Cal true freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has won the starting quarterback job, Golden Bears coach Justin Wilcox announced Monday.
Sagapolutele beat out Ohio State transfer Devin Brown for the gig. He will be the school’s first freshman opening game starter since Jared Goff in 2013.
Wilcox has been impressed with the young quarterback’s accuracy.
“He keeps his eyes down the field really well,” Wilcox told reporters. “Those two things showed up. He’s very, very coachable. He learns quickly.”
Sagapolutele committed to Cal in the summer of 2024 before flipping and signing with Oregon late in the 2024 season. But weeks later, he entered the transfer portal and chose the Golden Bears.
Sagapolutele is a four-star recruit from Hawaii. He passed for a state-record 10,653 yards in his career for Campbell High in Ewa Beach, located just west of Honolulu.
Goff was ready to play right away 12 years ago and part of the reason was due to his ability to handle all the responsibilities without getting flustered.
Wilcox became Cal coach for the 2017 season and didn’t coach Goff, who departed to be the No. 1 overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft. But he thinks Sagapolutele has some of the same attributes.
“He didn’t seem to get real up and down. He was very steady,” Wilcox said of Goff. “A lot of great quarterbacks have that character trait. Their ability to stay in the moment, not get too high or too low. …
“Jaron has some of that, where he’s just a pretty even-keeled guy. You don’t get the sense (that the moment) is going to be too big for him. I think he’s got that demeanor that’s very calm and collected, and competitive at the same time.”
Brown passed for 331 yards, three touchdowns and one interception over the past three seasons for the Buckeyes. He was the favorite to win the job when Cal began fall camp.
Last year’s starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza, transferred to Indiana after the campaign.
The Golden Bears open the season against Oregon State in Corvallis on Aug. 30.
–Field Level Media
