California
California

California Team Report

Updated: April 22, 2012 04:19 EST

Cal, which was midway through its spring practice workouts as of March 29, will return its starting quarterback (Zach Maynard) and tailback (Isi Sofele) from a year ago, and it has a star wide receiver (Keenan Allen) returning as well, although he is sitting out the spring following ankle surgery.

The Bears have a lot of holes to fill on defense, having lost six starters on that side, and coaches were looking at a number of possibilities in the spring.

Nonetheless, the key goal in the spring was to re-establish the mind-set the team had several years ago, when it went into seasons thinking it was one of the best teams in the conference. The Golden Bears have slipped out of contender status the past few years, and the aura of being one of the conference's top dogs has left as well.

The Bears played much better at the end of the 2011 season than they did at the start, which provides some optimism, but the final 7-6 record is not what fans had in mind after Cal was a nationally ranked team in many of Jeff Tedford's years as the team's head coach.

The key is the development of Maynard, who went from nearly losing his starting status at midseason to being the most improved player on the team by the end. He is clearly the team's No. 1 quarterback, although, like several Cal players, he missed several spring practices to attend study groups.

Freshman Zach Kline, the most important recruit in the class of 2012, is already on campus and participating in spring drills, but he has virtually no chance to supplant Maynard, and he is unlikely to be the backup either. He is likely to redshirt, although he will be ahead of the game with the experience he gains in the spring.

Replacing inside linebackers Mychal Kendricks (who was a standout at the NFL combine) and D.J. Holt will be a key issue for the Bears. Cal also must replace both defensive ends and both safeties, and competition for those spots will probably carry into the fall.

The Bears have tons of talent at linebacker, and it's a matter of determining who will play on the inside and who will play on the outside. David Wilkerson played on the outside in the past but is likely to be a starting inside backer next season. Inside linebackers don't have to be as big in Clancy Pendergast's 3-4 as they do in some schemes. Kendricks proved that last season.

The Bears have adequate talent at defensive end, too, but the safety spots are a major concern. They hope some combination of Josh Hill, Avery Sebastian, Alex Logan and Avery Walls can fill that gap, but the competition continued midway through spring.

Offensively, the Bears need to replace several offensive linemen, tight end Anthony Miller and wide receiver Marvin Jones, with the latter being the main focus. Tedford hopes Maurice Harris or Joel Willis can be the answer at wide receiver.

"There are a lot of young guys there, and it's their turn to take the next step," Tedford said. "That's what you use spring football for."

--WR Keenan Allen, the team's best player, will miss all of spring practice after having surgery in early March to repair torn ligaments in his ankle. He suffered the injury in a pickup basketball game. Allen expects to be ready to work out in the summer and is certain he'll be ready to go in the fall.

--The disenchantment surrounding the departure of defensive line coach and chief recruiter Tosh Lupoi to Washington in January is starting to fade. However, there is an adjustment to new defensive line coach Todd Howard. While Lupoi, 30, spoke the players' language and was more of a buddy to them, Howard, 46, is more of a father figure. Howard's stories seem to fascinate and amuse the players.

--Cal's first scheduled spring workout was rained out, delaying the start of spring ball by two days. The weather is also a factor in terms of having renovated Memorial Stadium ready for the Sept. 1 opener. There was quite a bit of rain in Berkeley during March, although the stadium reportedly is still on target to be ready on time.

KEY QUESTION: The biggest question is the wide receiver spot opposite Keenan Allen. There are a lot of candidates, but none seems likely to be the threat Marvin Jones was a year ago. Maurice Harris, a redshirt freshman, may be the answer in the long term.

SPRING MOVERS:

LB David Wilkerson -- The 238-pound redshirt sophomore played a lot of outside linebacker for Cal, but he could wind up being a starting inside linebacker in 2012. As Mychal Kendricks showed, you don't have to be huge to play inside in Clancy Pendergast's 3-4 scheme. Kendricks successfully made the switch from outside to inside linebacker, and Wilkerson could do it, too.

WR Maurice Harris -- A cousin of Zach Maynard and Keenan Allen, Harris, a redshirt freshman, has the speed and hands to be a starter at the wide receiver spot opposite Allen. He has done well enough in the spring, but he lacks game experience.

DE Todd Barr -- He has played well in the spring and figures to get playing time next season, although he may not start.

