The transfer portal era may feel like it has changed everything, but Cal has had its share of impact transfers for a long time. Chad Hansen belongs near the top of that conversation.
Hansen came to Berkeley from Idaho State, where he had already flashed as a true freshman in 2013 with 45 receptions, 501 yards and three touchdowns. After sitting out in 2014 as a walk-on transfer, he became part of Jared Goff’s final Cal season and finished with 19 catches for 249 yards and a touchdown.
Then came the explosion.
As a redshirt junior, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound wideout turned into one of the most productive receivers in the country, piling up 92 catches for 1,249 yards and 11 touchdowns. He found the end zone in seven different games and put together six games with at least 10 receptions.
Cal leaned on him heavily, and Hansen kept producing, including back-to-back 14-catch outings against Hawaii and San Diego State to start the season. He also had seven games with more than 100 receiving yards.
Even with two games missed because of injury, Hansen still ranked third nationally in per-game receptions at 9.2, fourth in receiving yards per game at 124.9 and 12th in total receptions with 92.
His biggest Cal moment came in the 119th Big Game, when he caught a 70-yard touchdown from Davis Webb on the Bears’ first play from scrimmage. Hansen finished that one with seven catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns and earned Cal’s player of the game award, though Stanford left with a 45-31 win.
Webb’s season with Hansen helped power his own recognition, too. He was named second-team All-Pac-12 by the coaches, first team by Associated Press and ESPN, and later went to the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL draft.
The signature game of Hansen’s Cal career came in a 50-43 home win over Texas in 2016. He caught 10 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns, and his second score - a 23-yarder - snapped a 43-43 tie with 3:41 left.
Hansen was nearly impossible to stop, but the Bears still finished 5-7 and missed a bowl game, a result that led to Sonny Dykes’ departure after four seasons.
In Other News...
Cal Just Lost A Target But This Class Feels Different
A recruiting miss always stings a little more when it comes in the middle of a class that looks as loaded as Cals 2027 group. The Bears already have eight ESPN top-300 commitments, a haul that would set a program record if it holds together through signing day, and the names attached to it suggest a level of talent accumulation that has not been common around Berkeley in recent years.
Cals history makes the moment even more interesting because the program has seen both sides of the rating equation. Some highly touted signees went on to become stars, while others never quite matched the billing, and several of the Bears best college players were never top-300 prospects at all. That is why this class feels different for Cal, even after losing a target this week, because the bigger question now is not just who they can still add, but whether this collection can become the kind of group that changes the baseline for what the program expects. [Read more 🡒]