Cal Anticipates Starting Practice Friday, But Needs Final Medical Clearance
Cal is planning to begin its preseason training camp on Friday as scheduled, although it is still awaiting final clearance from City of Berkeley and Alameda County health officials.
"We are not cleared as of today," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said Wednesday during the Pac-12's virtual media day. "We are anticipating getting clearance today or tomorrow, and that would be the final piece that would allow us to practice in cohorts of 75 [players].
"We anticipate getting that approval; it's not our decision. We've followed protocol set forth by the state and our public health officials and then our doctors and trainers and sports medicine staff. So we anticipate getting that clearance, but again it's not my decision to make."
Cal opens its 2020 season on Nov. 7 at home against Washington, and if the Bears begin preseason practice Friday as expected, it would be similar to a traditional preseason training camp that would start in August, except for some practice-time limitations.
Wilcox explained that Wednesday:
"The limitation are the ones that are in any traditional fall camp, so to speak, in that you've got to start out in [only] helmets," he said. "And the other difference would be we're in a 20-hour [a week] rule, which is an inseason schedule, where in a typical August you have a full day of fall camp, which kind of an all-day schedule, so it's different in terms of the time you can spend with them. But in terms of the actual practice, other than the numbers [involved in the 75-player cohort limit] obviously, the actual practice limitations are the same as they've always been."
**Here is Wilcox's entire 25-minute interview session from Wednesday
Several players on the roster will not be participating in those practices because they have opted out of the season. The most significant of those who opted out is outside linebacker Tevin Paul, who has started 21 games with the Golden Bears.
The players who have opted out are, according to Wilcox, are defensive end Gabe Cherry, safety Erik Harutyunyan, wide receiver Jeremiah Hawkins, defensive back Isaiah Humphries, safety Steve Mcintosh, outside linebacker Ben Moos, defensive lineman Branden Owens, outside linebacker Tevin Paul and linebacker George Spithorst.
Other players who are not on the Bears' active 2020 roster for reasons other than opting out include running back Deshawn Collins, defensive lineman Miles Owens, offensive lineman Henry Bazakas, linebacker Tommy Vanis, offensive lineman Cal Frank, and offensive lineman Tanner Prenovost.
(Click here for a story on the Cal 2020 roster.)
Besides Paul, Humphries and Hawkins are the most significant players to opt out. Humphries, a transfer from Penn State, was likely to see time as a backup in the secondary, while Hawkins caught seven passes for 66 yards in 2019 and 16 receptions for 177 yards in 2018. Moos might have played some with Paul opting out.
Practices will be different because teams can have only 75 players on the field together. It means there practically will be two practices -- one for each group of players.
Wilcox explains:
"There’s some broken practices," Wilcox said, "two different practices to make sure you can continue to develop everybody on your team and still abide by the public health guidelines and provide an environment that everybody has approved of.
"In the 75-person [group], you’ve got to be deliberate, who’s in that practice, how many reps per player in individual, because the lines get shorter. The second group is going to have guys that are going to play that we’ve got to develop and spend time. So I think it’s about being deliberate in what you practice and how you spend time on it. Can’t just be wasting time, wasting reps, and we’re going to have to be creative with how we teach them and how we get the drill work done."
In any case, Cal will have less time to prepare for the season than some other Pac-12 schools that have been given clearance.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham noted Wednesday that the extra time for workouts might help his team.
"It certainly can't hurt," Whittingham said, "and we've tried to maximize it . . . We hope it pays dividends."
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