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Cal Football

Bears Pull in Top 4 Star OT Tommy Tofi

June 3, 2025
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Offensive line coach Famika Anae and the Cal staff pulled off their biggest recruiting win in years with the commitment of 6-7/330 Archbishop Riordan offensive tackle Tommy Tofi‍ today following his official visit to Cal over the weekend.

Rated the #97 recruit in the nation by 247, the high 4 star OT was just what the doctor ordered for a Cal program in the process of radically reshaping their offense, particularly in the trenches, which has received a nearly complete makeover after the arrival of Anae from New Mexico in the offseason.

The brother of 2025 Cal commit John Tofi Jr‍, Tofi Jr’s younger but bigger brother has been anything but a stranger to Cal with John’s commitment to the Bears last September and multiple family visits to campus during that recruiting process and since then, including Cal’s Elite Junior Day this year.

“It’s really great hearing the news of my brother committing to Cal!” his brother John said today. “Me and my brother have always played sports together, starting from basketball at 8 or 9 years to playing at the next level in football so the feeling of happiness in the family knowing that we will both be playing on the field together, especially across the bridge where our family and any nearby family could come and watch us play every Saturday is amazing! Our family is definitely excited and we are ready to work!”

Though he was being hotly pursued by a who’s who in college football, with offers from Ohio State, Tennessee, Miami, Oregon, Washington, USC, Stanford and more, the pump has been primed for Tofi to join his brother at Cal since the last visit.

“My visit was great,” Tofi said at the time. “I got to spend more time hanging out with all the coaches and staff which is always a great time.

“Some things that stood out the most to me was Coach Anae’s style of coaching. He’s very disciplined and has high expectations of the line and them executing their job.

“What I’m looking for in a program is a coach that can develop me and prepare me for the next level.

“I saw a lot of talent on Saturday but Jaron (Sagapolutele) really stood out to me. The O-line looked a lot better, too. I saw a lot more action with the new coaches, a new culture and identity within the team. It’s a big difference from this team compared to the team from last year offensively.”

Tofi is the type of offensive lineman the Bears have been coveting with his elite combination of size, strength and the type of agility that’s sought after in OTs at any level. He will join prior 2026 offensive line commits Artem Korchagin‍ and Elisha Faamatuainu‍ who committed after Junior Day and this weekend’s official visits respectively.

Badly in need of a makeover on the line, the Bears brought in young offensive line coaching prodigy Famika Anae after the newest Bears OL coach was a veritable miracle worker at New Mexico, completing rebuilding a Lobos OL who had lost all but two offensive linemen who barely played in 2024 to the #2 unit in rushing yards per game at 253 ypg and the #1 unit in sacks allowed with just five on the season and none surrendered by the OL itself. He did it with a collection of unheralded portal transfers who bonded throughout the season to become an elite unit before his departure to Cal following the season.

Tofi’s commitment to Cal brings the total to four this weekend, joining prior commits OL Elisha Faamatuainu‍, RB Victor Santino‍ and De La Salle DL Nemyah Telona‍ and is the tenth commitment of the 2026 class so far for the Bears.

Tofi is the fourth 4 star commit of the Bears’ 2026 class so far, joining Santino, Camron Brooks‍ and Jayden Crowder‍.

Discussion from...

Bears Pull in Top 4 Star OT Tommy Tofi

2,745 Views | 16 Replies | Last: 20 hrs ago by oski003
Eastern Oregon Bear
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This is great! I'm loving our Polynesian pipeline that's been developing.

Welcome to Cal, Tommy!
MinotStateBeav
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We're gettin big on the front...love it.
BearBoarBlarney
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This guy is already on my "All Name Team."
adujan
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I love it!

College football in the NIL and portal era has me jaded, but nice to see the Bears continue a recent string of good high school gets (JKS being another one, via Oregon).

Would be great to see this kid in blue and gold next year and for the upcoming next few years.
Big C
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We're really glad you're choosing Cal, Tommy! GO BEARS!!!
89Bear
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An incredible signing for the program!!!
calumnus
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Eastern Oregon Bear said:

This is great! I'm loving our Polynesian pipeline that's been developing.

Welcome to Cal, Tommy!


This is great news!

Imagine if we had a Polynesian DL coach too? Look at how well UCLA is recruiting Polynesian DL with Ikaika Malloe (now promoted to Defensive Coordinator).
https://www.si.com/college/ucla/football/bruins-ikaika-malloe-laiatu-latu-nfl#:~:text=Ikaika%20Malloe%20has%20been%20at,as%20the%20Bruins'%20defensive%20coordinator.
75bear
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Could this be the turning point?? We've been clamoring for years about our need for a dominant O-line, and with Anae's arrival it feels like the winds have shifted in a positive direction.

