Cal Football: WR Mikey Matthews Swaps Truck and Snow For Bigger Opportunities

`I decided to transfer because I felt the offensive scheme wasn’t right for me.' - Mikey Matthews on why he transferred from Utah.

When he transferred this winter from Utah to Cal, wide receiver/return specialist Mikey Matthews left behind a couple things that wouldn’t be part of his experience in Berkeley.

Among them was the new Ram 1500 truck given last October to each of the Utes’ 85 scholarship players through Utah’s NIL Crimson Collective. “It was a super surprise,” Matthews said. “It was a blessing. I’d never had a truck. Great truck . . . real quiet, music was really loud.”

But Matthews already had his own car so he wasn’t left by the side of the road when he returned the truck before departing Salt Lake City.

A Southern California native who graduated early from high school, Matthews saw snow for the first time after enrolling at Utah in January a year ago. “And it snowed all the way until May,” he recalled. 

No truck and no snow, but Matthews is excited to be at Cal, where he expects his opportunities as a pass receiver will blossom.

Utah ranked 117th nationally in passing offense last fall, in part because of a season-long injury to quarterback Cam Rising. Matthews already had entered the transfer portal by the times the Utes faced Northwestern in the Las Vegas Bowl, where they completed just nine passes in a 14-7 defeat.

“I decided to transfer because I felt the offensive scheme wasn’t right for me. They don’t throw the ball a lot,” said Matthews, who is joined by Tobias Merriweather and Jonathan Brady as newcomers in the Bears’ receiver corps.

The 5-foot-9, 180-pound sophomore, once a four-star prospect, has no regrets about his time at Utah. He stays in touch with many of his former teammates and said the experience was a productive introduction to college football.

Matthews will play primarily in the slot for the Bears, and he expects to be a major contributor after catching 29 passes for 261 yards last fall. Missing from his 2023 stat line: A touchdown.

“I haven’t scored a touchdown since high school,” he said. “I’m not too worried about it. It’s going to be a good one and it’s going to be here.”

Cal coach Justin Wilcox says Matthews’ impact already is evident.

“The first thing that jumps out about Mike is he’s a very competitive guy. You see that in the drill work, just his energy at practice. He’s a Type A and I love that,” Wilcox said. 

“He’s still got to improve — I think he’s done a good job at picking up the offense. He can run and I think he loves football. It shows when he comes out here to practice — he enjoys playing the game.”

Matthews also brings the Bears a big personality, which receivers coach Burl Toler III believes will translate to a quality every team covets.

“One of the reasons we brought Mikey in was his personality. I needed some leadership, I needed some aggression out of the receiver position, and I wanted a person who was in a position of leadership in a big-time role,” Toler said. 

“He’s extremely confident and that confidence comes from being prepared. It comes from wanting to be great. It comes from being comfortable and his big personality and his support from his family. He’s come in and done all those things right away.”

Asked about Matthews showing his personality, quarterback Fernando Mendoza acknowledged, “I don’t think he struggles with that,” adding that it masks his new teammate’s dedication to improving. 

“A lot of people see Mikey’s flashiness on the field but don’t see his dedication off the field, especially when we’re in winter workouts,” Mendoza said. “It’s really grueling, more of a mental fortitude test. Even after that, Mikey’s a guy who every singe day would do a core circuit. Or after spring ball, come in and watch film.”

Matthews, who also may return punts and kickoffs for the Bears, was more than a football player at Mission Viejo High School. He followed the path of two older brothers and began playing rugby when he was 5 years old. It was touch, not tackle, at that age.

“We love recruiting and bringing in guys who have done other sports,” Toler said. “Having somebody who’s played rugby, you understand they’re physical. You understand they know how to take care of their body, they have good balance, they know what to do with the ball, good vision. A lot of those things translate to football.”

Matthews says he loves everything about the sport of rugby. 

“I miss it,” he said. “I wish I could play both.”

Matthews knows that’s not likely, and Toler confirms it. “He’s here to play football — we’ll leave it at that right now.”