Cal Football: National Signing Day - Day 1
Cal Signs 17 on Day of the Early Signing Period Without a Head Coach Announced
Yesterday morning and afternoon, 17 high school senior football stars across the nation signed their National Letters of Intent and were officially welcomed to the University of California, Berkeley. Of these 17 players, all but one had committed when Cal was still being led by Head Coach Justin Wilcox. With Wilcox out, and the not-so-well-kept secret out in the open on his replacement (KNBR) (The Athletic), the California Golden Bears retained 17 of the 18 players they recruited – coming in at 57th overall in the national rankings (24/7 Sports), and 15th in the ACC.
The early signing window runs from Wednesday to Friday, and of the 17 players signed on day one, 10 of them are offensive players, and 6 of them are defensive players. The nation’s 57th overall recruiting class includes a couple of four-star players on offense, with 15 three-star players making up the list for the California Golden Bears.
According to on3/Rivals’ Golden Bear Report, the 2026 class for the Golden Bears will have 11 early enrollees, who can begin at Berkeley in January and participate in spring practices and workouts with the team.
Daniel McMorris: OT - Norman North (Norman, OK): 6-6 / 265
McMorris is the highest-ranked recruit in the Bears’ 2026 class at a 94 overall on 24/7 Sports at 4-stars, and is the No. 1 ranked high school player out of the state of Oklahoma. McMorris is the No. 11-ranked offensive tackle in the nation.
Taimane Purcell: TE - Kamehameha (Honolulu, HI): 6-4 / 235
The Golden Bears’ other 4-star recruit, Purcell, the No. 3-ranked player out of the state of Hawaii and No. 16 TE in the nation, joins Cal after being heavily pursued by West Virginia and Auburn late in the recruitment period this season. The 6-4 TE from Aiea, HI caught 16 passes for 178 yards this season, bringing in 2 TDs.
Victor Santino: RB - Edison (Miami, FL): 6-0 / 190
EJ Morgan: WR - Central East (Fresno, CA): 6-0 / 155
Nemyah Telona: DL - De La Salle (Concord, CA) 6-2 / 285
Nemyah Telona stays home in the East Bay after the Bears were able to outrecruit the Arizona schools (UA & ASU), whom Telona had shown interest in over the summer and fall with an official visit to Temple in June, and Tucson in October.
Kamo’i Huihui-White: IOL - St. Louis (Honolulu, HI): 6-4 / 290
Nainoa Lopes: QB - St. Louis (Honolulu, HI): 6-3 / 180
Media attention has been on Lopes, and Lopes is in on the Golden Bears. The Hawaiian QB threw for 1,320 yards and 15 touchdowns in his senior season, ultimately securing a spot in the 2026 class as the future QB to try and develop into the Cal offense, presumably post-JKS in 2-3 seasons.
Kai Meza: WR - Corner Canyon (Draper, UT): 6-1 / 190
Tyree Sams: WR - Clovis North (Fresno, CA): 5-8 / 180
In his senior season, Sams brought in 31 rushing yards on 3 attempts, 609 receiving yards on 39 catches, with 6 of them being TDs. He was the Broncos’ kick and punt returner as well, tallying 99 yards in kick return yardage and 126 in punt returns.
Ernest Nunley: CB - Western (Anahaim, CA): 6-0 / 185
Jonathan “JD” McKinley: EDGE - Centennial (Corona, CA): 6-2 / 235
Tallied 11 sacks and 89 tackles in his senior season at Centennial High School, the No. 2 team in the state of California, and No. 9 team in the nation.
Esaiah Wong: OT - Kailua (Kailua, HI): 6-5 / 290
Jaxon Pyatt: LB - Arvada West (Arvada, CO): 6-2 / 220
Elisha Faamatuainu: OT - Murrieta Valley (Murrieta, CA): 6-4 / 325
Faamatuainu was the centerpiece of an O-line at Murrieta that averaged 39.1 points per game on 257.8 rushing yards per contest.
Frank Fanua Jr.: DL - Mount Miguel (Spring Valley, CA): 6-6 / 260
Lucky Schirmer: DL - Centennial (Corona, CA): 6-2 / 305
Niles Davis: ATH - Westlake (Westlake Village, CA): 5-11 / 185
Some of these players are making a run for their state championships in their final season of high school football, and we are covering that in the Friday Night Lights series at Write For California.
We will be covering the status of Cal’s 2026 class as recruits join (or leave) throughout the signing period, but again, Cal is likely done for the early period, as the coaching change and transfer portal seem to be where the Bears are going to build upon this Freshman class, ranked 57th out of 265 FBS and FCS programs.