With 20 O-Linemen in Camp, Cal is Seeking a New Day

A focal point of Cal’s massive rebuild on offense this season has been to limit sacks.

The Bears surrendered 49 sacks a year ago, one of the worst totals in the country.

Cal begins this season with an almost entirely new offensive staff, led by coordinator Bryan Harsin but also featuring line coach Famika Anae, whose New Mexico O-line last season allowed just five sacks, fewest in the country.

“Sacks are bad,” Harsin conceded. “It could be on the O-line, it could be on scheme, it could be on the quarterbacks, too. It’s a combination of everyone understanding the importance of how that impacts the team. We don’t want sacks.”

To remedy the issue, the Bears went heavy after offensive linemen in recruiting this past offseason. They brought in 10 newcomers — six transfers and four high school prospects.

That gives them a total of 20 offensive linemen on the roster, three more than they carried a year ago. All 20 won’t play this season, but Harsin sees immediate promise in perhaps half of them.

“You always want to have seven,” he said, referring to the minimum number of O-linemen in the regular rotation. “I think we have two O-lines that can go out there and play. I think we have good depth.

“Coach Anae has done a great job with that group. We’re talking about physical changing — those guys have definitely done that. We’e put a lot on a some guys — we’re talking 25 or 30 pounds. They’ve changed their bodies.”

The depth is likely fluid after barely one week of practice and because Cal is not allowing anyone to watch practice, we don’t know how things are sorting out.

Here’s a breakdown of the candidates, separated into four categories:

Returning starters (4)

These four combined for 32 starts last season, providing a solid starting point:

Nick Morrow: The 6-8, 315-pound redshirt sophomore, a defensive end and tight end in high school, emerged to start the first 11 games last season at left tackle before missing the final two with an injury.

Bastian Swinney: The 6-6, 310-pound redshirt junior started 11 games last season, mostly at right guard, although he has experience at center. Played in 12 games in 2023.

Sioape Vatikani: The most experienced of the returnees, the 6-4, 320-pound redshirt junior guard was limited by injury to five games and three starts last season. But over the two previous campaigns he played 24 games with 20 starts.

Frederick Williams III: A 6-5, 310-pound redshirt sophomore, Williams started five of the final six games last season, seeing action at both tackle spots.

Other returnees (6)

Four of these players were redshirted as freshmen last season:

Sam Bjerke: A 6-5, 330-pounder from San Diego, Bjerke redshirted and did not play as a freshman last season.

Akili Calhoun: A highly rated defensive line prospect coming out of high school in the East Bay, Calhoun struggled with injuries and has flipped to the O-line. The redshirt senior has bulked up to 6-4, 305 pounds.

Syris Corley: One of three O-linemen from Texas in this Cal recruiting class, the 6-4, 310-pounder was redshirted and did not play last season.

Tyler Knape: The 6-4, 295=pound redshirt freshman came to Cal from Austin, Texas, where he played on Westlake High School teams that compiled a three-year record of 44-2.

Braden Miller: A 6-6, 315-pound redshirt junior, Miller played six games off the bench for the Bears last season after transferring from Michigan State. Older brother Barrett Miller was a starter for the Bears in 2023 after transferring from Stanford.

Aiden Newbill: The 6-8, 290-pounder from Austin, Texas, was redshirted as a freshman last season as saw no action.

Transfers (6)

The Bears’ huge influx of transfers reflects the urgency they have to significantly improve on the O-line. Remains to be seen how many of these players wind up in the starting lineup but don’t be surprised if most or all of them find places on the two-deep:

Leon Bell: Bell played the first two games of last season for Mississippi State, making his first career start against Arizona State. The 6-8, 330-pound redshirt junior tackle then was suspended for the rest of the season without explanation. He played two seasons at Kilgore JC in Texas before landing at MSU.

Daveion Harley: A 6-2, 305-pound sophomore, Harley comes to Cal from Jacksonville State, where he played 25 games with nine starts over two seasons, allowing just two sacks in 826 snaps at center and guard.

LaJuan Owens: A 6-4, 335-pound redshirt sophomore, Owens comes to Cal from New Mexico, where he started 10 games at left tackle last season under Anae. Owens, who spent one season at Tulane, was part of a Lobos’ offensive line that allowed just five sacks all last season.

Lamar Robinson: A 6-3, 305-pound senior, Robinson played 757 snaps while starting all 12 games at left guard last season for Georgia State. He played 12 games with one start for the Panthers in 2023 after starting all 11 games at Norfolk State in 2022.

Tyson Ruffins: A 6-2, 310-pound redshirt sophomore, Ruffins played in 11 games and made one starts at guard for Nevada last season. He started twice as a true freshman in 2023 after earning all-league honors three times at powerhouse Long Beach Poly High School.

Jordan Spasojevic-Moko:A native of Australia, the 6-5, 335-pound redshirt senior guard comes to Cal from Charlotte, where he started 10 games last season and 13 over two seasons. He spent the three previous seasons at Texas A&M after one year at Snow JC in Utah. He got his first taste of American football playing for the Brisbane Rhinos high school team.

True freshmen (4)

The Bears hope these four guys are the future. We don’t expect any of them to make significant game-day contributions this season:

Jojo Genova: A 6-5, 290-pound center from southern California powerhouse Mater Dei High School, Genova comes to Cal after helping the Monarchs to a national championship in 2024.

Ben Howard: A 6-4, 340-pounder, Howard played offensive tackle in high school at Lehigh, Utah.

Justin Hasenbuetl: A 6-5, 285-pound native of Cologne, Germany, Hasenbuetl played high school football last season at Rabun Gap, Georgia. He is projected as a guard.

Michael Klisiewicz: An East Bay product from Liberty High School in Brentwood, the 6-6, 310-pounder begins his career at tackle.

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