Cal had all of four practices last spring, so in offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave's mind, they're already 'in the black' compared to last year, where they only got in four practices prior to a nationwide shutdown. Now, they have time to expand from the base slate of concepts from a year ago, expanding in the run game and pass game, along with throwing in some tricks that they didn't have a year ago.

"We're ready to expand the run game now that we have the time on task to make everybody feel comfortable with those schemes," Musgrave noted. "There will be some gap schemes where we pull guys, guards, tackles, centers, and then there will be some zone schemes as well. We'll try to throw in some trickeration, if that's a word, some gimmicks. We want to be difficult to defend, and this is the time of year to practice your trick plays, not during the season where they're one week wonders, this is the time of year to practice our exotics so we get plenty of turns at them, so we can dial them up during the fall."

That's the goal for this spring, as Musgrave knows the roster a bit better after being in Berkeley for a year, and he feels the Bears are ready for more expansion. With that comes an offense that fits.

What is known about the Cal offense is as follows:

1. They will use heavier sets more than they have in the past.

2. There's still plenty of room for 11 personnel, which they used frequently in 2020.

3. The Cal staff felt limited enough in their preparation in 2020 that they limited the volume of the playbook.

4. They're going to run 'pass concepts that fit.'

That fourth point has stuck out, in that it's a relatively vague term. Musgrave expanded on that Wednesday, as they're looking to build from their base concepts around what they have.

"We're always thinking of specific players strong traits or skillsets," Musgrave said, "then we'll build the concepts around those skillsets. Definitely thinking players first, we have experience in various schemes, and we have a big inventory to select from to get our guys in a position to be successful."

That leads to specializing for different guys. There's obviously a want not to put guys into a box, that only certain guys can run certain routes, but there's a general thought that you can utilize players better in certain situations. Take the three most tenured wideouts in Trevon Clark, Kekoa Crawford, and Nikko Remigio.

"Trevon is a really good route runner," Musgrave noted, "he can really accelerate when he comes out of the break."

Clark's route running may lead to more in the way of curls, slants, comebacks, deep ins, and other routes that require good cuts to create separation. Clark has done well in the vertical game in the past, and can compliment it with route running.

"Kekoa, real sharp, crafty," Musgrave noted, "knows coverages, so we ask him to read coverages on his routes."

Crawford's best game in a Cal uniform came against Oregon State a year ago, where he made a couple big plays vertically while also making a couple big plays after the catch in space. His ability to read coverages helps with various routes that require subtle adjustments due to coverage, like some vertical routes, post patterns, crossing routes and the like.

"Nikko, he's just explosive," Musgrave noted, "we've got to get the ball in his hands because that's when the fun begins. He lights up like a Christmas tree when you get the ball in his hands."

Remigio's best game at Cal came against Stanford in 2019, where he had a number of catches on crossing routes in open space, in addition to a couple vertical routes. Finding him on crossing routes, along with some quick game stuff, would appear to be a priority as well.

With how Cal's practices are set up, it allows for multiple team periods at once, which makes for more plays to put on film. The Bears are still only a third of the way through spring, and have forty more practices of work, along with an offseason of conditioning before they play a game September 4th, which should leave plenty of time for the Bears to figure themselves out.

Back-Up QB Battle

QB Jaden Casey entered the transfer portal Wednesday, leaving four quarterbacks in Chase Garbers, Zach Johnson, Robby Rowell and Spencer Brasch. Musgrave noted that the backup spot is going to be decided by whoever takes the leap, and he broke down the non-Garbers members of the QB room.

Johnson - "Zach is real sharp, he can move. He's got good speed, I don't know if he's as fast as Chase, but he's close. He can use his legs, he throws ball with anticipation, it arrives early when it's supposed to on routes, he's doing a nice job thus far."

Brasch- "Spencer's a bit taller and I'd call Spencer a flamethrower, he can really throw the football. He can frozen-rope it across the field, down the field. He's got good speed too, he had a couple good runs Monday in practice, where he went down the sideline and created explosive plays with his legs."

Rowell- "Robby does a nice job, he had a terrific morning (Wednesday), threw a couple touchdown passes in our red area period, had a good run, not as fleet of foot as those other guys. He's still a threat, and when he has those opportunities, he makes the most of them."

Other Notes

With Jermaine Terry being a big win for the Bears in the recruiting game, there's obviously focus on him as he gets into spring ball. TE coach Geep Chryst noted that Terry was focusing on the on-line part of tight end duties, and Musgrave echoed that it's a bit too early to say how much Terry contributes to the Cal offense in 2021.

"We don't know what the big picture looks like (for Terry)," Musgrave said, "this was his fifth day out there, we've had him playing our Y position, battling defensive ends and outside linebackers in the run game, and running good routes in the pass game."

In addition, the Bears are also looking for more from Chris Brown Jr., who dealt with injury for most of the truncated 2020 season. Getting him back to his late 2019 form is a priority, as the Bears are finding more ways to put the ball in his hands.

"We're throwing the ball more to Chris also," Musgrave said, "he has some really reliable hands, we had a third and fourth down period, critical situations, he caught some passes, got his pads going the right direction up the field, and got a good conversion. We're looking for him to be more healthy than he was last fall."

Cal returns to practice Friday morning, and is likely to go full pads on Saturday.