Cal Football

Bears Make Their First Portal Addition in Texas A&M Edge Solomon Williams

Former 4 star prep recruit bolters Cal's pass rush with the first addition to the 2026 portal transfer class
By Jim McGill
January 4, 2026
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17 Comments
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Photo by Texas A&M

The Bears got on the board with their first portal transfer pickup of the 2026 class with the commitment of Texas A&M edge Solomon Williams.

The 6-1/255 redshirt frosh was offered by a host of SEC programs in the portal as well as by Virginia Tech by his former DL coach at A&M in Hokies new DL coach Sean Spencer, who made him a priority target to follow him to Blacksburg. Williams was also recruited by new Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi as a prep when he was with Oregon.

In limited snap opportunities behind a deep veteran edge group, Williams had 14 pass rushes last year, half of those were in obvious pass rush situations. Of the 14, he had a "win" on 35% or 5 of those snaps, adding 11 tackles and 5 TFL in limited duty as a true frosh and redshirt frosh with the Aggies, grading out at an 80 on PFF.

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As a high 4 star prep out of Carrollwood Day High School in Tampa, Florida, Williams chose Texas A&M over Oregon, Alabama and Texas among others. As a senior, Williams was highly productive, with 47 tackles (mostly solo), 8 sacks, 21 TFL, 18 QB hurries, 2 passes defended, 3 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries.

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Bears Make Their First Portal Addition in Texas A&M Edge Solomon Williams

3,731 Views | 17 Replies | Last: 1 day ago by ducktilldeath
pnaidu
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5:56p, 1/4/26
Glad Tosh got his guy, imagine he immediately replaces TJ Bush in the new 4-2-5 defense we are going to run.
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HairOfTheBear
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5:58p, 1/4/26
Honestly, it took one or two seconds of action for me to notice how he moves differently and quickly. I vocalized immediately, whoa! If he develops more he is gonna be a problem. Keep em coming Coach Lup
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WildBear
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6:44p, 1/4/26
Looks like good upside but limited immediate impact? Ranked as 38 edge and 356 overall at on3, so not the stud we need right now.
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MoragaBear
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In reply to WildBear • 6:56p, 1/4/26
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They're probably not going to rate a young backup high vs proven production guys. I'd take that with a grain of salt. Look who was after him in the portal. They know.
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WildBear
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7:38p, 1/4/26
Not arguing he isn't talent. Clearly he is and excited to see what he will do, but seems more like someone 1-2 years away.
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BEAST MODE
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7:49p, 1/4/26
Let's keep it rolling... we can never have enough line depth on both sides
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MoragaBear
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In reply to WildBear • 8:02p, 1/4/26
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WildBear said:
Not arguing he isn't talent. Clearly he is and excited to see what he will do, but seems more like someone 1-2 years away.

I'm betting with this being year three coming up, he's good out the gate but we'll see
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calumnus
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In reply to WildBear • 8:11p, 1/4/26
WildBear said:
Not arguing he isn't talent. Clearly he is and excited to see what he will do, but seems more like someone 1-2 years away.

Why do you say that? It looks like he got a lot of play on a top 20 defense despite having a few accomplished upper classmen ahead of him. There is not THAT much development in a good DE because you cannot teach speed. He was the #13 edge recruit in the country coming out of HS.
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ducktilldeath
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In reply to pnaidu • 8:50p, 1/4/26
pnaidu said:
Glad Tosh got his guy, imagine he immediately replaces TJ Bush in the new 4-2-5 defense we are going to run.

Personnel may dictate what Tosh can do, but Oregon's base defense is 2 down linemen, not even 3, and certainly not 4.
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WildBear
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In reply to calumnus • 9:46p, 1/4/26
We should expect a big jump in year three, but he only had 35 snaps on a loaded team, so about 3 per game. Hopefully he takes a Big jump up, but that might only mean 30-35 snaps a game (about 50% of total snaps) and some decent production.



