After the departure of a pair of tight ends not known for their blocking, the Bears have added a pair of tight ends who thrive in the trenches with Oregon State transfer TJ Byrne and today’s latest commitment, North Texas tight end Asher Alberding.
The 6-4/260 redshirt junior tight end made the visit out to Berkeley with his younger brother Colton, a 6-3/270 sophomore at Clear Lake High School in Houston, Texas.
"Gotta make him a Bear,” said Alberding of his younger brother. “It was beautiful out there. It was really awesome.
“I was there for two days, my second time ever going to California. The biggest difference is Texas is huge but it’s a little more barren and flat but everything being so condensed in California and the bay, with 7.8 million people there, having that type of experience, with everything so beautiful and the weather on point in California is great. The campus is absolutely amazing. It’s a unique experience in that respect.
“The stadium -all the history there and culture that’s behind it and seeing all the reminders of the past with things like The Play -you always hear about that as someone who’s infatuated with college football. To see all that and to be in that atmosphere was awesome. But the biggest thing that sold me on going to Cal, when you talk to the staff, it wasn’t only the offensive coaches who were involved in my recruiting. It was both sides of the ball. Coach Tre and the DB coaches and Coach Wilcox being involved in the process, it really just struck me as a winning culture of football. I don’t think people realize that Cal’s really on the brink of something huge.”
The fourth year tight end is known for liking to mix it up in the trenches -a welcome addition to an offense that lacked physicality last season.
“If anyone knows anything about me it’s that I take great pride in my run-blocking ability,” noted Alberding. “It’s just an internal thing for me. I just have the mentality that I’m really passionate about the guys that are running behind me and the guys who are to the left and right of me. I think when you have that blocking experience and you’re doing it for the guys behind you, it’s kind of a true team experience. It’s a team game, your guys against their guys. Let’s see who’s tougher. Just take the will out of people. I can’t wait to be in this new offense at Cal.”
With former North Texas OL coach Mike Bloesch on board at Cal, there’s a familiarity with how things will be run on offense and there are also similarities to the offense that new OC Jake Spavital ran at Texas State as well for Alberding.
“Everything that Coach Spav and Coach Bloesch bring to this offense is something I’m really familiar with,” said Alberding. “Obviously being at North Texas, we had a pretty successful offense. Add in the guys we have at the skill positions, it’s going to be incredible.
“He’s completely and utterly authentic and he’s a family man. He’s all about family. He’s only been here about a week and you can tell he’s already totally acclimated to the Cal family. Everybody loves everybody here. Coach Bloesch is a dude who takes care of business. I think it goes back to his personality. He coaches you hard but he loves you up hard, too. He doesn’t let you slack. He’s a truly unique coach. It’s not just a business for him. He has your back. But you can tell it’s not just a business for him. He’ll get the most out of you possible. The way he coaches the fundamentals and details is incredible.”
Alberding was also impressed with new tight ends coach Tim Plough and his extensive playcalling knowledge, including his stint last season assisting with game planning during the latter part of the season at Cal as a consultant.
“Coach Plough is another guy when you talk to him you can tell loves Cal football and the opportunity to be here and do some amazing things,” said the tight end. “When you look at this offensive staff, I just think it’s incredible that you have three offensive coordinators from some point. You hardly ever see three former or current offensive coordinators on a staff but three successful ones is even less common.
“Coach Plough’s an absolute dude who’s so passionate about the game and so passionate about Cal that he’s another guy it’s going to be really easy to play for.”
Having taken a redshirt season in 2019 and the covid-shortened 2020 season not counting against eligibility, Alberding will have two years to play two.
Alberding is one of 8 portal transfers to date for the Bears, in addition to 9 prep early signees and 1 JC transfer. All 8 portal transfers will be spring enrollees next week.
Related:
Bears Add Tennessee Portal Transfer RB Justin Williams-Thomas
Bears Pick up Another Portal Transfer Addition in OSU TE Byrne
CALiforniALUM said:
"I don't think people realize that Cal's really on the brink of something huge."
What could this guy know that we don't know? What could be so huge?
