New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney didn’t wait long to make his feelings known about Cal’s quarterback.
Speaking Monday in his first press conference ahead of Saturday night’s opener in Berkeley, Chesney spent plenty of time talking up sophomore Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, and the praise came fast. Chesney called him mobile, smart with the ball and tough to rattle, the kind of quarterback who can keep a defense guessing even when the pocket starts collapsing.
“He does a lot of things really well,” Chesney said of Sagapolutele. “First of all, he's mobile, but he's not like he's going to just break away on a long run, because he's going to keep his eyes downfield and trust his arm phenomenally.
“He will do a real good job of throwing people open; even if they're covered he finds back-shoulders and back-hips and puts it in places where the defender's back is. And he trusts his receivers to make those plays, does a lot of good there.
“Controls the offense really, really well. Then when you get into some of just the craftiness of his game.
Sometimes he's under duress and throwing off his back foot and sometimes he's actually in the air throwing the ball, still seems to be able to put it right on the money. Just a kid that is really hard to fluster.”
The opener is a tricky one for UCLA to sort out, and not just because it’s the first game. Cal, like the Bruins, has brought in a wave of transfer talent and is working under a new coaching staff, which leaves Chesney with some guesswork heading into Saturday. For now, he’s leaning on what he knows about the coaches on the other side.
“Ultimately for us we understand where these guys have been and what they've been through, and what they have done in the past,” Chesney said. “Obviously defensively with a defensive head coach, a lot of it is going look like that [at Oregon]. But there is enough that the [defensive] coordinator [Michael Hutchings] has from the Vikings that I think will bring some different pressures and things we are preparing for.”
Even with that prep work, Chesney said the Bruins will have to adjust once they actually see Cal’s plan unfold.
He also addressed the so-called Calimony, the arrangement that requires UCLA to pay Cal $10 million a year for three years through the 2026-27 academic year after the Bruins left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten and Cal was left searching for a place in the ACC.
“It is what it is,” Chesney said. “I don't know if I would have agreed to that. I guess that's how it all went down.”
In Other News...
Cal Fans Are Watching One Ex-Bears Cutdown Mess Get Complicated
Final NFL cutdown day brought a mixed bag for former Cal players, with some surviving the leagues roster squeeze and others left to chart a tougher path. Cornerback Mases made the Raiders 53-man roster, a good-news item for the Bears pipeline, while a handful of other ex-Cal players either landed on the outside looking in or entered the familiar limbo of practice-squad possibilities and fresh tryouts.
One of the more complicated situations belongs to Brent Austin, whose release adds another layer to an offseason already filled with eligibility questions tied to recent court rulings and conference rules. Jacob De Jesus also came out on the wrong side of the Chiefs final decisions after a preseason battle for punt-return work, and with Nikko Remigio already in that role, the path forward is suddenly a lot less clear for another former Bear trying to stick in the league. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Faces One Roster Question As UCLA Looks Much Tougher
UCLAs roster makeover is starting to give the Bruins a more convincing look on both sides of the ball, and that matters for Cal because this is one of the teams that can shape the Bears path in the new season. The improvements are showing up where they usually do first for a team trying to climb back, with more stability up front, more talent at receiver and more punch in the pass rush and secondary.
For Cal, the picture is still less settled under the new coaching staff. The Bears do have reasons for optimism at quarterback and in the skill spots, but the bigger question is whether the offensive line can hold together and whether the defense, as currently constructed, has enough experience to withstand a tougher schedule. Until those pieces become clearer, Cals margin for error looks thin. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Just Got A Massive Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele Endorsement
A former USC quarterback with a national analysts perch just gave Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele a major vote of confidence. Max Browne, now with ACC Network, spent plenty of time sorting through the top returning quarterbacks in college football and placed the Cal signal-caller at the top of his list, a notable endorsement for a player whose freshman season drew attention even as the offense around him had its issues.
Browne said he tried to view the group on equal footing, comparing players without leaning too heavily on team context, and that approach seemed to work in Sagapoluteles favor. The broader list also included plenty of familiar names while leaving out a few expected ones, which only adds to the weight of Brownes take and makes Cals quarterback room feel like one of the more interesting spots to watch heading into the season. [Read more 🡒]