Cal's recruiting barbecue Saturday was an informal chance for recruits to get to know each other and the coaches a little more. Hart (Newhall, CA) QB and Cal commit Zach Johnson was no exception

"It was great, it was really good to get in the same place with some of the guys that I've talked to," Johnson said, "either over Twitter or texting back and forth with them. It's good to kinda get in the same room with them, get to talk to the coaches again, and to get in the same room with the guys where we get to talk about whatever, whether it's football or life, stuff like that. "

Johnson also got the chance to connect with one of his future receivers, as new commit Aidan Lee made his way to Berkeley for the visit.

"I actually talked to Aidan before," Johnson said, "he kinda gave me the heads up that he might be committing in the next few weeks, I didn't expect it to be so soon, but it was cool getting to talk with him and to get to see him commit and adding another guy to the family."

Johnson also got to talk to a handful of tall dudes who he'll throw passes to, in tight ends Jake Muller and Kaleo Ballungay, along with wideout Jeremiah Hunter. Johnson's become well versed in what they can do since they've been committed, and got to put faces to names this weekend.

"As a quarterback, it's always good to talk to the receivers, and every time I see we've put an offer out or get another commit, I watch their film," Johnson said, "So all the other guys, I've watched them play a little bit and know how good they are, it gets me excited to get on the same field with them and start working, just knowing they're gonna be great players."

Johnson's coming off a season where he threw for 2892 yards, completed 61.2% of his passes, and threw 30 touchdowns and 13 interceptions for Hart, and getting to the barbecue reminded him how quickly this process is going for him, and how soon he'll be at Cal.

"Whenever you get to get in person and talk about football," Johnson said, "talking about what's to come, and really how fast everything is coming. The season starts for us in three weeks, and after that ends, you jump right into preparing for moving into college. That was something we talked about, and it definitely gets me excited for the future."

That future at Cal could come sooner rather than later. The Hart standout has the potential to be an early enrollee in the 2020 class.

"I'm set up to do that, that's been my plan," Johnson said, "I've taken the necessary classes, gotten the necessary credits to be able to do that if I want to. That's something that's on my mind, that I'll be deciding coming up."

Whenever he does get to Cal, Johnson's got a former Bear in his corner. Former Cal golfer Max Homa is coached by Johnson's dad (Homa won his first PGA Tour event in May of this year), and he's been giving the future Cal QB advice in the meantime.

"I talked with him too right after getting the offer," Johnson said, "and even after I committed, and he was real pumped, because he knows what a great school it is, a great environment. I got talk with him about what Cal is like, he's definitely going to be somebody that I can call up and ask about any questions I have related to the school or not. I'm definitely thankful to reach out to him and ask some questions."

Now, Johnson gets to focus on his senior year, as he's put on 30 pounds since the end of last season and has developed more as a thrower. He'll look to lead Hart deeper into the playoffs in 2019, after a 6-5 record and a playoff appearance in his first year as a varsity starter.