2024 Cal Fall Camp Preview - The Special Teams

The Special Teams Group:

Special teams have not been very “special” in the Justin Wilcox era and 2023 was no exception.  Arguably, two games (Auburn and USC) were lost as a result of poor execution on Special Teams.  And outside of the perfectly blocked and sensationally explosive Kickoff return by Jaydn Ott vs UCLA there were very few highlights.

Placekicking was a disaster early in the season with Michael Luckhurst before Mateen Bhaghani took over and righted the ship.  Still, there was not a real option on field goals over 45 yards and kickoffs were a challenge with opposing teams utilizing their return game to create a distinct

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advantage (e.g, Oregon State). Suffice to say there’s a lot of opportunity for upside.  If there’s optimism for the upcoming year, it’s a result of three things:   First, the addition of the big leg of Ryan Coe‍ via the transfer portal as the placekicker, secondly the return of Punter Lachlan Wilson, who was arguably a top 20 national punter in 2023 (even with the gusting winds at the bowl game impacting his performance) and lastly the depth of athleticism on the blocking and return teams should equate to better outcomes.

Cal is still using a group of assistant coaches and support staff (Ryan Longwell) in lieu of a full times Special teams coach.

Key Departures:

Michael Luckhurst:  23 points, 3 of 9 on FGs and 11 of 14 on XPs in career

Mateen Bhaghani:  53 points, 8 of 9 on FGs (long of 43 yards) and 29 of 29 on XPs in 2023

Jeremiah Hunter:   29 punt returns, 7.9 yards average and no TDs in career

Key Additions:

Ryan Coe:  6’3, 240 RS Senior; 48 of 61 FGs and 99 of 99 on XPs with a long of 54 yards, 116 touchbacks on KOs

Bobby Engstler‍:  6’, 200 Freshman; HS All-American Punter and PK - #1 rated combo kicker by Kohls

Derek Morris:  6’2, 200 Freshman; Top 20 Prep PK in 2024 class

Mikey Matthews‍:  5’9, 180 Sophomore, led Utes in both kick returns (15-309) and punt returns (17-75) before transferring to Cal

Isaiah Crosby‍:  5’10, 180 Junior, 33 punt returns in JC with a 13.5 yards per return average and no TDs

Kadarius Calloway‍:  6’0, 220, Averaged over 25 yards per KO return in Junior College

Returners:

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Lachlan Wilson‍:  6’3, 195 Senior; 44.5 yards per punt in 2023, 2^nd team All P12

David Bird‍:  6’, 210 Sophomore; 59 for 59 on snaps in 2023

Jaydn Ott:  3 KO returns with 48 yard average and 1 TD in 2023

Nohl Williams:  1 KO return for 26 yards and 1 Punt return for 2 yards in 2023

Spencer Brien:  6’1, 185 RS Freshman

Projected Depth Chart entering Fall Camp:

FG Kicker:

Coe

Brien

Morris

Engstler

Kickoff Specialist:

Coe

Engstler

Brien

Morris

Punter:

Wilson

Engstler

Punt Return:  (Wide Open)

Matthews

Crosby

Grayes

Brady

Hearns

Gamble

KO Return:

Ott (Utilized in certain situations only)

Callaway

Williams

Brady

Anderson

Thomas

Three Things to Watch:

Who wins the starting returner roles?  

Punt return is likely goinng to be a competition until the very end of camp.  Despite Grayes getting a lot of reps back there, he’s never returned punts (HS or College) and doesn’t look super fluid tracking the ball.   Brady’s been held out from a lot of contact work thus far in camp, but if he’s healthy, he’s your odds on favorite, simply because he’s done it before and with some success.  Crosby has experience from the JC ranks and he can fly, however, teams generally prefer players who catch balls all day long vs. DBs.  Matthews led Utah in both punt and kick return yardage and has taken a lot of punt returns so far over spring ball and fall camp so far.

The KO returners is easier to project, though there are more options.  Ott, Calloway, Matthews, Brady and Williams are all going to be back there. The question is who else is in the rotation?  Anderson did it some last year, Hearns got reps in Spring and thus far in Fall Camp returning and the bulked-up Jet will get a chance as well.   All of the punt return candidates have also taken turns on KO returns including Crosby.   For the UC Davis first KO return look for Callaway, Brady or Williams back there with Ott coming in when appropriate to the risk and opportunity.  

How much of an upgrade can be expected from Ryan Coe as the plackicker?   

His resume says Cal will have more touchbacks and long FGs with minimal impact on accuracy inside in the 40.  His play this Fall would only reinforce those assumptions.  He’s a bit of a straightline kicker.  Not a lot of fades or hooks so will be interesting to see how he’s impacted by the hash marks.  The answer appears to be somewhere between clear improvement and a material upgrade.

Can Special Teams be a strength?

The pieces are there for it to be a strength.  Coaching matters and the past few years would suggest this is a work in progress area for Wilcox and his staff.  It’s not hard to project that punting and kicking will be a competitive relative strength.  Few if any college teams have a PK and P as proven as Coe and Wilson.   The return game has more interesting athletes and upside but it’s largely unproven.  Coverage teams will be more physically talented and likley will see players who are fresh and focused at being great on STs vs. starters having to play on them because of a lack of talented depth.  Conceptually that equates to an improvement but execution is something else.

Related:

Cornerbacks

Safeties

Inside Linebackers

Outside Linebackers

Defensive Line

Offensive Line

Tight Ends

Wide Receivers

Running Backs

Quarterbacks