Cal’s 2026 fall camp kept rolling on another sunny Wednesday in Strawberry Canyon, and a new group of scouts from the Panthers, Ravens, Jets and Niners was on hand to watch it.
The Bears were working through the kind of practice that comes with camp this deep into August: some bodies are dinged up, some reps are missing, and the work still has to get done. Ricky Fletcher was among those who did not participate, while athletes who needed attention were treated as needed and the session carried on.
One of the cleaner moments came later in open periods, when redshirt sophomore Kingston Lopa picked off QB1. Redshirt senior Cam Sidney also showed well during the drills available to the press, drawing notice for the effort he brought to his reps.
After practice, attention shifted to the secondary. Safeties coach Connor Boyd and defensive backs/co-defensive coordinator Da’Vone Brown both spoke with reporters, offering a look at how the room is being shaped.
Boyd, now in his first official position coach role after working as a defensive analyst at Oregon, was measured but clearly energized. He described the opportunity simply, saying “it’s been special”.
Boyd’s background includes coaching players such as Christian Gonzalez, and his path stretches back to being a student assistant at Alabama under Brent Key. Asked about who might be ready to lock down a Week 1 role in the safety room, he didn’t give much away.
He did single out Kingston Lopa’s athleticism, and kept his message straightforward: “We just play the guys on the field, let practice take care of itself.”
Brown followed with a longer, looser conversation and spoke like someone who lives for the work of coaching defensive backs. He’s spent much of his career at Western Kentucky, where he oversaw productive position groups and steady defenses, and he’s been in the role he now holds at Cal for the past two seasons.
He praised the weather without prompting, and then talked about his room’s love for the game and their desire to be around the team and the facility. Brown also pointed to the level of competition in the group and named Niles Davis and Khamani Hudson as two younger players who have caught his eye.
“As a young guy you don’t really see it much, Niles Davis is a true freshman, Kamani Hudson is a redshirt freshman, so they tip toe then explode a bit, and it’s pushing the older guys.”
For Brown, the standard in the defensive back room is clear. Coverage ability is expected; what separates players is the willingness to do the harder stuff.
“Every DB that we have has natural coverage skills. I want them to be willing tacklers, that’s gonna run through peoples face, do the dirty work people don’t wanna do.
That’s what I’m looking for.”
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Cals New-Look Receiver Room Could Change Everything For This Offense
Cals receiver room is getting a wholesale reset, and that matters for an offense trying to find a higher ceiling. Ian Strong arrives from Rutgers with the kind of experience that can steady a group, while Chase Hendricks comes in from Ohio as another proven addition. Cooper Perry, who transferred from Oregon, adds yet another layer to a depth chart that looks far different from where it stood a year ago.
Under the new coaching era led by Lupoi, the emphasis is clearly on upgrading the position through both recruiting and development. For Cal, the promise here is not just better bodies on the roster, but a room that can grow into something more reliable and more dangerous as the staff settles in. The next step is turning that influx of talent into production, and that is where the real pressure begins. [Read more 🡒]