Wilcox Names Starting QB, Talks Developing Depth Chart

BERKELEY - Today’s media session with Cal head coach Justin Wilcox was significantly more content-packed than the typical media scrum after practice, with Wilcox verifying the news that true frosh QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele‍ had indeed been named the starter heading into Cal’s 8/30 season opener in Corvalis vs Oregon State.

"Practice, walk-throughs, reps, production, all the above," Wilcox noted as reasons for the frosh QB winning out over Ohio State junior transfer Devin Brown‍. "We felt like he earned it. We also feel like Devin is a really good football player. We think Devin has ability to be a winning starter at this level but Jared earned it.

“His accuracy down the field, keeps his eyes down the field really well, those two things showed up. He's very, very coachable. He learns quickly.

"He's a young guy. He's a freshman, got to college in January, so he had spring ball first time, doing a lot of things, spring workouts, spring practice, calling a play in a huddle, cadence, all those things. I think his knowledge of offense and he picks things up very well. He learns, and like I mentioned, he's very, very coachable guy. And then you have the accuracy and the ability to make the throws down the field, which we felt like he did a nice job of. He feels the pocket really well.

Wilcox was asked what stood out about Sagapolute’s mental impact to make the big leap to starting his true freshman season.

"Just his demeanor," Wilcox noted. "I mean, he comes out here every day the same guy. He's very, very competitive. He's quick to smile, but he's a very competitive guy and that shows up on the practice field, meeting room. He's still learning. This is all a lot of these are firsts for him. He has the ability to learn. And I think where you get concerned is when a guy gets here and you have the same coaching points over and over and over again and it's not resonating, but he's a guy that has shown he can learn and digest it out on the field, he's got the right demeanor.

“He's very comfortable in his own skin. He's a confident guy. He's very easy for people to get along with and talk to. But we're not asking Jaron to shoulder every load out there. We need everybody on the team to help him, and you know, the offensive line and the tight ends, I go back through this again. So from a leadership standpoint, he has leadership abilities.He can continue to grow in terms of his leadership and also the physical part of the game and the coaching. He's just got a lot on his plate right now, but I'm more than confident that he can handle all of it.”

The last Cal QB to start as a freshman was Cal great Jared Goff in 2013 for the Bears. Wilcox was asked if he sees any similarities between the two players at the same points in their young careers.

"I remember Jared when he was in high school," Wilcox said. "I remember watching him play, and then obviously, when he was here, I wasn't here, but competing against him, and then just watching him on tape a lot. He was always such a cool customer. You know, he didn't seem to get real up and down. He's very steady. And a lot of great quarterbacks have that character trait with their ability to stay in the moment, not get too high or too low. I see some of those same character traits with Jaron. You know, I don't like comparing people, everybody's unique, but yeah, he has some of that, just a pretty even keel guy, and so we don't get the sense like it's going to be too big for him. I just think he's got that demeanor that's very calm and collected and competitive."

Saturday’s second scrimmage startted to bring potential starters and rotational players better into focus, starting with the offense.

"The scrimmage, we had a live portion, and I think we got about 35 plays in there," Wilcox noted. "The defense tackled much better than they did the first scrimmage the week prior, which was good to see. The offense, especially the backs, had some really nice runs. We did a lot of situational football into half, into game which I thought the offense managed. We had some really good learning in there and did a nice job getting some scoring drives in those into half, into game situations. When it comes to the positions, there are some positions that are starting to take shape.

“Certainly, O-Line, I think we're getting closer and closer, but at this point, there's five guys taking the field with the ones. We're probably playing more than five guys. Would we love to see five maybe take another step forward and create some distance between themselves and the twos? Yeah, that'd be great. But right now, as long as they're all getting better, we can work with that. So I think the O-Line group, the ones and some of the twos are being more and more solidified at this point. Now, can that change in the next two weeks? Absolutely.

“Tight end position, same thing. There's really kind of three guys getting a lion's share in there.

“The running back position, to be honest, right now it's kind of 1A, B and C. All three of those guys have shown to be productive in different ways. We got some really good physical runs this past Saturday, which was great to see.

“The receiver group - Jacob de Jesus continues to flash each and every day. We've seen what Trond (Grizzell) can do. And then that three through seven or eight in the receiver room, it's again, who can take a step forward and create some separation for themselves and we're going to play multiple guys at those positions.

"Defense, Cade is going to start and play as long as Cade can play. Aidan Keanaaina, the same with Ryan McCulloch. TJ Bush has done a really nice job at the other edge. There's going to be multiple edges at play.

“The young D-Linemen have flashed. They need to be more consistent, but those guys continue to flash.

“The secondary, Zeke (Masses) and Paco (Brent Austin), who start at corner, they're the clear starting corners. And at safety, Isaiah Crosby, Aidan Manutai, Dru Polidore and then Jordan (Sanford) and Tristan (Dunn) have both done some good things.

“And then inside linebacker position opposite Cade, the guy who's made a really big jump this camp is Luke Ferrelli. He's done an excellent job. He had a little bit of an injury that slowed him down at the end of last week, but he's good to go. He's had a really good camp. And then Harrison Taggart and Buom Jock have also made some really good plays. Aaron Hampton has showed up. But you know that spot opposite Cade, Luke's taking a big step, and those other guys are still pushing.

“So we're going to play. Two kickers. Here's one for you: We'll have two kickers - not at the same time. Abram (Murray) hit the kickoffs deep into the end zone on Saturday, which was great to see. Really nice seeing that. We put some pressure on the kickoff team to launch those deep into the end zone and he did that so that's that's good. And then Chase (Meyer) has done a nice job with the PAT/ field goal game."

Stay tuned for more on the Bears as they prep for their season opener in 12 days.