Cal’s fall camp is deep enough now that the rhythm has settled in, and the same names keep surfacing in the same roles. Ian Strong is back in full practice.
Ricky Fletcher is once again leading stretches and easing back into the mix. Even the outside eyes are starting to line up along the sideline, with scouts from the Steelers, Rams, and Jets talking among themselves and with personnel people during independent drills.
One of the clearest developments from the morning was at kicker, where Auburn transfer Towns McGough looks to be pushing ahead in the competition for the opening-day job. McGough, an Auburn native, was spotted drilling kicks from beyond the 40-yard line.
Not long after, a special teams coach gathered his group and made it clear the day would be broad and busy. “We’re gonna be everywhere today, it’s like when you’re a dancer, use all the space.”
Three weeks into camp, the theme is hard to miss: nobody seems to be waiting long for the next rep.
That pace shows up on offense, where the staff is putting quarterbacks through layered passing work that gives multiple players meaningful chances. The setup is designed to make the back read things properly while corners and receivers get their one-on-one work, and Nick Rolovich later pointed to that structure when he met with reporters.
On the defensive side, Tosh is back directing his group, and a redshirt freshman from Houston, Khamani Hudson, drew praise for diagnosing the situation correctly. The competition at camp has also been visible in individual work, where inside linebacker Tristan Jernigan gave presumptive RB1 Adam Mohammed a tough rep before the two praised each other and jumped back into line.
After practice, Rolovich and running backs coach Keith Bhonapha spoke with the press. Bhonapha, an Oakland native who also serves as recruiting coordinator, coaches with a measured approach during individual drills and rarely raises his voice, even though his group has his full attention. His running backs usually work along the sideline nearest the goal zone, where they are easy to spot for anyone paying attention to personal safety.
Bhonapha is also handling part of special teams, especially returners. “The thing with the kick return responsibility is overall making sure we have the ball at the end of the play,” he says, hinting at a smile, “so really just getting these guys decisive, communicating out there.”
He described the room as a “gumbo” of different skill sets that has to come together as one unit. Among the backs, he singled out Adam Mohammed and Carter Vargas for more than just their running.
“Carter surprised me with how cerebral he is with the pass protection, understanding the checks, understanding what needs to happen, and he is physical in the pass game. Adam is just so stout, when it comes to getting up there, he’s just a bigger dude with really good technique, he can sit down there and really hold the point.” Bhonapha added that pass protection often comes down to pocket depth and width depending on the blitz, and said both players have handled that well so far.
Rolovich, meanwhile, is focused on a quieter but important camp competition: QB2. He said the way Tosh has organized practice has given the quarterbacks a better evaluation process than he’s used to.
“The way that Coach Tosh has set up practice has been very effective when you’re talking about a battle like (the battle for QB2). The amount of reps every guy gets…you get a huge piece of work you’re able to make decisions off of, and I haven’t really been around that before.”
He also praised how the structure keeps everyone engaged and makes the evaluation more complete.
“The way practice is organized it really leads to everyone feeling a part of it, everyone feeling like they have a chance, and it’s been really good for us to track numbers, decision making, you start seeing patterns, what is someone better at, what is someone maybe struggling with, you find things sooner I found…More banked reps in those types of situations that allows for a fair evaluation.”
As for JKS, Rolovich said the “restart of sorts with the new offense was the new focus.” He pointed to work on running back screens, arm slot placement, and avoiding sacks as part of that process.
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The new faces are supposed to help steady a ground game that needs more production and consistency heading into the fall. With three veteran additions carrying real college experience and touchdowns from last season, Cal has given itself more options, but the real challenge is turning that depth into a reliable rushing attack once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]