Forty-Four New Faces Set to Begin Cal Spring Practice

After months of assembling a coaching staff and attacking the non-stop task of recruiting, new Cal football coach Tosh Lupoi will begin coaching his team on the practice field for the first time next Wednesday.

The Bears’ most anticipated spring workouts in years will feature more than 100 players, 44 of whom have never previously run through a team workout at Memorial Stadium.

Lupoi and his staff will begin the process of folding in those newcomers — 33 transfers and the 11 freshman who enrolled early to get a jump on trying to carve out roles on the 2026 squad.

The Bears will practice twice next week — Wednesday and Friday — then adjourn for spring break before resuming workouts on Wednesday, April 1. Spring ball runs through April 18, when the Bears will conduct their spring game.

Spring practices will be closed to the public, aside from the spring game. No details have been announced for the April 18 event.

Of course, not everyone on the roster is new. There are 61 returning players on the spring roster.

Among the returnees, there are only five who started in the Bears’ season-ending 35-31 loss to Hawaii at the Hawaii Bowl. One of those was freshman running back Anthony League, who had seen action in just four previous games and ran the ball only 11 times all season.

The key returnee is quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, whose remarkable freshman season in 2025 prompted Lupoi to made a late-night flight to Hawaii to visit Sagapolutele and his family at their home. His pitch worked and the left-handed QB agreed to remain at Cal.

Sagapolutele talks in the video at the top of the story about his initial conversation with Lupoi and what the new coach said that convinced him they can have a productive future together.

With many of the team’s best players having graduated or moved on, the 33 transfers will play a pivotal role in the Bears prospects when the season gets under way on Sept. 5 with a non-league matchup with long-time former Pac-12 rival UCLA.

A heavy emphasis in Lupoi’s initial recruiting push was to fortify an offensive line that has been a chronic weakness in recent seasons. The Bears allowed 32 sacks last fall and averaged just 81.7 rushing yards per game — last in the ACC — on 2.8 yards per attempt.

The Bears welcome nine new offensive lineman, five of whom are transfers with FBS-level experience. Ten O-linemen return from last fall, including Tyson Ruffins, who started all 13 games, Bastian Swinney, who started the final four games, and Sioape Vatikani, who has started 34 career games, most of them at guard.

If the Bears hope to protect Sagapolutele and generate an improved run game, the offensive line will have to be significantly improved.

Four transfer wide receivers are on board, including two with proven track records. Chase Hendricks caught 122 passes in his three seasons at Ohio U, posting 1,037 receiving yards last fall, and Ian Strong had 95 catches the past two seasons at Rutgers and has averaged 15.0 yards per reception over his career.

There is no court decision yet on whether wide receiver Jacob De Jesus will win his appeal to the NCAA for an additional season of eligibility. De Jesus was prolific last season, leading the nation with 108 receptions, which accounted for 1,030 yards and six touchdowns.

Tight end Dorian Thomas blossomed in his lone season at New Mexico last fall, catching 56 passes for 560 yards and four touchdowns.

While many of the Bears’ flashier recruits are offensive players, Lupoi has spent his career coaching defense and will want to maintain or improve on what had generally been the strength of the program over nine seasons under former coach Justin Wilcox.

There are a lot holes, including at linebacker, where leading tacklers Cade Uluave and Luke Ferrelli defected to Utah and Ole Miss, respectively. Ferrelli, one of the surprises on the Cal defense last season, initially transferred to Clemson and reportedly had enrolled in classes. He then flipped to Ole Miss, prompting Clemson coach Dabo Swinney to claim tampering.

Spring ball will also be an opportunity for Lupoi’s mostly new coaches to begin showing what they bring to the equation.

Nick Rolovich, who served as interim head coach for the Bears’ final two games last season, returns as associate head coach and quarterbacks specialist.

But both of Lupoi’s coordinators — Jordan Somerville on offense and Michael Hutchings on defense — are 30 years old and first-time coordinators.

