Cal Football Spring Practice: Day 8
Jermaine Terry with a touchdown, and Wilcox is in a good mood
On Monday, the Bears held their eighth spring practice as they looked to build off a productive, memorable performance at this weekend’s scrimmage.
Head coach Justin Wilcox, ever as taciturn, said “There’s just so much to teach off of you almost don’t have enough meeting time to get all the teaching in.”
What will intrigue Cal fans the most is the first glance of freshman TE Jermaine Terry in video, doing what many Cal fans are expecting of him - catching touchdowns. He finds some space off a stick in between DBs Tarik Glenn Jr. and Zane Cribb and ILB Andy Alferi.
“Jermaine has absolutely been a coachable guy,” stated Wilcox, saying that any concerns over Terry’s weight are being addressed by the Bears’ stellar nutrition staff.
Wilcox also downplayed any budding QB controversy after Saturday’s scrimmage. Regarding the poor statline for QB Chase Garbers, Wilcox was adamant in his belief that Garbers’ command of the offense “can be even better, so I expect him to improve.” Saturday’s stars, QB Zach Johnson and OLB Orin Patu, meanwhile, looked the part but need more practice in the eyes of Wilcox. More reps are everything to the Bears’ leader.
RB Damien Moore showed off some sticky hands on this out route after OLB Patrick Hisatake doesn’t get to Moore soon enough.
RB Christopher Brown Jr. also got the passing game action off a wheel route, managing to haul in a lob in between Hisatake and S Craig Woodson.
RB Marcel Dancy, normally the Bears’ passing back, showed off his footwork instead while Brown and RB Chris Street wait in line behind him.
Even walk-on RB Ashton Stredick, catching a ball here from QB Spencer Brasch and tackled by S Raymond Woodie III, was working out of the backfield today.
Cal Football also posted their own recap video, but the multiple cuts make it hard to determine anything that happened.
Still, Wilcox seemed to be pleased with the direction of the Bears and with the reintroduction of football into his life during the pandemic.
“When we go out there and are able to practice, I think it’s probably the most fun anybody’s having.”
He was even willing to throw in some humor throughout the session, acting a little mischievous. When he was asked whether it’s weird to no longer coach the DBs due to Tre Watson’s hire, he burst out “Who said I’m not?” He also regaled a coaching story about former Oakland Raider Chris Carr’s first practice at Boise State under Wilcox.
There are two things that give me great optimism for next year (and the future under Wilcox). The first is the quality of our recruits and how they are being bulked up, healthy style. I am impressed as hell with Coach Wilcox figuring out how, in the Covid era, to get growing kids lifting heavy, the nutrition they need to muscle up. This is just a little coaching item that will pay huge dividends come fall. If you look at the recruiting for CAL since Wilcox arrived we basically started with low level three star kids and some two stars and are now attracting high three stars and a fair number of four star kids. Does this guarantee success by itself? No. As Wilcox has stated a bigger guy most often beats a smaller guy if both have similar abilities. Our receivers are longer and heavier as is our secondary. Our linebackers are getting big, typically at 6'2" 240-250 lbs. Same with our RB's. We finally have some real depth at D-Line, but could use more. And our O-line is long, athletic and big. Wilcox is building a 'Program' and we are soon to see the dividends. It's exciting to watch. The second item that excites me is when a head coach says there is so much to teach and that he sees things that he could teach EVERY POSITION GROUP. Wilcox is a brilliant coach with a deep knowledge of the game and of each position. This is rare. He hires position coaches that are solid teachers. When you have the ability to look at highly skilled and trained player groups and can say that there is so much more you can teach them, that's an awesome thing. As fans we will most likely see the conclusion of Spring Ball as an indicator of significant team progress. Wilcox will see it as a point to start reviewing and planning his offseason teaching to keep taking the kids to another level. I cannot say if I've ever been this excited about a CAL head coach. We'll still stumble as we get better, but if we can keep Wilcox another 5 years and maintain our level of improvement and our recruiting trajectory, we will be a powerhouse.
Jermaine Terry = JT = Just Touchdowns.