Jaydn Ott is headed to Oklahoma. It's not what Cal fans believed would be the case Saturday when the senior running back suited up for the Bears in their spring showcase at California Memorial Stadium.
However, it is the reality. Ott inked with the Sooners on Tuesday after entering the transfer portal on Monday sealing his three-year career with the Bears. Ott saw his numbers take a dip in the 2024 season as injuries hampered his junior season.
Ott, a former four-star recruit, injured his ankle in the season opener against UC Davis after scoring two touchdowns and struggled to regain his for most of the season. Eventually he was able to get back on track in the LA Bowl with a season-high 84 yards rushing but still failed to break the 100-yard mark at any point in his 10 appearances in 2024.
This spring Ott returned to form earning him plenty of praise from his head coach Justin Wilcox, teammates and staff. He began to look like the version of himself that fans saw account for 1,628 all-purpose yards and 15 total touchdowns in 2023.
"That's as good as he's looked in a long, long time," Wilcox said alluding to a jump cut Ott made in a practice earlier this month. "It's really exciting. I think he feels better and feels good. He sure looks like it. So, that's exciting."
Not only did Cal lose Ott to the portal on Monday, but the Bears lost a total of four running backs from the roster. Byron Cardwell, Kadarius Calloway and Justin Williams-Thomas all decided that their time with the Bears would come to an end as well by entering into the portal.
All three players participated in spring ball and looked to be in position to contribute in some capacity this fall. Each of the three running backs joined Cal after beginning their careers at other programs. Cardwell made the move to Berkeley two years ago after spending time at Oregon while Williams-Thomas did the same following a stint at Tennessee.
Calloway, who began his career at Alabama, was a new addition last offseason following a short stay at Old Dominion.
In a matter of hours Cal's running back room drastically transformed leaving new position coach Julian Griffin with some things to figure out heading into the opening of the spring transfer season with the portal opening up again Wednesday.
That change in itself should make this week's news maybe a little less surprising. Longtime running backs coach Aristotle Thompson moved on this winter by opting to leave Cal after five seasons in favor of a spot on the staff at Northwestern.
Thompson recruited each of the players who entered the portal and had grown his bond so much with the team that he was on campus for Cal's pro day spending time with the group.
