18 Comments

I recently looked up if any of Cal DBs started coaching careers in high school. Matt Giordano is HC at Buchanan HS in Fresno, Chris Conte is DB coach at Corona del Mar HS in Orange, DJ Campbell and Sean Cattouse are both PE teachers at high schools, with Cattouse also being a yoga instructor. Haven't looked up other positions yet but I hope those HS coaches start sending recruits our way.

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When your primary motivation is to help your kids develop habits which will make their lives better, you can't fail. I applaud Jahvid for what he is doing and I have no doubt the byproduct of his efforts will be a program that wins a lot of games as well.

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Some of the notable St. Mary's alum who also starred for Cal and beyond - Lorenzo Alexander in football and Marcus Semien in baseball.

I had to look up their Wikipedia page to see if there were any other notable guys that I have missed. Actor Ed Quinn also went there and then played rugby at Cal. Director Ryan Coogler of Black Panther and Creed fame was another graduate and played college football at SMC (but that program was cut) and Sac State (and even against Cal).

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Coogler was the best player Sac State had against Cal that day. It was also the day Desean Jackson made his Cal debut.

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Ben Schrider also went there, grad transferred to Cal this past year, and is now a graduate assistant coach at Cal.

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Love Jahvid and wish him all kinds of good. When he says he succeeded because of hard work, we know it is required, but we also know very, very, very few kids with equally hard work will ever do what Jahvid did. There is such a thing as genetic gifts. Does anyone know if he finished his Cal degree? Go Bears!

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Yes, he did. I believe it was in African-American Studies. Go Jahvid! He was a huge reason that I started paying attention to Cal Football. Without doubt, one of the most electrifying running backs in the Pac-10 when he played.

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Thanks for confirming. That always means a lot to me when players that go pro come back for their degrees. Shareef, for example.

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Some guy on the Internet wrote that Best was pursuing a degree in Legal Studies. I must have seen that somewhere, but it's also very plausible that he changed major at some point.

https://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2016/8/10/12362250/rio-2016-olympic-calympian-jahvid-best-mens-track-and-field-saint-lucia

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As of 2014, it looks like he was majoring in African American studies according to calbears.com unless he changed it later.

"Best, who will work with the team’s running backs, is enrolled as an undergraduate student at Cal for the 2014 spring semester to pursue his bachelor’s degree in African American studies."

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After his NFL career got cut short, he returned to Cal as a student coach in 2014. I've got to think that he finished his degree then.

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If Marshawn Lynch comes back to school, we'll get so much Media attention.

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Hope one day he becomes the next Ron Gould for us.

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Congrats Jahvid. Hopefully he will steer some St. Mary's kids to Cal in the future.

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May 18, 2021
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Best was insane even in the NFL. The Lions record when he played vs. didn't was insane.

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It's all subjective, I know, but the best running back I witnessed at Cal was Russell White. I never saw Muncie play, but I take White over both Best and Lynch and anyone else that came after him. I don't think White is talked about much now because he was a bust in the NFL. And he even seemed to decline in his last year at Cal in 1992. But those two years - 90 and 91 - were a pure joy to witness. And he was a key reason those 90 and 91 teams won big and went to bowl games.

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Graduated from St. Mary’s in ‘83. At that time, we would usually give De La Salle and Salesian one of their best games of the year but never beat them. Did pretty well against most other schools. I think St. Mary’s has been about the same since then, usually pretty good, never great. I know they’ve made the postseason at least a few times. Similar to Cal in some ways: great school, lots of potential, just needs the right person to stick with them and put them over the top.

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May 18, 2021
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Didn't recruit in my day, doubt if they do it now. One reason that it hasn't been a powerhouse. I imagine Jahvid will draw some interest from kids who play football. I would say it's kind of medium-sized with 600 co-ed students. The closest Catholic school in the area, Salesian has 400 co-ed students. Other Bay Area Catholic schools include big-time powerhouse De La Salle with 1,000 boys, Serra with 800 boys, St. Ignatius with 1,500 co-ed, and Bellarmine with 1,500 boys.

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