Prior to every practice, during the Bears' stretching lineup, you'll see one blue clad figure weaving in and out of the lines, giving hi-fives and fist-bumps to every single player. That figure is Aristotle Thompson as the Bears' running backs coach makes an effort to say something to all 117 players on the roster.
"Something I've done my whole coaching career," Thompson said about his pre-practice routine, "whether it be during practice and on gameday. I'm trying to make sure everybody knows that we need everybody out there, it's not just getting the running backs going, letting everybody know that we're one team, one unit and we're not here to compete against each other, we're here to compete with each other. It's a way I find to connect with people outside of my position group."
As that team comes together, Tuesday marked the 10th out of 25 fall camp practices, and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave has said that the installation of the offense (about halfway done last Thursday), is nearly complete.
"Probably 80 or 90 percent now," Musgrave said of installation,"we're pretty close to having it all in before we start honing it down for a gameday gameplan."
"(The playbook)'s a lot bigger," QB Chase Garbers added, "I couldn't give you a multiple, but it's a lot bigger than last year. We've really opened up, it's a fun playbook to be a part of, I know our offensive line, wideouts, tight ends and running backs are having a great time with it."
Musgrave and company had a chance to look at some of the film from Saturday's scrimmage, and the Bears offensive coordinator is enthused by the strides of his guys up front.
"Offensive line, they had a good day," Musgrave noted, "they knocked people around. The tight ends are doing a great job in both the run and pass game, that's a deep group that we're looking forward to using."
Behind them, running back Damien Moore was the rushing leader during the scrimmage, as Musgrave agreed with a comparison to former Bear CJ Anderson.
"He's made strides," Musgrave said. "He made a couple runs today, he's very instinctive, put on this earth to be a great football player."
Thompson added onto that, with Moore's balance improving, as the second year Bishop Amat product continues to run with the first team.
"What Damien's done a good job of is with his balance and change of direction. He has unbelievable change of direction," Thompson said, "but when I talk about his balance, after contact he is able to work through it. There were some runs he had last season, I can think of a couple in particular during the Oregon State game where he makes a good cut, but he gets hit and his feet get really narrow, tipped out forward, and he goes down. He's still gaining another two to three yards (falling forward), but one of the things he's worked on is to keep his feet accelerating through and hopefully come out of that with an explosive run for us."
Thompson had a bit to say about every single one of his backs, but the other backs running with the first group throughout camp have been Chris Brooks and Marcel Dancy. For Brooks, Thompson has preached pad level to him more than anything else.
"Chris has always been a high motor guy and been great in practice," Thompson said, "but one of the things we've been working on with him is getting his pad level down so he can use those powerful legs through. It's something we talked about when I first got here and Chris has run with it on his own."
With Dancy, a super-senior, the leadership factor is there, to where Thompson doesn't have to pump him up to get him moving.
"Marcel is a natural leader," Thompson said, "you don't have to get Marcel going. I'll come in here at 6 in the morning and Marcel is out on the field doing his own workout. He is setting a standard for the way things need to be done."
A lot of Cal's success in 2021 will rest on Garbers, as the fourth year starter continues to get back in rhythm. The Cal quarterback has graduated from the school, and noted he's one of 20 or so in the graduate certificate program through the Haas School of Business, and while he didn't have the cleanest of days during the Saturday, Musgrave feels his recognition of defense is improving.
"Today he had some great plays," Musgrave saidm "recognizing the defense, being a step ahead of them in terms of setting our pass protection and going through his prgressions. We're seeing him get into his battle rhythm here in mid-August."
Garbers has also been working with a wide variety of receivers with the first team, with Justin Baker, Mason Mangum, Mavin Anderson, and Jeremiah Hunter all rotating through at various points this fall.
"Justin Baker in particular," Garbers noted about which young wideouts are standing out, "grabbing me after workouts or just watching film, coming and texting me saying 'hey, can we take a look at this.' Mason's also another great player, making a jump from where he was last year. Mavin Anderson's another Orange County guy, Mission Viejo, got a lot of talent to him. He came in very mature physically and I see him playing a lot this year for us. We knew Jeremiah was special from last year, especially in the vertical passing game. He came back right where he left off from last year."
Anderson has flashed as a true freshman, probably ahead of most people's projections for him. He's seen plenty of reps with the first team over the last handful of practices, and Musgrave has seen why the former Mission Viejo standout has ascended so quickly.
"Every time he's on the field and the ball finds him, he makes a play," Musgrave said. "He's in the right place with the right depth, he knows where to get lined up and he knows the plays. Mavin has had a real impressive initial ten days here this camp for a guy who showed up in late June."
Cal returns to practice Wednesday morning for their 11th practice of camp. The next open practice to the public is on Saturday August 21st, starting at 9:30 AM
