Cal's Tristan Jernigan Proud of His Tupelo Connection to Elvis

Ask Cal linebacker Tristan Jernigan to identify the most famous person to come from his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, and the answer comes without hesitation.

“Elvis!” Jernigan says of the King of Rock and Roll. “I know a lot about him. Every time I say Tupelo, somebody says Elvis.”

Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo in 1935 and lived there until moving with his family to Memphis when he was 13. And while legions of fans still stream to Graceland to visit his adult home in Memphis, Tupelo is where it began.

“He really is just a historical mark in our history,” Jernigan says. “They have a statue of him in the downtown park.”

Presley’s birthplace home is now a museum in his honor. And the “Becoming” statues — depicting him as an 11-year sitting on a milk crate with his guitar and a larger-than-life sculpture immediately behind it showing Elvis the full-grown star — honor the man who sold an estimated 1 billion records worldwide.

Jernigan knows exactly how to get to the historic house.

“A fun fact: I lived on his street, the street he grew up at,” he says. “My senior year I lived on Elvis Presley Drive in Tupelo. It’s pretty cool.”

Jernigan, born 70 years after Elvis, says his parents and grandparents were big Presley fans. And although he missed the King by decades, Jernigan is not unfamiliar with his work.

“I know Hound Dog,” he says, of the 1956 classic that sat atop the pop chart for 11 weeks.

Sounds like an appropriate nickname for a linebacker from Tupelo.

Tristan Jernigan shows off his intensity | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jernigan is proud of his hometown. “It’s a great area,” he says. “I’m just very happy with where I came from. The culture that my dad instilled in me, the principles and discipline.”

All that contributed to him becoming a four-star high school prospect who spent two seasons at Texas A&M. He totaled 14 tackles in 10 games with the Aggies before joining the Bears as a transfer early this year.

Jernigan has started each of the Bears’ first two games and is fourth on the team with nine tackles.

Tosh Lupoi and his new coaching staff brought in three transfer linebackers in the offseason, with AJ Tuitele (USC) and Kamar Mothudi (Oregon) joining Jernigan. All three had more potential than track records at their previous stops.

“We recruited a person and a skill set for the most part with a lot of guys, just because of the lack of overall game film,” defensive coordinator Michael Hutchings says. “Tristan got on campus, he’s done his job. Pleased with the person, pleased with the player, and really the way he approaches each day.

“He’s passionate about his craft. Really passionate about being a good teammate, a leader. There’s really so much growth from him from when he arrived on campus to now. You’re just going to continue to see it.”

Jernigan notes how the Cal defense made a huge leap from the Bears’ 45-24 loss to UCLA in Week 1 to their 21-18 road victory vs. Syracuse last week.

One of the keys was a more aggressive game plan by Hutchings, who sent pressure at quarterback Steve Angeli that produced three sacks and three interceptions.

Jernigan, who discusses the areas he wants to improve his game in the video above, explains in the video at the top of the story how much he enjoys playing stlyle of ball Hutchings unleashed last week. “I love playing very aggressive. That’s part of the reason Tosh brought in the guys he did because he knows we are very aggressive players. I’m very excited to see what we do moving forward.

“We have the capability of doing anything. Everybody on our defense is very talented. I feel like we’re elite across the board and we can go far.”

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