Report: Cal OLB David Reese Enters Transfer Portal

Although Reese was a seventh-year senior in 2024, he apparently has another year of college eligibility
Cal outside linebacker David Reese
Cal outside linebacker David Reese / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

There had been talk that Cal senior outside linebacker David Reese would be granted an additional year of college eligibility, and it seems those reports were accurate. However, Reese apparently will not spend that final year of college football at Cal.

Reese has entered the transfer portal, according to a report by Michael Zenitz of CBS Sports and 247 Sports on Tuesday.

This is a significant loss for Cal because he would have been Cal's top returning pass-rusher in 2025.

The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Reese had injury problems in 2024 but was a starter when healthy and played in 11 games. He recorded 22 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, as well as knocking down two passes and forcing two fumbles..

In 2023, he played in 13 games and became a starter in the second half of the season. He made six starts that season, and started each of the final four games. He recorded 36 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and three forced fumbles for the season. In those final four games he had 5.5 sacks and 7.0 tackles for loss.

He transferred to Cal from Florida following the 2022 season, and although he was technically a seventh-year senior at Cal this past season, he had two seasons at Florida that he missed because of injury. He also played in the 2020 pandemic season that did not count against a player's college eligibility. With those three seasons not counting against his eligibility, Reese is eligible for another season of college football.

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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.