Cal’s offense enters 2026 with the kind of ingredients that can make a season feel different in a hurry. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is back at quarterback after an outstanding freshman year, and he’ll have a deep group around him with Ian Strong, Chase Hendricks, Dorian Thomas and Mazon Mini at receiver, plus Adam Mohammed in the backfield after he ran for 523 yards as a backup at Washington last season.
That talent is why the big question isn’t whether Cal has playmakers. It’s what success actually looks like.
Averaging 30 points a game? Cracking the top five in the ACC in scoring? Those would both be signs the Bears are moving in the right direction, but the standard for calling this offense a true success has to be higher than that.
The reason is simple: Cal hasn’t been an offensive force for a while. The Bears have not finished in the top half of their conference - ACC or Pac-12 - in scoring since 2016.
And if you want to find the Cal teams that really hit on offense, the examples are loud and clear. The 2015 team scored 37.9 points per game and finished second in the Pac-12 with Jared Goff at quarterback.
The 2004 team, led by Aaron Rodgers, was also second in the conference at 36.8 points per game. Cal’s 2006 squad tied for the Pac-10 title and led the league in scoring at 32.8 points, while the 1991 team finished second in the Pac-10 at 36.9 points with Mike Pawlawski, Russell White and a strong offensive line.
That history matters because the 2026 offense has a real chance to stand out, but it also has some obvious pressure points.
The offensive line is still a concern. Cal has not had a strong one in years, and the Bears’ 32 sacks allowed in 2026 and 133rd-place finish among 134 FBS schools in rushing point to why.
Even so, the line should be a little better with several starters back and Famika Anae coaching the group. It may not be dominant, but it ought to be good enough to let the skill talent work.
The other major swing factor is Jordan Somerville. The new offensive coordinator is only 30 and has never called plays at the coordinator level before.
Maybe he ends up looking like an offensive genius. Maybe the learning curve shows up fast.
Right now, nobody knows how quickly he’ll settle in, how well he’ll build game plans around the personnel, or how sharp his situational play-calling will be.
That uncertainty is why the offense’s ceiling is still hard to pin down.
Cal also gets a favorable opening stretch on paper. None of its three nonconference opponents are projected to have especially strong defenses after struggling on that side of the ball last season, so the Bears should be able to move it against UCLA, UNLV and Wagner.
In the ACC, the toughest defenses appear to belong to Miami and Clemson. Cal doesn’t play Miami, and it gets Clemson in Berkeley on Friday night, September 25.
So what counts as a disappointment? Anything in the lower half of the ACC in scoring - outside the top eight - would be a miss. Averaging fewer than 28 points per game would not be enough given the talent on hand.
A reasonable outcome would be somewhere between 28 and 32 points per game, with a finish between fifth and eighth in the ACC in scoring offense. That would likely put Cal in bowl position.
But if the Bears are going to call 2026 a real offensive success, the bar is higher still: more than 32 points per game and a top-four finish in the ACC in scoring. Cal has not hit either of those marks in any of the past nine seasons.
Dorian Thomas, though, is aiming even higher. The Cal tight end recently said, “We’re going to put up at least 50 a game this year.”
If that happens, nobody will have any trouble deciding whether the season was a success.
In Other News...
Cal Alum Michael Kim Just Put A Playoff Push In Reach
Michael Kim gave himself a major boost Thursday at the St. Jude Championship, opening with a 5-under 65 that left him tied for the lead after the first round. The Cal alum climbed 37 spots in the FedEx Cup standings and is now projected to sit 24th, a big jump at the right time as the postseason pressure starts to tighten.
Kim still has work to do, but the path is there as he tries to secure a spot in the BMW Championship by staying inside the top 50 after Sunday. He was hardly the only player to make noise, with Jordan Spieth and Kurt Kitayama also helping their positions, while Collin Morikawa and Max Homa had tougher openings. [Read more 🡒]
Cal's Secondary Battle Is Getting Harder To Ignore In Camp
A practice session for Cals 2026 Golden Bears drew eyes from several NFL teams, but the larger story was unfolding on the back end of the defense. Safeties coach Connor Boyd and defensive backs/co-defensive coordinator DaVone Brown spent the day talking about a secondary in motion, where young players like Kingston Lopa, Niles Davis and Khamani Hudson are all pushing to make themselves part of the picture.
What has made the competition so worth watching is how the staff is framing it. Cal wants defensive backs who can cover naturally and are willing to tackle when the play comes downhill, and that combination has become a key part of the evaluation in camp. With so many younger names entering the conversation, the battle for snaps in the secondary is starting to feel like one of the more unavoidable storylines around the program. [Read more 🡒]
Cals New-Look Tight Ends Could Unlock More From This Offense
Cals tight end room looks a lot different heading into this season, and that matters because this group could end up shaping how the offense functions. Landon Morris and Ben Marshall are gone to the transfer portal, but the Bears have added Dorian Thomas, a highly ranked portal pickup, while also keeping Mason Mini, Rico Walker and John Tofi Jr. in the mix. It gives Cal a deeper, more versatile collection of bodies at a position that can do more than just catch passes.
The real intrigue is how that depth gets used once the season starts. Cal plans to lean into multiple tight end formations, which should give the offense more flexibility in how it lines up and attacks defenses. If Thomas settles in quickly and the returners take another step, this could become one of the cleaner ways for the Bears to add balance and disguise to what they want to do on offense. [Read more 🡒]