Even before the end of the season, Cal head coach Justin Wilcox acknowledged that regrouping along the offensive line would be a priority for the Bears this offseason. His team is losing multiple starters including starting left guard Rush Reimer and center Will McDonald plus right tackle TJ Session.

Finding proven replacements for those players has been a priority for the staff already in the transfer portal cycle, and Saturday night the latest piece fell into place.

The fact that the Bears were able to steal away a player from their rival should make it even sweeter for Cal fans.

Nevada starting left guard Tyson Ruffins is headed to Berkeley next season after announcing his commitment to Cal on Saturday.

The 6-foot-2, 291-pound redshirt freshman planned to visit Cal not long after entering the portal earlier this month but took a detour when he committed to Stanford last Saturday.

The Bears did not give up, however, and Ruffins made the trek out to Cal for a trip giving him an opportunity to spend time with new offensive line coach Famika Anae.

The experience with the Bears to flip his decision from one Bay Area school to the other, and now he is the sixth transfer addition for Cal this month.

Ruffins, who played his high school football at DeSean Jackson's alma mater Long Beach Poly, played in four games as a freshman in 2023 and preserved his redshirt giving him three seasons of eligibility with the Bears.

He made nine starts and played in 11 games this season at Nevada with 585 snaps played exclusively at left guard. Ruffins played mostly on the right side as a freshman in 2023.

The new Cal offensive lineman did not allow a sack this season and only allowed one quarterback hit in his 11 appearances.

He is the second offensive lineman to join the team under Anae with New Mexico left tackle LaJuan Owens, who decided Saturday that he is following Anae to Cal from UNM.

Both offensive linemen are only in their second year of college giving them three years of eligibility with the Bears.

In all, Cal now has six transfer commitments with Owens and Ruffins being the two offensive players to join the program so far. The Bears are in the process of revamping that side of the ball with four new coaches stepping in for 2025 including Anae, new offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, new receivers coach Kyle Cefalo and senior offensive assistant Nick Rolovich.

Ruffins is rated as a three-star transfer by Rivals matching his previous high school ranking. The second-year player was named to the prestigious All-American Bowl roster as a high school senior and picked up offers from programs such as Georgia Tech, Air Force, Hawaii and San Jose State in addition to multiple Ivy League schools.

– DL Tyson Ford (Notre Dame | Dec. 13)

– K Kyle Cunanan (Charlotte | Dec. 15)

– CB Jaden Mickey (Notre Dame | Dec. 20)

– CB Hezekiah Masses (FIU | Dec. 20)

– OL LaJuan Owens (New Mexico | Dec. 21)

– OL Tyson Ruffins (Nevada | Dec. 21)