Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele Wins Pop Warner Trophy as Top Player in the West

Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has been named the best college football player on the West Coast in 2025 by winning the Glenn “Pop” Warner Memorial Trophy, the school announced Friday.

The Pop Warner Trophy, which is presented by the Palo Alto Club, has been given annually since 1949, but it was not awarded from 2005 to 2024 before being reinstituted this year.

Sagapolutele is the seventh Cal player to win the award, joining Joe Kapp (1958), Craig Morton (1964), Chuck Muncie (1975), Ron Rivera (1983), Deltha O’Neal (1999) and J.J. Arrington (2004).

Interestingly, Arrington, who rushed for a school-record 2,018 yards in 2004, was the choice over USC’s Matt Leinart, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2004, and Aaron Rodgers, who had a sensation final season at Cal min 2004.

However, only seniors were eligible to win the award until this year. Neither Rodgers nor Leinart was a senior in 2004.

"Jaron is a tremendous football player and person who had a great start to his collegiate career in 2025," Cal football general manager and 1983 Pop Warner Trophy winner Ron Rivera said in a statement provided by Cal. "We believe he is just starting to scratch the surface of what he can become and the success he can lead our football program to. It is an honor for him to be recognized as the winner of the 2025 Pop Warner Trophy."

Sagapolutele was just the second true freshman to start a season opener for Cal, joining Jared Goff, who did so in 2013.

Sagapolutele completed 64.2 percent of his passes with 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 2025, and he had nine touchdown passes with two interceptions over his final seven games.

Also former Stanford star and current Stanford general manager Andrew Luck was named the winner of the 2010 Pop Warner Trophy retroactively.

Sagapolutele and Luck will officially be presented with their awards on March 14 at the National Football Foundation's Northern California event.

Glenn "Pop" Warner Memorial Trophy All-Time Winners

1949 - Eddie LeBaron (Pacific)

1950 - Russ Pomero (Stanford)

1951 - Ollie Matson (San Francisco)

1952 - Jim Sears (USC)

1953 - Bob Garrett (Stanford)

1954 - George Shaw (Oregon)

1955 - Bob Davenport (UCLA)

1956 - Jon Arnett (USC)

1957 - Joe Francis (Oregon State)

1958 - Joe Kapp (California)

1959 - Chris Burford (Stanford)

1960 - Billy Kilmer (UCLA)

1961 - Chon Gallegos (San Jose State)

1962 - Terry Baker (Oregon State)

1963 - Vern Burke (Oregon State)

1964 - Craig Morton (California)

1965 - Mike Garrett (USC)

1966 - Pete Pifer (Oregon State)

1967 - Gary Beban (UCLA)

1968 - O.J. Simpson (USC)

1969 - Don Parish (Stanford)

1970 - Jim Plunkett (Stanford)

1971 - Jeff Siemon (Stanford)

1972 - Mike Rae (USC)

1973 - Lynn Swann (USC)

1974 - Anthony Davis (USC)

1975 - Chuck Muncie (California)

1976 - Ricky Bell (USC)

1977 - Guy Benjamin (Stanford)

1978 - Jerry Robinson (UCLA)

1979 - Charles White (USC)

1980 - Ken Margerum (Stanford)

1981 - Marcus Allen (USC)

1982 - John Elway (Stanford)

1983 - Ron Rivera (California)

1984 - Jack Del Rio (USC)

1985 - Reuben Mayes (Washington State)

1986 - Dave Wyman (Stanford)

1987 - Mike Perez (San José State)

1988 - Rodney Peete (USC)

1989 - Tim Ryan (USC)

1990 - Greg Lewis (Washington)

1991 - Tommy Vardell (Stanford)

1992 - Glyn Milburn (Stanford)

1993 - Johnnie Morton (USC)

1994 - Steve Stenstrom (Stanford)

1995 - Keyshawn Johnson (USC)

1996 - Jake Plummer (Arizona State)

1997 - Skip Hicks (UCLA)

1998 - Cade McNown (USC)

1999 - Deltha O'Neal (California)

2000 - Marques Tuiasosopo (Washington)

2001 – None

2002 - Carson Palmer (USC)

2003 - Dave Ball (UCLA)

2004 - J.J. Arrington (California)

2005-09 – None

2010 - Andrew Luck (Stanford)

2011-24 – None

2025 – Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele

Award honored the top senior in the West from 1949-2004 and the top player in the West from 2005-present