Early Enrollee Spotlight: ILB Muelu Iosefa
With the loss of record setting linebacker Evan Weaver on the horizon, getting a couple players with explosive potential at the position was a priority for Cal in the 2020 class. Inside linebacker coach Peter Sirmon landed a couple in Muelu Iosefa and Andy Alfieri.
Cal had a bigger battle on hand to hold onto Iosefa thanks to some late pushes from Oregon and USC, but the prevailing thought around the Mililani linebacker is that he has the size and tools to develop into an NFL linebacker. Iosefa even cited player development in choosing the Bears last June.
Iosefa is enrolled at Cal after playing in the Polynesian Bowl, with a spot open to compete for early playing time.
Muelu Iosefa
Hometown: Mililani, HI
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 220 lbs
Class: Freshman
Rivals Ranking: Ranked as a three star (5.7) outside linebacker by Rivals, the 41st ranked outside linebacker in the country.
High School Highlights
Iosefa was a big piece for a Mililani team that made the Open Division state semi-finals as a senior and the Open Division finals as a junior, an 18-8 record over two years. Iosefa was one of three Cal commits to be selected to the Polynesian Bowl, along with Stanley McKenzie and DJ Rogers.
Iosefa was also named first team all-Hawaii in 2019.
Did You Know
Iosefa and McKenzie are the first two Hawaiian players to sign with Cal since Drew Kobayashi in 2016. Iosefa's brother Jordan plays at USC as well.
They Said It
What to Expect
A lot of what makes Iosefa intriguing is his coverage ability and his ranginess. He showed an ability at Mililani to drop into coverage and break on running backs and receivers, making a handful of deflections. His junior film showed an ability to chase down breakaways, taking good angles to get to smaller running backs.
The size at 6'3" and 220 is something to build off of for Torre Becton and the Cal strength staff, especially at a position where there's an opening. It won't take much building for Iosefa to have the ideal size for the position. Evan Weaver and Jordan Kunaszyk played ILB at 235, and coming in early should help Iosefa compete for the vacant inside linebacker spot next to Kuony Deng.
Iosefa will have plenty of competition for the spot, with Evan Tattersall, Blake Antzoulatos, Kyle Smith, Ryan Puskas, and Tommy Vanis being some of the main competition. Deng could move around the defense as well to open up two spots for that group of inside linebackers to compete for.
At the end of the day, Iosefa's Cal career is going to be defined by development. Weaver's development at Cal is why Iosefa chose the Bears.
"Coach Sirmon, he knows how to coach up players and it shows," Iosefa told GoldenBearReport last June. "He’s been coaching up all-Americans."