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Published Oct 6, 2022
Jesse Stewart's Cal Football Mailbag: Bye week questions and answers
Jesse Stewart
Staff writer

Cal is through five weeks of play now with seven games (at least) to go, and I think all Golden Bears fans have questions about the program right now.

Here are the ones you all, dear readers, submitted to us this week following Cal’s 28-9 loss at Washington State to fall to 3-2.

Any chance there are changes coming for this staff during the season?

"So, Justin Wilcox sort of answered this one for us on Tuesday -- no. I don’t know how much can be fixed by changing anything midseason. That is a move that I personally and professionally do not see a ton of value in. For a team that’s 3-2 and looking to improve, rocking the boat in October is not exactly the recipe for success (in my humble opinion). Whether or not Wilcox decides to pursue staff changes at another point in time is up for debate, but I think that would all likely happen after the early signing period takes place."

What do you think of the TE play? Outside of recruiting and inconsistent pass catching from Terry, it looks like Geep Chryst is doing a pretty solid job as the tight end coach. Also, is Cal ‘wasting’ a tight end spot by playing Terry over Latu?

"I think Geep Chryst has done a phenomenal job with the guys in the room. The top two in the room, Keleki Latu and Jermaine Terry, have shown a tremendous amount of growth in their second year at Cal. Terry is physically dominant in the run game with a tremendous amount of improvement in pass protection. Latu has certainly gotten bigger and the way he moves in the run game and how he anchors his blocks is miles and miles better from a year ago. Elijah Mojarro has also been really good when he’s been on the field and has been a super interesting utility piece for them."

Jermaine Terry’s box scores have been underwhelming, but I don’t think there’s any reason to really panic about him being on the field ‘over’ Latu. He is, above all else, a really good football player and a really valuable piece in run blocking and pass protection. I think calling a tight end who isn’t a prolific pass catcher a ‘waste’ of a spot on the field is not only insulting to the player but also it totally dismisses all the positive aspects they bring to the field. Yes, it would be nice to have the pass catching threat of Latu on the field, but it doesn’t look like a lack of talented pass catchers is really the thing that’s plaguing Cal’s offense right now. Terry helps out that offensive line a lot more than I even realized before going back and watching again. He adds a lot of value to the team."

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