New 2026 spring roster additions

(33 transfers, 11 freshmen)

0 Dorian Thomas, TE

0 Solomon Williams, OLB

1 Ricky Fletcher, DB

1 Carter Vargas, RB

2 Kingston Lopa, DB

3 Kamar Mothudi, ILB

4 Justin Beadles, OLB

5 Marquis Groves-Killebrew, DB

6 Emmanuel Okoye, OLB

7 Daniel Harris, DB

7 Chase Hendricks, WR

8 Rico Walker, TE

9 Ian Strong, WR

9 AJ Tuitele, ILB

10 Cooper Perry, WR

11 Jackson Brousseau, QB

13 x-Victor Santino, RB

15 Joshua Pierce, OLB

16 x-Michael Hurst Jr., DB

16 Kai Meza, WR

18 x-Nainoa Lopes, QB

20 Ashten Emory, RB

22 x-Taimane Purcell, TE

24 Adam Mohammed, RB

26 x-Niles Davis, DB

.29 Angus Davies, P

32 Tristan Jernigan, ILB

33 Towns McGough, PK

33 x-JD McKinley, ILB

43 x-Lucky Schimer, DL

44 Jericho Johnson, DL

45 David Bird, LS

51 Kahlee Tafai, OL

51 Jayden Williams, DL

52 x-Elisha Faamatuainu, OL

55 x-Daniel McMorris, OL

58 Ashton Rivera, OL

70 Mykeal Rabbes, OL

73 x-Kamo’i Huihui-White, OL

75 Jacob Drop, OL

77 Jimothy Lewis Jr., OL

79 x-Esiah Wong, OL

99 Ashun Shephard, DL

x-indicates incoming freshman; others are incoming transfers

2026 Returning players

(61 returnees)

2 EJ Caminong, QB

3 Jaron-Keawe Sagpaolutele, QB

4 Jordan King, WR

5 Quaron Adams, WR

6 Kyion Grayes, WR

8 Josiah Wagoner, DB

11 Dayday Aupui, DB

13 Jae’on Young, DB

14 Dominic Ingrassia, QB

14 Aiden Manutai, DB

15 Mark Hamper, WR

17 Alonzo Esparza, QB

17 Jordan Sanford, DB

18 Serigne Tounkara, OLB

19 Odera Okaka, OLB

19 Trevor Rogers, WR

20 Cam Sidney, DB

21 Aaron Hampton, ILB

21 Carson Perry-Smith, WR

22 Tristan Dunn, DB

23 Isaiah Crosby, DB

23 Jayden Parker, RB

24 Quimari Shemwell, DB

25. Khamani Hudson, DB

25 Anthony League, RB

28 Tre’ Harrison, DB

30 Mayze Bryant, DB

31 Jordan Franke, LS

33 Dean-Taylor Chapman, RB

34 Tobey Wedemuller, DB

36 Jude McLellan, OLB

37 Erik Peters, PK/P

38 Nate Escalada, DB

39 Michael Cooley, OLB

44 John Tofi Jr., TE

45 Beckham Barney, ILB

48 Ewan Arechaederra, LS

54 Frederick Williams III, OL

55 BJ Canady, DL

56 Legend Journey, DL

56 Tyson Ruffins, OL

57 BJ Jones, ILB

65 Justin Hasenhuetl, OL

66 Sam Bjerke, OL

68 Jojo Genova, OL

71 Sioape Vatikani, OL

72 Ben Howard, OL

74 Michael Kulisiewicz, OL

76 Bastian Swinney, OL

78 Lamar Robinson, OL

82 Cole Boscia, WR

85 Mason Mini, TE

87 Meyer Swinney, WR

90 Jack Olyphant, TE

91 Chase Meyer, PK

82 LeBron Williams, DL

93 R.J. Stephens, DL

94 Stanley Saole-McKenzie, DL

96 Derek Wilkins, DL

97 Michael-Anthony Okwura, DL

98 Nate Burrell, DL

Players in bold type were starters in the Hawaii Bowl