We are introducing a new regular column at Golden Bear Report breaking down a topic relating to the Bears that will highlight some aspect of the teams at Cal. In this first article in the series, we will examine some of the top early storylines for the Bears ahead of spring football practice following the announcement of the full spring practice schedule on Tuesday.

The Bears are heading into the ninth season under head coach Justin Wilcox, who has overhauled his staff this offseason with Cal looking to earn its first winning season since 2019. As has become commonplace in recent years, Wilcox and director of player personnel Marshall Cherrington have been active in rebuilding the roster once again through recruiting efforts and the transfer portal.

It all translates to intrigue about how the team will come together this year, and we will examine some of what will make up the new group.

Four offensive coordinators in four years. That is the reality for the Bears and Wilcox. It was maybe not the biggest shock when the Cal head coach decided to move on from his first-year offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch.

The running game underperformed all season, and the play of offensive line was a big part of the reason why the Bears were unable to have the same type of production in 2024 as they did the previous year. Jaydn Ott's injury issues didn't help, but there was still something missing from the running game under Bloesch last fall.

Bloesch's duties with the Bears included being the primary playcaller plus the offensive line coach and de facto run game coordinator. It seemed early on when he took over that it was going to be too much to put on one coach.

He did a commendable job with the offensive line unit in 2023, and the running game certainly performed well when he had fewer duties under then-coordinator Jake Spavital. Even going back to last spring, it just felt like there was simply going to be too much on Bloesch's plate.

Who knows if that's ultimately what led to the decreased production from the Bears on the ground, but Wilcox's new plan has been to have even more hands on deck to make it all work.

Bringing in Bryan Harsin as the offensive coordinator was just the start of the overhaul on the offensive side of the ball this winter. The Bears have a new receivers coach, Kyle Cefalo, plus new running backs coach Julian Griffin to go along with the lone holdover from last year's staff, tight ends coach Mike Saffell.

Along the offensive line will be Famika Anae, who comes to Cal following a successful season at New Mexico where his group did not allow a sack. The Bears have also added Jeff McDaniels as an assistant tight ends and offensive line coach to bolster the two positions.

In what could be the most important hire of them all, Wilcox decided to bring in someone who can oversee and provide input for everything on the offensive side of the ball. Nick Rolovich has jumped head first into everything that is Cal already, and his time as a head coach provides the staff with experience in the new senior offensive assistant role.

What Rolovich's exact duties will be remains unclear, but his time as a head coach at Washington State and Hawaii should provide the staff with plenty of aid as it looks to find the balance that has been missing in recent years under Wilcox.

Harsin has already been telling recruits that his hope is to change the narrative about Cal football from one that is centered and focused on the accomplishments of the defense to one that takes into account what is happening on his side of the ball.

Wilcox has decided to go all in on 2025 with the wave of changes, and it feels like he has pressed a lot of the right buttons so far. The spring will be the first glimpse into how much impact those moves will make.

Remember when Fernando Mendoza was clearly going to be the guy at the quarterback position for the Bears going into 2025? Yeah, that seems like a long time ago now. Mendoza has moved on to Indiana and only freshman EJ Caminong remains among the scholarship players at the position following the offseason of change for the Bears.

Caminong had an underwhelming performance when called into action in the LA Bowl. He looked like a freshman who had not stepped on the field all year. It's hard to glean much of anything from that 6-for-19 showing at SoFi Stadium.

The Bears knew they couldn't go into the spring with Caminong and a collection of walk-on players, so the staff addressed that very clear need. It began with getting top transfer and Rivals100 recruit Jaron Sagapolutele back in the mix after a topsy-turvy few weeks that led to him going to Oregon before entering the transfer portal.

The saga is now all water under the bridge, and suddenly the incoming freshman has a potential path to the starting job that he didn't have when he was committed to the Bears originally in the fall.

He will have competition with the additions of Ohio State transfer Devin Brown plus College of San Mateo standout Dominic Ingrassia.

The Bears have arrived at the spot they were in two years ago with no clear idea of who will actually win the job, but this time does feel a bit different. The 2023 group felt like an open battle for all the wrong reasons. Mendoza, Sam Jackson V and Ben Finley were either unproven or not overly effective prior to the season, and it played out that way at times.

Mendoza eventually won the job midway through that season and went into last spring as the clear favorite until Bloesch and quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator tried to make Chandler Rogers happen.

Using Rogers in some strange spots during the season seemed to throw off the rhythm of the offense but didn't hold Mendoza back from turning in a stellar 2024 campaign.

There is less clarity now but also the talent feels like it is collectively in a better spot. Sagapolutele is unproven, yes, but his talent is elite. That doesn't make him a surefire star, but the potential is there. Brown is coming off a national title run, and he has displayed glimpses of being a high-caliber passer during his time with the Buckeyes.

Ingrassia is a bit of a wildcard whose position in the battle remains somewhat of a mystery. The competition at quarterback is not going to be decided over the next two months, but there will certainly be plenty of attention on who emerges as the frontrunner by the time the final practice rolls around April 12.