GM Ron Rivera Confident Cal Can Retain QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele

Cal football general manager Ron Rivera said on Wednesday that he’s confident Cal can retain freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele after this season.

That has been a major issue among Cal fans ever since Sagapolutele impressed everyone with his performance in his first college game – a 34-15 road victory over Oregon State in the Bears' opener.

Of course, it’s too early to say how much appeal Sagapolutele will have to other schools seeking a quarterback in the transfer portal after this season. After all, Sagapolutele has played only five games, and the Bears (4-1, 1-0 ACC) are not even halfway through the 2025 season. Plus Sagapolutele is not among the ACC passing leaders statistically at this point, heading into Saturday night’s home game against Duke (3-2, 2-0 ACC)

But on September 14, after Sagapolutele’s impressive performances in Cal’s first three games against Oregon State, Texas Southern and Minnesota, The Athletic posted a story in which it quoted a director of a Power 4 NIL program as saying, “Obviously impressive first game but it’s (early), Assuming he keeps it up and shows top-10 pick potential, there’s no reason he can’t demand a $4 million-plus payday. They will be getting lots of phone calls.”

Sagapolutele had a disappointing performance in the fourth game, a 34-0 loss to underdog San Diego State, but he rebounded with a sound game against Boston College, directing a game-winning drive in the closing minutes.

So Rivera was asked whether he was confident that Cal could keep Sagapolutele in Berkeley.

“I am,” he said.

Based on?

“This is the University of California,” Rivera said.

It’s more than that, of course, and Rivera outlined the basic plan for keeping him.

“We have a marketing plan,” he said. “We’ve met with some brands, some companies, and we’re talking about things, and we’re putting this whole package together, and at the appropriate time we’ll get it ready to go.”

The focus on retaining Sagapolutele is related to the fact that Fernando Mendoza left Cal following last season after he had spent three years at Cal, including two as the Bears’ starting quarterback. Now he’s at Indiana putting up big numbers for the eighth-ranked Hoosiers and is a good bet to be an early first-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft.

So Rivera knows retention is a priority, and mentioned it in general terms because Sagapolutele won’t be the only player Cal would like to keep.

“Going into next year working on the retension obviously,” he said. “And just so everybody knows we’re working on marketing plans for retaining our players. We’re trying to work with some brands and some companies and trying to see if we can get these things off the ground, a lot like a lot of these other people have been doing already.”

Rivera and Cal can’t legally consider acquiring players through the transfer portal until after the season. (Players can enter the transfer portal between January 2 and January 11, 2026, but they can transfer to a new school at any time after that.)

However, Cal acquired some important players in the transfer portal this past season. Both starting cornerbacks – Brent “Paco” Austin and Hezekiah Masses (four interceptions) – are transfers who have performed well. Three starting receivers – wide receivers Jacob De Jesus (team-leading 28 receptions) and Mark Hamper (14 catches) and tight end Mason Mini (19 receptions) – are transfers as well.

Recent articles:

What Duke coaches say about Sagapolutele

How Sagapolutele copes with the attention he's getting

Where do the bowl experts envision Cal in the postseason?

Cal loses two starters for the season

Mid-season trade affected Andrew Vaughn's career

How Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele stacks up alongside three other true freshman QBs

How Cal's four NFL rookies fared on Sunday