Assessing the High Ranking for Cal's Offseason Football Moves – Sports Illustrated

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This week ESPN ranked the offseason moves of every Power Four conference football team, and it ranked Cal third-best in the ACC in that category.
That high ranking of the coaching changes and gains and losses in the transfer portal suggest success for the Golden Bears, perhaps as soon as the 2026 season. But did ESPN get it right?
The ranking of offseason moves involving player acquisitions and departures are more significant that the rankings of incoming freshman classes for two reasons:
First, the college-level skills of transfers have been established and are more apparent that the rating of high school prospects, which are educated guesses of their college potential.
Second, transfer gains and losses have an immediate impact on a team’s success or failure, while incoming freshmen may take time to develop into contributing players.
ESPN considered three factors in its offseason rankings: biggest coaching changes, what went wrong and what went right.
It listed Cal’s “key additions” as WR Chase Hendricks, RB Adam Mohammed and OLB Solomon Williams.
While those three should help, ESPN left out the most important addition, wide receiver Ian Strong. His production – 52 catches, 762 yards, five touchdowns in 10 games at Rutgers – gives Cal talent at a position where it is most needed with the loss of wide receiver Jacob De Jesus and the return of a quarterback talent (Jaron-Keawe Sangapolutele) who needs quality targets.
Hendricks’ stats are impressive – 71 catches, 1,071 yards, seven touchdowns in 13 games at Ohio – and he will be a major factor in 2026, but his numbers were produced against Mid-American Conference defenses, while Strong worked against Big Ten defenders.
ESPN considers the hiring of Tosh Lupoi a beneficial offseason move, and he has already demonstrated a penchant for acquiring talent and energizing the fan base.
However, he has never been a head coach and his coordinators are new to those roles, so it remains to be seen whether the new staff can put together a winning package, which involves player development, player utilization, game planning, game management, team discipline and countless details.
Lupoi and his staff may well be outstanding in that respect, but we just don’t know that yet.
ESPN correctly noted in the “what went wrong” category that the loss of inside linebackers Cade Uluave (to BYU) and Luke Ferrelli (to Mississippi) is significant. And those departures along with the moves of cornerbacks Hezekiah Masses and Brent “Paco” Austin to the NFL leave the Bears without their four best defensive players from last year at their four most important defensive positions. Cal has had top-notch players at those four critical positions in recent years, and it remains to be seen whether it has adequate replacements for 2026.
The most important item in the “what went right” category is obvious, and ESPN hit the mark by saying, “The No. 1 objective for Lupoi upon accepting the job was flying to Hawaii and ensuring the Bears' rising star at QB, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele re-upped for his sophomore season.” 
Lupoi also worked hard in the transfer portal, acquiring the targets for Sagapolutele, i.e., Strong, Hendricks and tight end Dorian Thomas, and providing a running back – Adam Mohammed –– and some offensive linemen to try to improve the Bears’ woeful running game of 2025.
Cal has added 32 transfers since Lupoi was named head coach. That’s a lot, and many of them will be asked to fill many of the vacant starting spots, especially on defense.
So what does the high ranking – if it’s accurate – mean for Cal football in 2026.
Since rosters and starting spots at most Power 4 schools these days are affected dramatically by offseason gains and losses through the transfer portal, the offseason work has a lot to do with how a team will perform in the ensuing season.
Cal’s presumed offseason success should bode well for the Bears’ 2026 season, especially since Cal will not face Miami, which is ranked first in the ACC by ESPN in offseason moves, or Louisville, which is No. 4.
It suggests Cal should finish higher in the ACC standings than this summer’s preseason ACC poll is likely to show. 
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Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.
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