July 10, 2009

Chris Nguon
BearTerritory.net Senior Writer

Arguably the deepest unit on the team this upcoming season resides in the secondary. The Bears return all four starters from last year's squad and two top reserves as well. That means that young athletes such as Marc Anthony and Josh Hill will have to battle it out with the veterans to move up the depth chart once Fall Camp begins in August. BearTerritory caught up with the talented duo Thursday evening at Memorial Stadium to get their take on how things are going.

Their journeys to Cal took on two completely different paths. One was a highly recruited, well-known blue-chip prospect from an emerging football powerhouse in Arizona and the other was a lightly recruited, somewhat undersized athlete with the heart of a bulldog from the southland of Houston.

Once they stepped foot on campus this time last year however, all that went out the window. They became teammates and their drive to get better has fueled each others' desire to succeed on the field ever since.

While Anthony might be the taller of the two corners, Hill might be the physically stronger. While Hill might be the tougher one, Anthony might be the smoother one. If there is one clear message watching the two athletes get "at it" this summer, it's the fact that both guys know how to play the game and both are ready to compete for playing time.

"I'm just trying to get better out here," said Hill, when BearTerritory caught up with the Texas native Thursday evening. "I know I'm one of the shorter DBs so I know I have to make up the height difference and play physical. That's my game plan every time I step on the field."

That attitude that Hill plays with is an attitude that a lot of smaller stature athletes carry with them. From Allen Iverson to Cal's own Vinnie Strang, the underdog role suits a bevy of athletes well in a bevy of different settings.

For Hill, much of his tenacity comes from his days growing up in the rough and tumble Lone Star State.

"Yeah I think definitely so," he said. "It's just hard nosed football down there. That's what I grew up on."

Hill admits that he enjoys rolling around with his Texas demeanor. And although Berkeley is thousands of miles away from his home state, there is a larger Texas presence developing at Cal as each recruiting season passes.

What most observers would consider to be two completely different worlds (Berkeley and Texas) is the same reason why Hill feels Cal is such a draw for a lot of athletes from that area of the country.

"I think that's the biggest thing," Hill said. "Growing up in Texas you hear how California is and all that. It just comes down to it being a new experience. For me I just wanted to see what else was out there and I knew Cal was one of the better public schools in the country so I knew I was getting the best of both worlds."

For Anthony on the other hand, his battle is much the same as Hill's. The Chandler (Ariz.) standout picked Cal from a litter of college programs that usually fill the who's who list of teams every Saturday in the Fall. As a junior in high school, Anthony quickly emerged as one of the premier prospects in the entire nation and backed that up with a strong senior campaign.

Truth be told, Anthony would probably start for a handful of squads out there right now but with the talent and experience that the Bears are blessed with, the former 4-star standout will have to earn his way to the top.

Still though, that hasn't stopped the smooth corner from soaking up all the info he can from his older teammates.

"When I first came in here they taught me a lot in terms of the tricks of the trade," Anthony said in reference to veterans such as Syd'Quan Thompson, Darian Hagan and Chris Conte. "I've tried to apply all those things they told me into my game as well to make myself better."

Thursday evening was also the first official workout for the 2009 Cal recruiting class and it didn't take long for Anthony to pass on what he's learned in his one year as a collegiate athlete. During the team sessions, Anthony pulled aside his teammates and was very visible in showing them what and where to go.

After all, it was just one year ago exactly that Anthony was in that exact position.

"I just telling Vachel Samuels about that," Anthony said. "Overall the message I will try to get across to guys like Vachel was the stuff you were able to do in high school you have to abandon once to get here because people in high school aren't as talented as people in college so you have to apply the things that college coaches teach you."

"That stuff we did in high school doesn't really work in college," he added.

Samuels learned that first hand Thursday evening when he had to go one-on-one with Cal's starting receivers from last season. On one particular play, Samuels was beaten deep by senior wide out Nyan Boateng, who sprinted into the end zone with the ball in his hands and Samuels a few steps behind.

Moments later, Anthony spoke with Samuels on the sideline and told us that the gist of that conversation was about technique.

"Technique is the biggest thing about this job," Anthony said. "People want to jam and all that stuff but in college everybody is fast and strong so you have to focus more on technique, which slows the game down."

"For me, just finishing plays was the big thing that I know I need to work on. Coach Simmons also stressed continuing to work on my technique. I know that's going to make me a better football player."

The Bears still have roughly a month of voluntary workouts before Fall Camp begins.

For Anthony and Hill however, the goal is simple.

"Move up on the depth chart," Hill said.

WELCOME NEWCOMERS

It didn't take long for some of the members of the '09 class to get right in the action Thursday evening during their first official workout as members of the Cal football team. Although not all players of the class were in attendance (for various reasons), there were a handful of notables that were in action.

Here are some quick notes on each player that we were able to keep an eye on Thursday evening;