During Sam Jackson V's junior season as the starting quarterback at Naperville Central High School in Illinois, his team played three state champions -- two from Illinois and one from Ohio.

Mike Ulreich, the school's defensive coordinator at the time and head coach now, can't remember which of those marquee games it was, they all blur together a bit now several years later, but he vividly remembers the throw.

"He made this unbelievable throw off his back foot in pressure down the field that when I think of Sam I think of throws like that -- not many people we've ever had could make a throw like that. I don't think anybody we've ever had could make a throw like that," Ulreich says.

Ulreich and former Naperville Central head coach Mike Stine, who is now retired, talked to Golden Bear Report this week to share their perspective on Cal's new quarterback, as Jackson's transfer from TCU to the Bears was announced Wednesday.

"He's definitely ready for it," Stine says of the opportunity that awaits in Berkeley, where Jackson steps into a vacated QB room that saw both 2022 starter Jack Plummer and backup Kai Millner transfer out this offseason.

"He's put the work in, he's put the time in. He's not afraid of the big stage. He'll be able to handle that very well. I'm excited to watch him continue to grow. He's been training his whole life for this opportunity to play at a Power 5 school and have the opportunity to have his team and to be the leader of a team."