Cal’s NFL History With Defensive Backs led Paco Austin to Berkeley

Cornerback Brent “Paco” Austin doesn’t know where his lifelong nickname came from, but he does know the recent history of Cal defensive backs.

The fact that three Cal defensive backs were taken in the NFL draft this year and nine Golden Bears defensive backs have been drafted in the past six years is a chief reason Austin transferred to Cal after playing at South Florida last season.

“That was a huge part of why I came here,” he said. “I saw Nohl Williams and the three DBs got drafted last year [in 2025] and nine in the past five years [actually six years], something like that. That’s a lot. I’ll try to follow in their footsteps.”

The NFL is his goal, and the fact that he is on the preseason list of players eligible for the 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl suggest an NFL career is possible.

So seeing nine recent Cal defensive backs currently on NFL rosters was a main selling point for Austin.

“For sure,” Austin said.

The other factor was returning to California. Austin is from San Bernardino, California, so he was happy to get back on West Coast after spending his college career on the other side of the country at James Madison in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and then at South Florida.

“Coming back on the West Coast, no time difference, none of that stuff. That’s always a blessing,” Austin said. “And the coaches. I love the coaches here. The atmosphere. The Bay. Just a Cali kid at heart.”

Starting spots in the Cal secondary are wide open since all five starters from last year’s defensive backfield are gone. Austin is a good bet to land one of the starting jobs.

He started all 13 games for South Florida last season and finished with 48 tackles and two interceptions. He also had 10 pass breakups, which ranked fourth in the American Athletic Conference, but Austin wants to turn those pass breakups into more interceptions, saying he missed some opportunities for picks last year.

The primary goal for the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Austin in preseason workouts is to be more physical.

“I need to show to be more physical, confidence,” Austin said. “Being a leader out there, that’s something I feel I missed on last year. Being more vocal out there. . . . capitalize on interceptions. I dropped a lot last year. If I can turn those PBUs, pass breakups, into interceptions, that gives the team a better chance to win.”

Like most players, Austin has an agent to take care of the financial aspects of the contract he signs with Cal. And like a lot of players in this early stage of revenue sharing with the players he is not clear on how the process works.

“I’m not really sure,” he said. “I’m just as new to this as everybody else. I don’t really know how it goes.”

He said the money was not a significant factor in his transfer destinations anyway.

“The money’s not a big deal,” he said. “It’s a chance to get the NFL. The NFL, that’s where the money is. That’s the ultimate goal. That’s always been the goal since I was a little kid.”

Will Austin make it 10 Cal defensive backs taken in the NFL draft in a span of seven years?

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