Cal Football: TE Chinedu Udeogu Heads to Illinois as Grad Transfer

Udeogu had been a defensive player for most of his Cal career before getting switched to tight end in 2019

Tight end Chinedu Udeogu announced via social meda that he is transferring from Cal to Illinois as a graduate transfer.

Udeogu is from Inverness, Illinois, and he will be going to the team that Cal defeated in the Redbox Bowl this past season. According to The News-Gazette (Champaign–Urbana, Ill.) he will be a defensive tackle at Illinois after being a defensive end, an outside linebacker and a tight end at Cal.

UC Berkeley Class of 2020 —> The University of Illinois #Illini #B1G 🔶🔷 @LovieSmith @DLineGURU pic.twitter.com/M6Dp2Oh78T

— Chinedu Udeogu (@TheChinedu) May 16, 2020

He earned his degree in business administration at Cal.

“After missing last season to injury, I’m excited to announce that I’ll be continuing my athletic and academic journey at the University of Illinois, receiving a Master of Science in Economics!" Udeogu said in his twitter message.

Cal is well-stocked at tight end despite some departures. Udeogu was one of six tight ends on the Bears' spring roster, and that included 2019 starter Jake Tonges, who will be a redshirt junior in 2020, and Gavin Reinwald, who started three games last season and also will be a redshirt junior this season. They combined for 27 receptions in 2019. Collin Moore, who caught a touchdown pass for Cal in the Redbox Bowl, put his name in the transfer portal in April, and it remains unclear whether he will return to Cal.  Moore's name is not currently listed in the transfer portal by 247Sports. Redshirt freshman McCallan Castles was Cal's starting tight end in the 2019 opener, but he left the team early in the season and eventually transferred to UC Davis.

Thank you to all the coaches and programs that were willing to give me an opportunity throughout the transfer process. Very excited to continue my academic and football career at University of California Davis! Go Aggies! #Shredville pic.twitter.com/nTv5ONNGfO

— McCallan Castles (@McCallanCastles) October 25, 2019

Cal also signed two tight ends in its incoming freshman class (D.J. Rogers, and Jake Muller) and a third incoming freshman (Tommy Christakos) could be a tight end or a wide receiver. The Bears got another commitment from a highly rated tight end for its 2021 class (Jermaine Terry).

Cal used two tight ends in some alignments last season, and new Cal offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave makes use of two-tight end sets in some of his offensive schemes.

Udeogu is the seventh player to transfer to Illinois during this offseason, and five of them have been graduate transfers as Illini coach Lovie Smith looks for immediate help. 

Udeogu was recruited by Sonny Dykes to Cal as an edge rusher, and Dykes did not use a tight end in his offense.  After redshirting the 2016 season, Udeogu played in all 25 games in 2017 and 2018 as a defensive end/outside linebacker in Justin Wilcox's 3-4 defense.

Udeogu played in the first two games of 2019 as an outside linebacker before he was injured. He was then moved to the other side of the ball to the tight end group. He got only four practies in at tight end during the spring before it was canceled.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.