Wilcox Addresses Questions Heading Into Spring Ball Today

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox took some time to meet with Bay Area media to field questions about the team heading into today's 3:45 kickoff of spring practice at Memorial Stadium.

The schedule involves an early start, with a pair of practices today and Wednesday before next week's spring break, with a return slated the first Wednesday of April for the bulk of the spring sessions.

"I think it kind of lets you space it out where we get the maximum amount of practice and meeting time during the week by spacing it out," noted Wilcox. "By having a couple practices before spring break, it just allows us to get their mind into football. Those days are helmets (only) and there's minimal crossover between offense and defense. 

"There's a lot of teaching. Doesn't mean we're not working hard and doing a lot of drills. A lot of fundamentals, teaching and installation.

"One we come back from spring break, we won't practice that Monday but we'll go Wednesday and Friday. We space them out so we can have a day in between practices, for the most part so you can get a lot of meeting time and there's a lot of great teaching going on. That's the reason we do it like that."

As for expectations, Wilcox didn't publicly pin his hopes on any player, rather emphasizing that they'd be looking for growth in every player, with expectations varying depending on experience and more.

"Every individual, you're looking to see them take the next step," said Wilcox. "Does that mean the guy who's started and is a senior and has played a lot of football, what's next for him? And the redshirt freshman who didn't play last year and you're excited for his potential.

"You're always looking for the next step from everyone. They've had a great offseason to this point in terms of their winter conditioing and what they're doing with (S&C) Coach (Torre) Becton and the strength and conditioning staff.

"I know they're eager to get back on the field."

Four members of the 2018 recruiting class got a jump on their classmates as mid-year enrollees, including defensive back Chigozie Anusiem (La Habra, CA/Sonora HS), linebacker Colt Doughty (Los Gatos, CA/College of San Mateo/Los Gatos HS), offensive lineman Jasper Friis (Starnberg, Germany/Aquinas HS) and Lone Toailoa (Auckland, New Zealand (Mt. San Antonio College/ Kelston Boys’ HS).

"The earlier they're here, you just get them integrated that much quicker," said Wilcox. "It's a quick turnaround for them, leaving high school in December and then they're up here right away so that's a bit of an adjustment but they've been great. It helps. It's not for everybody but these guys were able to all come in and do a great job so far.

"It will be a transition when we start practicing. They've done a nice job in winter workouts but there will be a transition once we get on the field."

One of the big stories of camp will be at the quarterback position. Sophomore Ross Bowers returns as the starter, though the staff has promised open competition for the starting nod this season, particularly with South Carolina transfer Brandon McIlwain now eligible to play and talented redshirt frosh QB Chase Garbers coming off his redshirt season.

"It will be very competitive," said Wilcox. "Ross did some great things last year and he improved a lot. He's got to work and continue to improve.

"We're excited about Brandon (McIlwain) and Chase Forest and Chase Garbers, too. Those guys will make it very competitive."

Don't expect a lot to be gleaned in terms of a potential depth chart for much of spring as Wilcox and staff will do more than their share of mixing and matching thoughout spring ball, trying to find the right combinations and get players adequate reps to prove themselves.

"Spring is just going to be so fluid," said Wilcox. "We want players to play with different people so we don't talk about it much. Someone's got to go in when the first group goes out. Across the board, we're two deep. In some places, we're barely three. That happens every year. You're always trying to build more depth. 

"I'd be cautious (to draw conclusions) about the first practice who's taking who's taking the number one reps at position XYZ. We're going to mix and match a lot of people. It's really about development. There will be a time when we release a depth chart but we're not there right now."

The Bears were limited in what they could do through the air with a pair of key receivers missing most of the year in sophomores Demetris Robertson and Melquise Stovall, who both made impacts as true frosh in 2016.

"We need Demetris," said Wilcox. "It's unfortunate that he was limited to just a couple games last year. 

"I'm excited for him and excited for the team for him to get back on the field and compete. He obviously has a lot of ability and he still needs to continue to grow as a football player but it will be great to have him back out there."

And Stovall?

"Same as Demetris," said Wilcox. "He did a lot as a freshman. It was unfortuate we didn't have him last year on the field, though we're going to need to get him back out there. He's got to continue to develop as a player but he's got a lot of ability."

The good news is, the Bears return one of the top receiving duos in the country in receivers Vic Wharton III (67-871, 5 TD) and Kanawai Noa (56-788, 4 TD) rank third among all returning FBS duos while their 1,659 yards receiving are seventh. Wharton’s 67 receptions were ninth in school history. They combine for an impressive 123 catches on the season.

On the injury front, linebacker Gerran Brown (lower body), cornerback Elijah Hicks (lower body), defensive end Zeandae Johnson (lower body), safety Evan Rambo (lower body), wide receiver Brandon Singleton (upper body) and offensive lineman Semisi Uluave (upper body) are expected to miss all of 2018 spring football practices due to injury. Wilcox noted that all are expected back for the 2018 season.

The Bears have 88 players on their 2018 spring football roster, including 33 with starting experience that played in a combined 351 games with 208 starts in 2017.

On offense, Cal has 17 players that played in 176 games and started 119 contests in 2017. The defensive side of the ball has 13 players that participated in 149 contests with 89 starts a year ago. 

The Bears made their biggest statistical improvements in 2017 on defense,  allowing 14.2 points fewer per game than the previous season, giving up only 28.4 points per game after allowing 42.6 in 2016 the season before the arrival of head coach Justin Wilcox in 2017.

Much of the 2017 team’s success came from its big-play ability on defense. Cal ranked among the nation’s best for much of the season in nearly every defensive category related to turnovers before finishing tied for 21st in defensive touchdowns (4), tied for 27th in fumbles recovered (10), tied for 29th in turnovers gained (24) and tied for 32nd in passes intercepted (14).

Cal’s seven takeaways in a 37-3 win over then No. 8/9 Washington State equaled the second-most by an FBS team in 2017 with the Bears’ 9.0 sacks in the contest the most by a Cal team since 2005. The 2017 Cal defense had better total numbers and rankings than the 2016 squad in 14 of the primary 15 team defensive statistics tracked by the NCAA. Equally impressive was the Bears’ average improvement in the national rankings of just under 40 spots per category in those 15 defensive statistics.

The Bears will return 17 offensive players that started a combined total of 118 contests in 2017, while losing only four that made 15 starts a year ago. Their returning players on offense combined for 100% of the team’s 3107 passing yards, 81.4% of its 3107 receiving yards and 68.1% of its rushing yards in 2017.