Will Craig Rebuffs UCLA, Excited to Sign With Cal
Cal OL commit Will Craig has garnered attention from some of the top college football programs in the country. The most recent suitor was UCLA.
New Bruins head coach Chip Kelly made a push to flip the four-star Granite Bay (Granite Bay, CA) tackle, visiting him last week, but Craig said, 'Thanks, but no thanks.'
"I felt like since he made the trip, I owed it to him to just hear him out," Craig said. "They were trying to do a home visit, but I told him I'm going to stick with Cal."
Craig plans to sign his letter of intent next week during the early signing period.
“I'm super excited about the coaching staff," he said. "I've known (offensive line coach) Steve Greatwood for a while now and he's a great guy. Coach (Justin) Wilcox is awesome. They obviously did a great job this season. I think this program is only going to go up from last year.”
The 6-foot-5, 265 pound Craig helped orchestrate a massive turnaround at Granite Bay High School. After a disappointing 4-7 record in his junior season, Craig led the Grizzlies to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II title as a senior.
“It was really cool to go from 4-7 to section champions and shutting out our rivals (Del Oro) in the section championship," Craig said. "It doesn't get much better than that.”
Craig hopes to be part of a similar turnaround at Cal.
“I didn't really want to join an established program, like a Washington," he explained. "I wanted to kind of make my own way and build up a program, with a good recruiting class, and I think we have a great recruiting class to do that.”
Craig also cherishes the opportunity to play close to home.
“Of course everyone is already asking for tickets," he joked. “But being able to drive two hours and see my family, or see my old teammates play, that's pretty cool.”