Ex-Cal Linebacker Luke Ferrelli Finds his New Home

Former Cal inside linebacker Luke Ferrelli, who earned ACC Freshman Defensive Player of the Year honors this season, has found his new football home: Clemson.

Ferrelli, who had 91 tackles and made a game-saving interception at the goal line against Boston College, announced his plans to enter the transfer portal on Jan. 1.

Also, Cal freshman tight end Jake Houseworth, who did not see action this season, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday.

Ferrelli will make his Clemson debut next season with a Sept. 5 game at LSU. The Tigers are scheduled to play Cal at Berkeley, although the date hasn’t been announced.

Cal had brought in several inside linebackers through the transfer portal following the 20024 season to fill the spot vacated by Teddye Buchanan, who became a starter for the Baltimore Ravens this season as a rookie.

But Ferrelli made significant progress from his true freshman season to grab the starting spot as a redshirt freshman.

Besides his 91 tackles, Ferrelli had five tackles for loss including one sack.

He teamed with junior Cade Uluave to form one of the ACC’s top linebacker duos. Uluave, who had 100 tackles, also had put his name into the transfer portal.

Ferrelli’s biggest play of the season came in the closing moments of the Bears’ game against Boston College. Cal led 28-24, but the Eagles had a second-and-goal at the Cal 5-yard line. At that point, Ferrelli intercepted a Dylan Lonergan pass in the end zone and brought it out to the 1-yard line with 10 seconds left to preserve the victory.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound native of San Diego recorded 10 tackles or more in a game three times in 2025, including a career-high 11 tackles in consecutive games against Texas Southern and Minnesota in the second and third games of the season.

At Clemson he will play for one of the game’s most accomplished coaches in Dabo Swinney, whose Tigers won the 2016 and 2018 national championships and reached the title games in 2015 and 2019.

But after losing no more than three games in a season for 11 consecutive years, Clemson has recently fallen off a bit.

The Tigers won 10 games and reached the College Football Playoff in 2024, but went 7-6 this past season, including 4-4 in ACC play. Clemson has lost four conference games twice in the past three seasons after going 60-5 in ACC play from 2015 through ’22.

In 18 seasons, Swinney is 187-53 with 18 bowl bids and five appearances in the CFP.

Houseworth, a three-star high school prospect out of Fortuna, Calif., is the second Cal tight end to enter the portal, following Landon Morris. Houseworth had offers out of high school from Fresno State, San Jose State, Oregon State, Washington State and San Diego State, among others.

Mason Mini, the Bears’ most productive tight end last season, has re-committed to Cal for next season. The Bears have four other tight ends on the roster: redshirt sophomores Ben Marshall and Frederick Williams III, redshirt freshman Jack Olyphant and freshman John Tofi Jr.

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