Cal Spring Football: Bears Have a New Defensive Position: Star
When you lose two safeties who have been starters the past three seasons and were good enough to get invited to the NFL Combine, you have to make personnel adjustments.
When you are installing a completely new offense, you have to make personnel adjustments.
Cal faces both of those situations heading into the 2020 season, so the Bears are making personnel adjustments on both sides of the ball this spring.
On the defensive side, Elijah Hicks has been moved from starting cornerback to safety, where he is expected to be a starter.
"It's good for him; it's good for us," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said.
Cal lost both starting safeties -- Ashtyn Davis and Jaylinn Hawkins -- who have been standout the past few years. Davis is likely to get taken in the NFL Draft this spring, and Hawkins has a chance of getting drafted too. So Cal had find replacements to shore up a secondary that was the team's strength a year ago.
Camryn Bynum, who has been a starting cornerback the past three seasons, is still likely to get most of his playing time at cornerback, will probably see time at safety and nickel back next fall.
But the most interesting adjustment is the creation of a new position, what Wilcox calls the star.
"It's kind of hybid safety-outside linebacker," Wilcox said.
Daniel Scott, a 6-foot-2, 210-pounder who started at safety in place of the injured Davis in the Redbox Bowl, and incoming freshman Trey Paster, a 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, seem to fit the mold of someone who could play that position when needed.
"Different body types -- somebody that can help us against certain teams, certain type of offenses," Wilcox said.
Wilcox said that type of player could help "against a lot of the spread offense and broken formations, running RPO [run-pass option] teams, a guy that can do some different jobs for you that give you some flexibility."
Wilcox offered no explanation as to why the position is called star, but often those hybrid linebacker-safety positions lead to outstanding individual seasons. The poition can create a star.
On offense, Chinedu Udeogu, an outside linebacker the past three seasons who missed virtually all of last season with an injury, ha moved to tight end, which figures to be a prominent position in the offense of new offenive coordinator Bill Musgrave.
The fullback position also will be reborn in Musgrave's system, and with that in mind, Zach Angelillo has moved from linebacker to fullback. He has not played in a game the past two seasons, but the increased use of a fullback may give him a role on game day. Suddenly Angelillo is an important part of the team.
