The Bears picked up former Miami and University of Washington DE/OLB Jayden Wayne this week after his official visit to Berkeley. The former 4 star prep was offered by Cal along with a long list of blueblood suitors before committing to Miami in 2023 out of football powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Besides Miami and Cal, the future Bear also had offers from Alabama, Georgia, LSU, MIchigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, USC and more before he committed to the Hurricanes.
As a frosh at Miami, Wayne compiled 13 tackles in reserve duty before transferring to Washington, where he had six tackles as a soph before going into the portal.
While Wayne’s relationship with the Cal staff has been strong since they offered originally in 2022, Cal’s academics stood out for him on his visit, too, with the new 6-5/265 commit mentioning his fascination with the T-Rex exhibit in the Life Sciences Building being a standout part of his visit.
He also spoke of what he likes about the Cal staff and how he could become a standout performer on the Bears’ defense next season.
“Cal has great coaches,” Wayne said. “They are big on developing players.
“The visit to Cal was good. Everyone made me feel like family. I really enjoyed watching film with Coach Vic (So’oto).
”Some things are similar to Miami and UW but It feels like they're more into helping me develop and giving me an opportunity. They really believe in me and my future development and reaching my full potential.
“I can’t wait to meet my teammates at Cal.”
Wayne was one of four portal commits on Monday and the 13th overall 2025 portal commit for the Bears.
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