Cal Sports Report

Cal Releases DB Signee Ernest Nunley

Nunley was one of 17 high school players who signed with Cal in December, and he will go elsewhere
Jake Curtis|
Cal football
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California Golden Bears

Defensive back Ernest Nunley, who was one of 17 high school players who signed with Cal on December 3, has been released from his signing letter and will reopen his recruitment, according to 247 Sports.

He has already received an offer from Michigan, according to Adam Gorney of Rivals.

The 17 incoming freshmen signed when Tosh Lupoi was in the process of finalizing the deal to become Cal next head coach.  Since then, Lupoi has hired a number of assistant coaches, and neither of the defensive backs coaches who served under Justin Wilcox -- Terrence Brown and Allen Brown – were retained by Lupoi. Terrence Brown is now at Boise State and Allen Brown is at Kentucky.

Keither Heyward, who assisted in coaching Cal defensive backs in the 2025, has been retained as a defensive backs coach by Lupoi. Also, Duke DaRe and Da’Von Brown will work with Cal defensive backs, and Michael Hutchings in the Golden Bears’ new defensive coordinator. Terrence Brown and Vic So’oto were co-defensive coordinators under Wilcox. So’oto is now on the coaching staff at UCLA.

It is not unusual for recruits to change their minds when coaching changes are made, and sometimes they request a release. Cal has recently added four defensive backs through the transfer portal so far.

The 6-foot, 185-pound Nunley is from Carson, California, and attends Western High School. He was rated a three-star prospect and had offers from Michigan, UCLA, Wake Forest, Arizona and Boise State among others, coming out of high school.

Yesterday (Thursday) was the final day that a player could enter the transfer portal, although some entries may not be recognized immediately.

Once in the transfer portal, players can commit to a school at any time.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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