Zach Zimos Breaks Down Why He Committed to Cal
Zach Zimos made the Cal staff very happy when he committed to the coaches Saturday afternoon, The 6'4" 205 lb outside linebacker received his first offer from Cal, they'd been at the top of his list for a while, and the Friday/Saturday visit just felt like the right time to make the move.
"Cal's always been my top, I always tell people when they ask,'what's my timeline,' I just say what feels best for me, when the time is right, it'll happen. It just seems like today was the perfect day," Zimos told GoldenBearReport.com Saturday night, "Yesterday was a really good day, got to see the facilities and the campus, all the coaches were awesome, and the way that I fit into this defense really brings happiness to me and my family, so we're super excited."
What may have crystallized his decision to commit was seeing the view from the University Club.
"I was probably just walking into the stadium," Zimos said, "and upstairs there's this view that, you can see the Bay, you can see San Francisco, you can see Oakland, this view never gets old. It's yet to leave my mind, it's a great place to be. The facilities are all nice, they're redoing the locker room real soon, a new fueling station. It's just the culture and the feel, it's just awesome."
His commitment got one of his main recruiters, defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, all kinds of fired up.
"I actually had to tell coach DeRuyter first," Zimos said, "he had to leave,a two o'clock flight or so, so I brought him in his office, I told him, and he was ecstatic. He was going crazy, then he came outside and said, 'do you mind if I tell a coach of mine?' He brought coach Wilcox in, and they were super happy."
As far as what position he'll be playing with the Bears, Zimos will be sliding into the Sam linebacker spot where another Houston-area native, Cameron Goode, has excelled this spring. Zimos and Goode also share a similar frame and skillset, and the Travis HS standout talked to the guy who will likely mentor him in the future.
"I talked to him a little there," Zimos said, "I got his phone number after the game, so I've been texting back and forth with him. He's super excited I'm there, and I can't wait to start playing with him, this should be fun."
Zimos got a chance to sit in the outside linebackers meeting room, and also watched Friday's practice and Saturday's spring game, where the coaching style of DeRuyter and Tony Tuioti stood out, along with the pace of practice.
"There's a lot of pros, not too many cons from what I saw," Zimos said, "it's definitely some learning points here and there, but I liked the pace of it, I liked the energy, I liked the coaching moments they had. When something went wrong, they'll simply go talk to him and not completely scream at them when they don't get it, but there was definitely a lot of good things. I think it was good, just wanted to go out there, definitely like the way the coaches teach, the way they run things. The structure of the practice, it's good tempo, gets a lot of reps in."
Zimos, who's in the business track at Travis, is set to come to Cal and major in business, and the strength of the Haas School of Business was a definite plus.
"It's perfect, it doesn't get much easier than that," Zimos said, "This is top notch, number one public university in the nation, just having that business school that high up there, because football doesn't last that long, it's a forty year decision not a four year decision. The business school is right next to the stadium, it doesn't get any easier than that."
As far as where he is in his recruitment, Zimos is locked in, noting that he's going to speak to Wilcox and DeRuyter about coming on his official visit in the fall, and that the opportunities provided are too good to pass up.
"I feel locked in at the moment right now," Zimos said, "It's really a blessing to be here, in this spot, in California, in the Pac-12, in front of 60,000+ people. It can't get much better, the opportunities that I have and the location, there's endless opportunities, so right now, it's a happy place for me."
And how he feels about committing?
"It's awesome, I don't know if it's really sunk in yet, this state, this is my first time here, and I'm so glad it won't be my last. This place is awesome."