Sagapolutele's Return Gives Tosh Lupoi a Launching Point in Berkeley
California went 7-6 and 4-4 in the ACC in 2025, a bowl-eligible finish that ended with an overtime loss to Hawaii and, ultimately, the dismissal of Justin Wilcox after nearly a decade in charge. The Golden Bears turned the page in dramatic fashion, hiring first-time head coach Tosh Lupoi, a longtime defensive coordinator most recently at Oregon, and pairing him with general manager Ron Rivera to lead a personnel-driven rebuild.
Lupoi's first and biggest recruiting win came before he had unpacked. He flew to Hawaii to persuade quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to stay in Berkeley, then flew back, a signal of how central the young passer is to everything Cal wants to become. The roster around him has been rebuilt through the portal, with an emphasis on skill talent on offense and added size across the defense.
Offense
Sagapolutele is the reason for the optimism. The rising sophomore stepped into the starting job after Fernando Mendoza transferred to Indiana, where he won the Heisman Trophy, and answered with roughly 3,450 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and four more scores on the ground. A prized recruit who did not look like a freshman, he is accurate, moves well inside the pocket and has the size and arm strength to be one of the ACC's better quarterbacks with a full offseason as the entrenched starter.
Behind him, Colorado State transfer Jackson Brousseau brings starting experience from the Mountain West, and true freshman Nainoa Lopes headlines the developmental depth. The larger question is scheme fit under a retooled offensive staff that leans on run-and-shoot concepts, an approach that, matched with this arm, should produce big passing numbers.
Lupoi flexed his recruiting reputation to stock the pass-catching corps. Ian Strong arrives from Rutgers, a proven perimeter target who piled up 762 yards over 10 games last fall, and Chase Hendricks joins from Ohio as a second-team all-conference honoree who eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards. Sophomore Cooper Perry adds another young option out wide. At tight end, Dorian Thomas is the prize, a first-team all-conference pick at New Mexico who caught 56 passes for 560 yards and four scores and ranked among the nation's most productive players at his position.
The tight end room has genuine depth behind him, with returning starter Mason Mini, a 240-pounder coming off a 387-yard season, and Purdue transfer Rico Walker giving Cal multiple ways to attack the middle of the field.
Washington transfer Adam Mohammed headlines a made-over backfield after rushing for 523 yards and five touchdowns for the Huskies, including a 105-yard afternoon against Lupoi's Oregon defense. Lupoi believes he has NFL-caliber tools. Ashten Emory and Carter Vargas add proven portal production, and true freshman Victor Santino brings upside to a group that should run behind a much bigger, more veteran line.
Upgrading the front was a stated priority after Cal surrendered 32 sacks a year ago. The interior returns the most, with guard Tyson Ruffins and mammoth 330-pounder Sioape Vatikani back alongside center Bastian Swinney. On the edges, Mississippi State transfer Jimothy Lewis Jr. and Minnesota transfer Kahlee Tafai are among the newcomers competing to solidify the tackle spots, with Frederick Williams and Jacob Arop adding starts. If the protection tightens, this passing game has a high ceiling.
Defense
Lupoi's staff has to reshape the front, both in body type and in length. Edge rusher Nate Burrell, who has 21 career starts and returns from a season-ending injury, anchors the group as a veteran presence. Oregon transfer Jericho Johnson, a massive 345-pound interior addition who followed Lupoi from Eugene, gives Cal needed heft inside next to returning starter Derek Wilkins. The pass rush leans on newcomers, as Texas A&M transfer Solomon Williams and Tennessee transfer Emmanuel Okoye were brought in specifically to generate pressure off the edge.
This is the clearest question mark on the roster. The Bears lost their two best players at the position to the portal, including a first-team all-conference tackling machine and the league's defensive freshman of the year, gutting a unit that had been a strength. Jayden Wayne, a highly regarded senior with nine starts and 3.5 tackles for loss, and Aaron Hampton, who made 41 tackles as a starter, are the returning anchors. Texas A&M transfer Tristan Jernigan and Oregon transfer Kamar Mothudi were added for depth, but Cal must rebuild here almost from scratch.
The secondary has a new look and, in the staff's words, a dramatic upgrade in the size-speed combination. That length shows up outside, where 6-foot-3 Ole Miss transfer Ricky Fletcher, a former double-digit pass-breakup corner, and 6-foot-3 Georgia transfer Daniel Harris headline the additions. Nickel Cam Sidney returns after 47 tackles. Safety Aiden Manutai was an immediate difference-maker as a freshman starter, and Isaiah Crosby returns from a season-ending injury, while Northern Arizona transfer Michael Hurst brings 156 career tackles of experience to the back end.
The kicking game got a Tulsa makeover. Chase Meyer, a former all-conference kicker who spent a redshirt season at Penn State, connected on 10 of 13 field goals and all seven of his attempts inside 40 yards, plus every extra point. Fellow Tulsa import Angus Davies earned all-conference punting honors while averaging better than 43 yards and booming an 80-yarder. The tradeoff is in the return game, where dynamic returner Jacob De Jesus must be replaced, leaving coordinator Zach Tinker to find answers among the new skill additions.
Overview and Prediction
The schedule offers a manageable runway, with UCLA, Wagner and Clemson visiting Berkeley early and the Big Game against Stanford, the 120th edition of the rivalry, closing the home slate before a finale at Pittsburgh. Road trips to Syracuse, UNLV, SMU, NC State and Virginia give the slate its bite, and the overall degree of difficulty grades out around the middle of the national pack.
The consensus pegs Cal in the lower-middle third of a deep ACC, projected anywhere from eighth to tenth in the league. The math is straightforward: with Sagapolutele and a genuinely upgraded set of pass catchers, the Bears could field one of the conference's more productive passing attacks, one that already ranked among the nation's best through the air a year ago. The make-or-break is on the other side of the ball. Cal lost significant pieces at linebacker and in the back seven and must get tougher along both lines of scrimmage. If the defense simply holds serve while the quarterback ascends, a return trip to the postseason is well within reach, and the future in Berkeley looks brighter than the win total may suggest.