West Virginia is Making a Late Push for Highly Coveted Cal Commit

West Virginia already has two tight ends committed in the 2026 recruiting class, but they may be in play for another. Recently, tight ends coach Michael Nysewander extended an offer to Taimane Purcell (6'3", 225 lbs), who is currently committed to Cal.

The Golden Bears recently fired their head coach, Justin Wilcox, and with some uncertainty regarding his replacement, their recruiting class will be targeted by many across the country, including Purcell.

Prior to making a verbal pledge to Cal, Purcell picked up offers from the likes of Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, BYU, Florida, Hawai’i, Michigan State, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, San Diego State, SMU, Stanford, Tennessee, UCF, UCLA, UNLV, USC, and Utah.

West Virginia will be losing Grayson Barnes, Jacob Barrick, and Greg Genross to graduation, so that room is going to need a few additions this offseason, beyond current commits Sam Hamilton and Kade Bush. If they are unable to flip Purcell, I think it's safe to assume that will be on their wish list for the transfer portal.

Purcell, does however, seem open to sticking it out with Cal, showing support for interim head coach Nick Rolovich on social media.

2026 WVU Football Recruiting Class

QB: Jyron Hughley, Wyatt Brown

RB: SirPaul Cheeks, Christopher Talley, Martavious Boswell

WR: Robert Oliver, Malachi Thompson, Charlie Hanafin, Keon Hutchins, Landon Drumm

TE: Sam Hamilton, Kade Bush

OL: Kevin Brown, Lamarcus Dillard, Rhett Morris, Camden Goforth, Aidan Woods

DL: Cameron Mallory

EDGE: Noah Tishendorf, Carter Kessler, Kamdon Gillespie

LB: Antoine Sharp, Miles Khatri, Cam Dwyer, Caleb Gordon

CB: Vincent Smith, Emari Peterson, Simaj Hill, Makhi Boone

S: Emory Snyder, Rickey Giles, Jayden Ballard

2026 WVU Football Recruiting Class

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