Cal Sports Report

Minnesota O-Line Transfer Kahlee Tafai Commits to Cal

The 340-pound Tafai played two seasons at Washington before playing the 2025 season at Minnesota
Jake Curtis|
Cal football
Cal football | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

In this story:

California Golden Bears

Minnesota offensive lineman transfer Kahlee Tafai has committed to Cal, according to Chris Hummer and Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports.

In 2025, the 6-foot-5, 340-pound Tafai played in three games for Minnesota, with no starts. The Minnesota football website said the Gophers’ September 13 game against Cal was one of the three games in which Tafai played, although the boxscore for that game does not mention him as a participant.

He played against Rutgers and Northwestern State.

Offseason surgery following the 2024 season limited his participation last spring and slowed his progress on the depth chart.

The twitter video below shows what Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said about Tafai in August:

Tafai becomes the fourth offensive lineman new Cal head coach has brought in through the transfer portal.

However, the other three – South Dakota transfer Jacob Arop, Mississippi State transfer Jimothy Lewis and Florida International transfer Mykeal Rabess – are all considered tackles while Tafai is an interior offensive lineman.

Cal will be Tafai’s third college, and he has two years of college eligibility remaining.

He transferred to Minnesota following the 2024 season after spending two seasons at Washington. He played in eight games, including four starts, during his time with the Huskies.

After he entered the transfer following the 2024 season, he also had an offer from USC, but chose Minnesota.

Tafai played his high school ball at Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California.

Besides Washington, he also had offers from Oregon, BYU, Utah and Arizona, among others, coming out of high school.

Here is what 247 Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins said about Tafai in December 2022, shortly before he signed with Washington:

Two-Way lineman who played primarily as a defensive tackle as a junior but transitioned to offensive tackle as a senior. Was recruited on both sides of the ball but we like his upside more on the offensive line and that’s where he’ll line up for Washington. Had a dominant senior season playing left and right tackle and shows the ability to play anywhere along the offensive line. Moves well for a big man and looks comfortable on pulls and sweeps. Has the physicality and toughness needed to excel in the trenches. Can dominate at the point of attack and is an excellent run blocker. Can get to the second level and will continue to improve as a pass blocker with more reps.

Recent articles:

What the numbers say about Cal's chances of beating Duke

Former Arizona cornerback commits to Cal

Cal transfer LB Cade Uluave commits to BYU

Duke and North Carolina come to Haas Pavilion this week

Cal transfer running back Kendrick Raphael commits to SMU

We update the Cal football comings and going in our transfer tracker

Cal women's basketball scores first ACC win of the season

Published
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.

Home/Football