Welcome, Tommy, the sky is the limit for you at Cal!
Goobear
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Welcome to Tommy and his family joining the other brother already at Cal. Go Bears!
ac_green33
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calumnus said:

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

This is great! I'm loving our Polynesian pipeline that's been developing.

Welcome to Cal, Tommy!



This is great news!

Imagine if we had a Polynesian DL coach too? Look at how well UCLA is recruiting Polynesian DL with Ikaika Malloe (now promoted to Defensive Coordinator).
https://www.si.com/college/ucla/football/bruins-ikaika-malloe-laiatu-latu-nfl#:~:text=Ikaika%20Malloe%20has%20been%20at,as%20the%20Bruins'%20defensive%20coordinator.


I mean we pretty much do outside linebackers in our scheme are just defensive ends/EDGEs and he's co-DC as well
HearstMining
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MinotStateBeav said:

We're gettin big on the front...love it.
I think it's great that Cal can land a big LOCAL offensive lineman. But let's be honest; any 17 year-old who weighs 340 lbs, even at 6'-6" is fat. If they were smart, Cal's nutrition staff would consult with the family on dietary changes so that he gets leaner and stronger both for his senior year of HS and to get him ready for Cal. Remember Viliami Moala? He showed up at Cal weighing 387 lbs and had to drop 70 lbs to meet Tedford's standards. Cal should help Tommy Tofi now, both for his sake and for Cal's. BTW, Moala died at age 30.
BearoutEast67
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HearstMining said:

MinotStateBeav said:

We're gettin big on the front...love it.
I think it's great that Cal can land a big LOCAL offensive lineman. But let's be honest; any 17 year-old who weighs 340 lbs, even at 6'-6" is fat. If they were smart, Cal's nutrition staff would consult with the family on dietary changes so that he gets leaner and stronger both for his senior year of HS and to get him ready for Cal. Remember Viliami Moala? He showed up at Cal weighing 387 lbs and had to drop 70 lbs to meet Tedford's standards. Cal should help Tommy Tofi now, both for his sake and for Cal's. BTW, Moala died at age 30.
I'm sure you evaluated him personally before declaring him fat? And I guess we should weigh your judgment as more accurate than that of the top recruiters and schools in the US?

Welcome to Cal, Tommy! Ignore the haters.
Donate to Cal's NIL at https://calegends.com/donation/
GivemTheAxe
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BearoutEast67 said:

HearstMining said:

MinotStateBeav said:

We're gettin big on the front...love it.
I think it's great that Cal can land a big LOCAL offensive lineman. But let's be honest; any 17 year-old who weighs 340 lbs, even at 6'-6" is fat. If they were smart, Cal's nutrition staff would consult with the family on dietary changes so that he gets leaner and stronger both for his senior year of HS and to get him ready for Cal. Remember Viliami Moala? He showed up at Cal weighing 387 lbs and had to drop 70 lbs to meet Tedford's standards. Cal should help Tommy Tofi now, both for his sake and for Cal's. BTW, Moala died at age 30.
I'm sure you evaluated him personally before declaring him fat? And I guess we should weigh your judgment as more accurate than that of the top recruiters and schools in the US?

Welcome to Cal, Tommy! Ignore the haters.


Let's not turn this thread into another flame war.
Bearly Clad
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Welcome to The University of California! Big time pickup in every way, this guy doesn't just block defenders he punishes them and finishes his blocks hard. He also has solid feet and keeps them underneath him to stay balanced in his base. Definitely an all-name team guy up there with Hezekiah Masses, Trond Grizzell, and Legend Journey. It's also cool to see him coming in to play with his brother like the Swinney bros. And I love that he knew to go with California Golden Bears in his commit post!

Now if only someone with pull could just convince them to do a Poly-themed jersey set to celebrate the heritage of all these guys on our team and the deep West Coast roots of Poly culture then I can die happy
Grrrrah76
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After this past spring, although I welcome the beginning of a strong 2026 recruiting class, I will wait until fall of 2026 to see who is still a Bear. This is the reality of college sports today.
oski003
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HearstMining said:

MinotStateBeav said:

We're gettin big on the front...love it.
I think it's great that Cal can land a big LOCAL offensive lineman. But let's be honest; any 17 year-old who weighs 340 lbs, even at 6'-6" is fat. If they were smart, Cal's nutrition staff would consult with the family on dietary changes so that he gets leaner and stronger both for his senior year of HS and to get him ready for Cal. Remember Viliami Moala? He showed up at Cal weighing 387 lbs and had to drop 70 lbs to meet Tedford's standards. Cal should help Tommy Tofi now, both for his sake and for Cal's. BTW, Moala died at age 30.

I am glad he is 6'7 340 instead of 6'2 387, like Moala.
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