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Published Jan 21, 2025

Cal OLB David Reese enters transfer portal

Matt Moreno • GoldenBearReport

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@MattRMoreno

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David Reese came to Cal hoping to get his career off the ground with the Bears. After putting together two impressive seasons, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound outside linebacker appears to be on his way towards finishing his career at another school.

The seventh-year senior from Fort Pierce, Florida announced Tuesday that he would be entering the transfer portal seeking out a new program for his final college season. Injuries have impacted Reese's career, which began at Florida, but he was able to get on track towards the end of the 2023 season at Cal.

Injuries again kept him from a hot start in 2024, but he again shined toward the end of the year resulting in another strong showing in the fall. Across two seasons with the Bears, Reese collected 58 tackles, including 15.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 5 forced fumbles and 5 passes defensed.

That productivity took a bit of a dip in 2024 as he played in 11 of 13 games but still turned in a solid showing for the Bears. He had 22 tackles this season to go along with 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, both good enough for third on the team.

His 2 forced fumbles tied him with inside linebackers Teddye Buchanan and Hunter Barth for most on the team.

Reese became the heartbeat of the defense in many ways throughout the offseason and was leaned on for leadership as Justin Wilcox's team went through plenty of change with its roster.

His best performance of the season came in what will likely be his last game at California Memorial Stadium as Reese had a season-high 6 tackles to go along with 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble in the Bears' Big Game win over Stanford.

The veteran edge rusher had a season-high two sacks in Cal's road win over Wake Forest back in November helping the Bears to secure their first conference win as a member of the ACC.

The Bears will rework the outside linebacker unit moving into 2025 with the departure of Xavier Carlton, who has exhausted his eligibility following a stellar season. Cal will return contributors such as Ryan McCulloch, Cheikh Fall and Serigne Tounkara.

To help replace the likes of Carlton and now Reese, Cal outside linebackers coach Vic So'oto and the Bears' staff brought in former four-star edge rusher and Washington transfer Jayden Wayne. The team also signed outside linebackers Odera Okaka and John Tofi Jr. back in December.