Cal Sports Report

Houston Christian Transfer Defensive Tackle Zae Smith Commits to Cal

Smith has impressive numbers at the FCS level, but will step up in class at Cal
Jake Curtis|
Cal head coach Justin Wilcox
Cal head coach Justin Wilcox | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

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California Golden Bears

Houston Christian transfer defensive tackle Zae Smith announced on social media on Thursday that he has committed to Cal.

Smith will take a step up in class from the FCS level, but he figures to compete for playing time at one of Cal’s two starting defensive linemen in the Bears defensive scheme. Smith has one year of college eligibility remaining.

Aidan Keanaaina, Derek Wilkins, T.J. Bollers and Nate Burrell are the other players competing for playing time at those two down linemen position.  Burrell looked like he would win one of those starting jobs, but he missed the last few days of spring ball with an injury and it is not clear what his status will be in the fall.

The 6-foot-1, 270-pound Smith had 54 tackles while playing in 12 games for Houston Christian in 2024. He also recorded 7.5 tackles for loss and five sacks, which are impressive numbers for an interior defensive lineman.

However, Smith was playing at the FCS level, where the competition consisted of teams such as Tarleton State, Indiana State, Nichols, East Texas A&M and Northwestern State.

Houston Christian played two FBS schools in 2024, and Smith had two tackles in a 59-7 loss to SMU and one tackle in a 45-7 loss to Texas-San Antonio.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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