RBs Brendan Bigelow, Daniel Lasco and Darren Ervin -- They are vying for the starting tailback position, not for 2012, but for 2013. All were freshmen in 2011, but Bigelow is the only one of the three who played last year. He was still recovering from knee surgery in high school. Ervin injured his ankle last spring (he enrolled at Cal in December 2010), then injured his thigh in the fall and redshirted. All three are healthy now.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "The quarterback situation last year, we didn't know who it was going to be." -- Cal coach Jeff Tedford, on the difference between last spring, when there was a competition for the starting quarterback spot, and this spring, where Zach Maynard is the clear No. 1 and Allan Bridgford is No. 2.

2012 OUTLOOK: Cal has established talent at quarterback (Zach Maynard), running back (Isi Sofele) and wide receiver (Keenan Allen), but a lot of holes need to be filled on defense for the Bears to compete for a division title. Maynard improved dramatically over the second half of the 2011 season, but he must continue to improve for the Bears to have the kind of season Cal fans have come to expect from Jeff Tedford's teams. There is enough talent to make up for the defensive losses, but it has not proven itself on the field in many cases. If Maynard continues to improve, if a second wide receiver emerges and if some safeties can be found, the Bears have a chance to compete in the Pac-12 North because the kingpins of the division, Stanford and Oregon, have some significant personnel losses.

SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: The offense could be quite good in 2012, but it depends on two things -- whether an adequate wide receiver can emerge to complement Keenan Allen and whether the offensive line can overcome the loss of two starters. In fact, the line is actually replacing three starters because center Dominic Galas will be moved to guard. If the line is adequate, QB Zach Maynard figures to continue the improvement he showed over the second half of last season, when his completion percentage rose and his interception rate dropped. Jeff Tedford probably will make more use of Maynard's mobility in the running game next season. TB Isi Sofele showed he is durable enough to take the pounding after rushing for 1,322 yards last season, and he could be an all-conference player in 2012.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: The Bears have enough talent on defense, but they will be short on experience, so how the defense will fare is an open question. The Bears have a wealth of talent at linebacker -- including Chris McCain, Cecil Whiteside, David Wilkerson, Dan Camporeale and Robert Mullins -- so they have the wherewithal to make up for the losses of ILBs Mychal Kendricks and D.J. Holt. It will be up to defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast to distribute that talent across the four linebacker spots effectively. The cornerbacks (Steve Williams and Marc Anthony) should be adequate, and the loss of underrated DE Trevor Guyton should be partially offset by Mustafa Jalil and his considerable potential. Safety is a concern, though. The Bears must develop two players for those two positions to make up for the loss of Sean Cattouse and D.J. Campbell.

SCOUTING THE SPECIAL TEAMS: This could be a problem, because the Bears lost two of their most consistent and productive players -- P Bryan Anger and K Giorgio Tavecchio. Vince D'Amato is expected to be the placekicker, and he should be all right, though he may not be as consistent as Tavecchio was. The punting job is still up in the air, and no one figures to be able to launch the booming 60-yarders Anger produced routinely.

TOP NEWCOMERS:

WR Bryce Treggs -- He is the Bears' top incoming recruit, and he will get a chance to compete for playing time immediately because the Bears have a need for a starting wide receiver to complement Keenan Allen.

QB Zach Kline -- Rated the nation's second-best pro-style quarterback prospect by Rivals.com, Kline has a strong arm and good leadership skills, and he is already on campus, participating in spring drills. He is unlikely to be either the starter or the backup at quarterback in 2012, and there is a pretty good chance he will redshirt.

LB Michael Barton -- Barton, who played at Concord's De La Salle High School, was named the San Francisco Bay Area player of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle after racking up 103 tackles. He could compete for playing time immediately at inside or outside linebacker because Cal has some holes to fill, although the Bears have a lot of talent at those positions.

RB Darren Ervin -- He redshirted his freshman year in 2011 because ankle and thigh injuries, but he will get a shot to compete for the No. 3 running back spot along with sophomore Brendan Bigelow and redshirt freshman Daniel Lasco.

ROSTER REPORT:

--Redshirt freshman Joel Willis has been switched from defensive back to wide receiver, and he figures to have a shot at playing time in 2012.

--DE Mustafa Jalil and QB Zach Maynard, both of whom are expected to be starters, were among several players who missed several spring practices to attend study groups to make sure they remain academically eligible. Jeff Tedford insists Maynard remains academically eligible despite rumors to the contrary.

--Dominic Galas will be switched from center to guard, but that transition may be put on hold until the fall because Galas is sitting out spring ball due to an undisclosed injury. Galas was the starting center last season, but his inability to snap the ball consistently in the shotgun formation necessitated the change.

--DB Stefan McClure is not participating in spring practice after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament late in the season.

--CB Marc Anthony is sitting out spring practice because of an undisclosed injury.