"In 2025, most of his contributions came via special teams. Out of his approximately 102 total snaps, 67 were on kick coverage. While he performed well when he was on the field (earning a high 80.6 PFF grade in limited defensive action), the coaching staff prioritized more experienced players for the primary defensive rotation."

SEC Conference Rankings

Within the highly competitive SEC, the Aggies featured the league's most decorated individual defender in Cashius Howell (SEC Defensive Player of the Year), but the team unit ranked as follows:

Scoring Defense: #9 in the SEC (21.0 pts/game in conference play).

Total Defense: #7 in the SEC.

Red Zone Defense: #16 (Last) in the SEC (Opponents scored on 94.1% of trips inside the 20)."

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TonyTiger
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10:02p, 1/4/26
Lol, we got a 4- star- that alone is bad azz but he's one that everyone in the SEC wanted. Lets be happy because Its started!!

Go Tosh!!
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pnaidu
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In reply to ducktilldeath • 10:57p, 1/4/26
4-2-5

2 Down linemen
2 Edges
2 Linebackers
5 guys in the secondary

He's one of the edges in the 4
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ducktilldeath
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In reply to pnaidu • 11:09p, 1/4/26
pnaidu said:
4-2-5

2 Down linemen
2 Edges
2 Linebackers
5 guys in the secondary

He's one of the edges in the 4

I'll agree I was making a semantic argument. You are correct, the 2-2-2-5 is not sexy, but it's Oregon's base defense.
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HearstMining
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In reply to ducktilldeath • 7:11a, 1/5/26
ducktilldeath said:
pnaidu said:
4-2-5

2 Down linemen
2 Edges
2 Linebackers
5 guys in the secondary

He's one of the edges in the 4

I'll agree I was making a semantic argument. You are correct, the 2-2-2-5 is not sexy, but it's Oregon's base defense.

Cal certainly lined up in this formation a lot over the last several years (maybe more under Sirmon). Does Oregon's scheme give the players different responsibilities?
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jamonit
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In reply to ducktilldeath • 9:59a, 1/5/26
ducktilldeath said:
pnaidu said:
4-2-5

2 Down linemen
2 Edges
2 Linebackers
5 guys in the secondary

He's one of the edges in the 4

I'll agree I was making a semantic argument. You are correct, the 2-2-2-5 is not sexy, but it's Oregon's base defense.

It is a 4 2 5 ... 4 on the line, 2 off ball LBs and 5 DBs. Standing or hand in the dirt they are on the line ever snap.
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pnaidu
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In reply to jamonit • 11:34a, 1/5/26
jamonit said:
ducktilldeath said:
pnaidu said:
4-2-5

2 Down linemen
2 Edges
2 Linebackers
5 guys in the secondary

He's one of the edges in the 4

I'll agree I was making a semantic argument. You are correct, the 2-2-2-5 is not sexy, but it's Oregon's base defense.

It is a 4 2 5 ... 4 on the line, 2 off ball LBs and 5 DBs. Standing or hand in the dirt they are on the line ever snap.

Correct
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ducktilldeath
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In reply to HearstMining • 12:39a, 1/6/26
HearstMining said:
ducktilldeath said:
pnaidu said:
4-2-5

2 Down linemen
2 Edges
2 Linebackers
5 guys in the secondary

He's one of the edges in the 4

I'll agree I was making a semantic argument. You are correct, the 2-2-2-5 is not sexy, but it's Oregon's base defense.

Cal certainly lined up in this formation a lot over the last several years (maybe more under Sirmon). Does Oregon's scheme give the players different responsibilities?

I dunno enough about defense. I know Oregon has 3 330lb DTs and their edge guys are huge too. It's an edge setting defense, generally very conservative. They keep things in front of them and minimize explosion plays. They don't blitz much and are awful at it when they do.

This year they're playing a lot more zone than previously under Lanning. Adjusted to per game, they're second in the nation in fewest 20+ yard plays allowed. Who knows how much of the philosophy Tosh will carry over to CAL.
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