This is the first in a series of articles that will cover every aspect of the program including the coaching staff. A review of 2024, the roster comings and goings and the projection of the unit going into the Spring.
Starting in the trenches on the Offensive side of the ball with the big uglies up front. Many football experts believe the Offensive line is the single most important unit on the field. It’s the key that unlocks skill talent on offense, that controls the clock to rest the defense and serves as a foundational fulcrum for which the rest of the team can be leveraged.
2024 Recap:
There’s no area of the team that was as disapointing and surprising in its performance as the Offensive line was this past season. There was plenty of reason for optimism 7 months ago. In 2023, Mike Bloesch took over as the OL coach and run game coordinator and dramatically improved this units performance. He took a dead last in the Pac 12 rushing offense and made them 4th in the conference. They reduced the sacks allowed from 6.7% of pass attempts to 5.3%. The group returned three upperclassmen starters and added three graduate transfer starters. In total, the unit had 112 career starts (28th nationally) with seven players having started a game. They were in the 2nd year in the system with Bloesch’s return further burnishing the notion that at worst they would be as good as 2023 and more likely would see incremental improvement.
Instead, they were to put it bluntly, a wholesale disaster. Dead last in the country in sacks allowed. Dead last. The running backs gained 800 fewer yards in 2024 than they had in 2023 and averaged almost a full yard less per attempt. Beyond the sacks and rushing yards, they were heavily penalized with a host of false starts, illegal procedures and holding calls, helping Cal as a team to be the 100th most penalized squad in the nation.
What happened? It started with the transfer portal where the Bears were unable to land their top targets and instead added players who had solid resumes from lower levels but who had maxed out their talent potential and therefore struggled competing in the P4. Reimer turned out to be a decent depth piece, McDonald among the Bears best starters despite diminutive size and strength while Stoffel was unable to contribute. Injuries were a second piece. Vatikani played in only 5 games and was hugely limited in two of those. Injuries impacted every other player, forcing the Bears to play with 11 unique starting lineups in 13 games. Thirdly, players took a big step back. Matthew Wykoff went from a starting center/guard to perhaps the 8th man off the bench. Even when Vatikani was healthy, he was inconsistent. Tj Session started the year as the stalwart pass protector of the unit only to lose his confidence completely. Youth was another factor as promising RS Freshman LT Nick Morrow was inconsistent, particularly in the run game. MIke Bloesch being elevated to the OC role and going upstairs to call games may have been a factor as well as may have Mike Saffel leaving the group to oversee the TE unit. Watching film, you saw a group that didn’t communicate well, lacked chemistry and esprit de corps and never found its footing or confidence.
2025 Departures:
2025 Returners: (heights and weights are from Fall of 2024)
2025 Additions (Transfer Portal)
2025 Additions (High School)
Projections
This starts with the addition of new Offensive Line coach Famika Anea. It’s his resume as a unit builder and his involvement in scouting and recruiting the incoming portal class that provides the optimistic assumptions heading into Spring practice. Anea was a wizard in 2024 at New Mexico, where he put together arguably the nations best Gof5 Offensive Line and did so with a patchwork quilt of virtually unknown and unheralded transfers. Relative to the 2024 offseason, Cal went out and captured almost all of their top targets from the portal up front. It’s important to note however, that the Bears weren’t shopping at Neiman Marcus. The NIL market for elite OL became ridiculous and given that Cal wanted five quality players, they eschewed the budget busting players who entered the portal in favor of quantity of slightly less coveted talent. Based on film and the size of these players, this appears to be a much stronger portal class that Cal pulled in a year ago.
Offensive line play is almost always about coaching - developing chemistry, creating strong communication and trust and establishing a system to go with techniques that create a confident unit that can lead the offense. The bet here is on Anae and on paper that looks like a very good bet. Personell wise, Vatikani is a quality, albeit not as of yet a difference making Guard and Morrow and Williams III represent an ideal blend of frames and athleticism. The expectation is that both make a big jump after seeing signficant playing time in 2024. Braden Miller is a big and powerful player whose physical and mental maturity align for this to be a breakout season for him. Bastian Swinney should provide valuable experience and versatility along the line, although his ideal role is likely as a super sub rather than a starter. There’s plenty of opportunity for the incoming portal class. Moko and Ruffins, based on their film, their production and their athleticism project as starters somewhere inside along with Vatikani. Owens and Bells figure to push Williams and Morrow on the outside and the belief is that two quality starters will emerge from those four large and athletic young lineman. Robinson looks like good depth on the interior. It’s not obvious that any of the other returners are yet ready or have the potential to contribute. With eighteen bodies here, there’s a lot of material for Anae to work with, the question is can he find seven or eight quality players that can form a unit that equate to more than the sum of their parts. There’s clearly more size and raw athleticism with this group than there was a year ago, even if less experience. Finding a starting Center will be task one for Anae in the Spring. It’s a crucial role given the signal calls and leadership aspects of the position.
