Cal Freshman Linebacker JD McKinley on Making the Jump to Learning a New Position

The Corona (Ca.) Centennial product signed with Cal before the coaching staff was even finalized, and has no regrets.

True freshman JD McKinley arrived at Berkeley from Riverside County with a new position to learn and a new environment to navigate, and he’s taken both in stride.

“It’s definitely a lot more different from Southern California. It’s definitely a much bigger change in terms of the whole area. The coaching staff, obviously great coaches, I love all the coaches. I really do believe in this program and they’ve definitely helped me improve and learn football. I’m switching to a new position and everything and it’s definitely been a hard journey, but it’s been a fun journey. I’m really thankful for all the support that the coaches and staff have given me.”

On head coach Tosh Lupoi, McKinley was direct about the trust he’s already developed.

“Coach Lupoi, he’s definitely a character, very charismatic, someone that you can talk to about pretty much anything. He has a lot of good stuff to say. He’s been in this game for a really long time, played with really good people, coached really good people. I pretty much trust him with anything. If I got a question I can ask him. He’s definitely probably one of the biggest people in my life right now in terms of support.”

McKinley played edge throughout high school and is now making his first foray at inside linebacker.

“I played edge for most of my high school career with a little bit of outside backer. This is my first year playing middle backer.”

The adjustment comes with a new set of demands, and McKinley has a clear picture of what he wants his game to look like.

“I expect myself to be very smart in terms of the game, knowing formations, route combinations, and how to basically pick apart an offense and what they’re most likely going to run. Through development here, I feel like that’s going to become a big asset of my game.”

McKinley signed on December 3rd, essentially the day after Lupoi was named head coach, and his commitment was never contingent on who would be running the program.

“I decided I was going to sign anyway regardless of what the coaching staff would end up becoming, because I felt like Cal in itself is a great school. I believed in the program and trusted whatever coaches they were going to bring out here. I’m pretty grateful that I stuck with Berkeley for sure.”

Three or four practices in, the tempo has been the defining characteristic.

“High tempo. If you’re walking, you’re wrong. Just get to the football. That’s how I’d characterize it.”

And despite a room full of new faces, the linebacker group has already started to bond.

“I haven’t been here very long, but I have a pretty close relationship with my linebackers as a whole. We’ve already done some power unit stuff, just going out to dinner or something like that. I’m pretty good friends with all the backers. They’re really trustworthy, basically my new friends out here. It’s a pretty tight brotherhood.”