-
kyle bonagura
Berkeley, California– period quarterback Jaron-Kiwe Sagapolutele It’s a college football puzzle.
His debut for the Golden Bears in August defied conventional expectations for a true freshman. He was composed. He was accurate. He showcased his big arm and physical attributes – 6-foot-3, 225 pounds – that made him one of the most coveted high school quarterbacks in the 2025 class. whoever remembered Jared GoffBeginning in Berkeley a decade ago, the feeling was familiar. Here was a player for whom college football would serve as a stepping stone to the NFL.
In another era – like Goff’s, not so long ago – Sagapolutele’s arrival might have turned into optimism about the future. If he was already so good, what will he look like as a junior or senior? How good will the team be after he develops?
However, the emergence of Sagapolutele was processed differently. It was still natural to wonder how he would progress, but it was accompanied by inevitable speculation: Could Cal keep him?
From the beginning, Sagapolutele said what Cal fans wanted to hear.
“This is where I want to be. I want to be at Berkeley. I want to be a Bear,” he told ESPN in September. “And moving forward, I hope everyone knows this. I want to stay here. This is my home.”
There was a decline as the season unfolded. Turnover. Reads left out. Those were the normal hiccups of a new quarterback learning on the fly. During this time, Fernando Mendoza – Cal’s starting quarterback for most of the past two seasons – had developed into a surefire first-round NFL draft pick and was on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy and leading Indiana To clinch the top seed in the College Football Playoff.
Nothing exists outside the quarterback transfer prism in college football anymore. Every roster decision, coaching hire, zero budget and depth-chart conversation is filtered through a single question: Who is the quarterback, and how long do we actually have him?
even before transfer With restrictions lifted, quarterbacks have always moved at higher rates than other positions. With only one on the field, and no clear path to playing time, players were willing to sit out a year – even lose a year of eligibility – just to try their shot elsewhere.
Now, with the ability to move and play instantly, things have sped up. When the transfer portal opened last week, there were more than 100 quarterbacks on the move. Done correctly, the portal offers fast escape from invasive irrelevance. The safest formula has proven to be the least imaginative: Bring the quarterback along with the coach.
this past year, john mater Went with his offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle Washington State To oklahoma, devon dampier but did the same utahMoving forward with offensive coordinator Jason Beck new mexicoAnd in both cases, it worked: A year after the Sooners and Utes had losing records, each helped guide his team to a 10-win season,
They were hardly unique. bo nix Transferred to Oregon to reunite with offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, who coached him for a year golden brown color, Caleb Williams Lincoln Riley followed USC And won the Heisman Trophy. cam ward Eric flourished after moving with Morris incarnate word For Washington State. dillon gabriel Reunited with his former coordinator Jeff Lebby ucfWhen he transferred to Oklahoma.
When a player moves with a coach, it makes evaluation simpler. Michael Penix Jr.transferred to Washington To reunite with Kalen DeBoer, who coached him as offensive coordinator at Indiana. Ryan Grubb, UW’s then-offensive coordinator and current OC alabamaSaid that because Penix already spoke the language, the transition was easy.
“Michael was in our system in Indiana. You watched him run our stuff and it was like, ‘Oh wow, he’s going to be able to not only come in and do the things we believe he can do, but also understand the system – it’s what we call it, it’s going to be a lot faster,'” Grubb said.
It makes it harder to evaluate, Grubb said, if a quarterback is operating in a completely different style of offense.
“If a player was running TennesseeIt’s the offense and then us coming in and trying to run it – and Tennessee has a really good offense. But it seems like if they’re trying to run our system, is that being translated?” he said. “Just two really, really different systems, where I don’t know if this guy’s already been there for a couple of years and he’s settled in, it’s going to take a while.
“And if you’re saying this guy is coming here to be your starter, you better be absolutely sure he has the mental capabilities to run your system.”
Penix’s familiarity translated directly into the production. At Washington, Penix threw for 4,641 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2022, followed by 4,903 yards and 36 touchdowns in 2023, turning the Huskies into a national contender almost overnight. In two seasons, Washington went 25–3, reached the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and finished as a Heisman Trophy finalist before Penix was selected No. 8 in the 2024 NFL Draft. Since the opening of the portal, many teams have been following this path.
Rocco Becht He has stated that he plans to reunite with Matt Campbell after Campbell’s departure iowa state To penn state, Drew Mestemaker announced that he would follow Eric Morris North Texas To oklahoma stateAnd AJ Hill committed to arkansasFollowing new Razorbacks coach Ryan Silverfield memphisThe logic is the same: reduce uncertainty and shorten the time between arrival and impact,
texas That model hasn’t been used, but offensive coordinator Kyle Flood sees the logic.
Flood said, “I think if you asked any college coach, they would tell you, in an ideal world, you would love to recruit your players, retain them and develop them over three, four, five years, whatever it takes.” “But like I said before, that’s not college football anymore. It’s not.
“I think the art of recruiting is really the art of evaluation. It doesn’t mean evaluating whether he’s a good player or not. That’s not really evaluation. The evaluation is whether he really has the qualities to excel at a high level in your system.
“Meeting them now, when they’re in the portal, is not like meeting them in high school. It’s really like your NFL top-30 visits where you say, ‘Hey, I’ve got to get this guy in a room and I’ve got to find out if this guy wants to coach, does he believe in the things that we believe in, how great does this player really want to be.'”
Despite the constancy of Sagapolutele Avoid all season long that he wants to stay in Berkeley, there’s only so much that can be trusted in this kind of conversation.
Eventually, Sagapolutele committed to Cal, enrolled at Oregon, spent time on campus in Eugene and then changed paths again to land at Berkeley. All I have to say is that circumstances keep changing.
As the season progressed, doubts about their future never completely disappeared, and when coach Justin Wilcox was fired, it was front and center again.
As general manager Ron Rivera began Cal’s coaching search, the quarterback position was part of the discussion from the beginning. Rivera told the candidates that he strongly felt they would be able to retain Sagapolutele and that he planned to do so. No guarantee was given. Rivera described a process that mirrors recruiting as well as free agency.
The pitch was not just about retaining one player.
“With a guy like that, people will want to come play For play it more with Him, be a receiver, be a tight end, be a running back, be an offensive lineman,” Rivera said. “Why? Because not only will scouts come to see him, but they’ll also see other people around him.”
After hiring Tosh Lupoi, the urgency became concrete. One of Lupoi’s first steps was to board a commercial flight to Hawaii, where Sagapolutele came home for a brief visit. Lupoi met him face to face and quickly secured your commitment To stay.
Keeping Sagapolutele in place had a wide-ranging impact. Retention made easy. Recruitment also took place. Receivers and skill players want to know who is throwing the ball. Stability at quarterback, even if temporary, creates momentum.
But there is nothing permanent in this. These are now battles won one year at a time. If Sagapolutele takes the expected step forward next season, speculation will return just as quickly. This is not a judgment on him or Cal. This is simply the reality of modern college football.
