Since I would still have time to train for the Senior Bowl and the combine on the back end, I think the best thing for my development right now, especially since I can get the reps and actually play football.”

Bynum has been a mainstay in the Bears’ defensive backfield since his arrival from Corona Centennial High School in 2016, starting 37 games after redshirting his freshman season. Bynum has compiled career totals of 169 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, a 1/2 sacks, five interceptions, 27 pass breakups and 32 passes defended, with his 27 career pass breakups ranking fifth in school history

He earned 2^nd team All-Pac-12 honors as a 2019 junior when he was one of seven Cal players including five on the defensive side of the ball to start all 13 games and was third on the team with a career-high 63 tackles, while also picking up a career-high 3 tackles for loss, one interception, and team highs of nine pass breakups and 10 passes defended last season.

Bynum will anchor a veteran defensive backfield featuring three seniors, including presumed new corner starter Josh Drayden with a move from nickel back and three-year starter Elijah Hicks moving over to safety.

“I am super-excited to be with them again,” Bynum said. He is back on campus but must remain in quarantine through next Monday, which means he will not be able to participate in the early part of fall camp, which is scheduled to start Friday.

The Bears will kick off their abbreviated seven-game season at home vs. Washington on Nov. 7 at Memorial Stadium. Bynum is nothing if not optimistic.

“My expectation for the season is I don’t think we should lose a game,” Bynum said. “We’ve got way too much experience coming in. We’ve prepared and we know we have what it takes to win every single game.”