Return of the (Full)Back
Before Cal spring practice came to an abrupt halt, you could walk into Memorial Stadium and you'd see a throwback. A player with a cowboy collar, wearing the number 42, sprints into the huddle amid shouts of '21.' The 21 refers to the personnel grouping that Zach Angelillo, a linebacker turned fullback, will line up in a 3-point stance in the backfield, something the Bears haven't had with some regularity since the Jeff Tedford years.
"We want to be difficult to defend," offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said about bringing back the position, "and at times when you have a fullback on the field, you can be a bit more difficult to defend than if you have three or four wide."
While the Bears had a fullback in Malik McMorris from 2015-18, this is a little different, as an actual player in the backfield more than just the H-back/TE role that McMorris played. Angelillo will get the first crack at it, as like McMorris, his career at Cal started on defense.
Angelillo (from San Joaquin Memorial HS in Fresno, CA) came to the Bears as a preferred walk-on over the summer in 2018, turning down scholarship offers from Fresno State, Army, and Air Force to join the Bears as an inside linebacker. There were depth issues at inside linebacker at the time, with Jordan Kunaszyk and Evan Weaver not having solidified their spots. Gerran Brown had to take a medical retirement. There was an opportunity for playing time.
That's not where the story went, as Kunaszyk and Weaver made their way to the top of Cal's all-time tackle lists. Kuony Deng came in and solidified a spot. Evan Tattersall seemed poised to do the same. With a new offensive coordinator came new opportunity for Angelillo.
"I had been thinking about it for a while," Angelillo noted, "I wasn’t seeing the field, just wanted to help the team and put myself in a position to contribute. The first week we were back in January, I went into coach Sirmon’s office, I told him that I really want to get on the field, I want to contribute, I want to help us win football games, how can I do that. I asked, what do you think of me playing fullback. He mentioned that they had already talked about it, and I’m grateful for this opportunity, I’m going to try to run with it, do everything I can."
What that entails for Angelillo may not be too far away from the inside linebacker spot. He's a blocker, first and foremost, as Bill Musgrave has plans to deploy him.
"He’s gotta do the dirty work, we’re looking for a hammerhead in there," Musgrave said, "but we realize we’ve got to pay his fee at times, by maybe handing him a trap or a belly or a dive, and occasionally throwing the ball out to him in the flats, so he can touch it every once in a while."
This is a departure from what the Bears have done in recent years. The last time the Bears utilized a fullback with as much frequency as they did in the first four practices of Spring Football was in 2012, when Eric Stevens played the position.
Angelillo played a little on offense in high school, but mostly defense as an upperclassman. There will be a learning curve for him as he learns the blocking schemes and routes out of the backfield, but has been seen as a quick learner (winning defensive scout team player of the year in 2019).
"Coach AT and coach Musgrave have been awesome," Angelillo said, "making sure I’m understanding all the nuances and the overall scheme. I would say that it has been a little bit challenging, but I don’t feel the pressure on me, I feel the urgency in me to learn it and be able to contribute."
He has someone good to watch and learn from during this shelter-in-place period in the state of California, as Kyle Juszczyk starred for the 49ers in 2019, and Musgrave previously had success with a fullback converted from another position in Marcel Reese with the Raiders.
"I love Juszczyk, he was really fun to watch this past season," Angelillo noted, especially him catching that pass in the Super Bowl for a touchdown, that was exciting. I had already had the idea, I was like 'man, it might be best for me to move to fullback.' When I saw that, I thought that might be pretty fun."
He may not be the only fullback in the future, as the likes of Gavin Reinwald, Collin Moore, and Elijah Mojarro all took reps there. But the Bears are going to use a fullback. On their final day of practice, with a focus on heavy sets (with at least two non-running back/wide receivers on the field), the Bears ran about a quarter of their plays from 21 or 22 personnel. It's an element of the offense that's going to be in the toolbox one way or another.
It may be a bit before the Bears get to run 21, 22 or any other kind of personnel, but for Angelillo's position coach, Aristotle Thompson, he's just happy to get another guy on offense moving into the 2020 season.
"It’s always fun when you have guys who want to come over to the good side of life," Thompson joked, "living life for some years, walking around with a cloud over their head, they come over and see the light, it’s an a-ha moment. It’s a breath of fresh air for Zach."