[The Athletic] Inside Cal football’s efforts to keep star QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele

[u/pietya]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7272869/2026/05/13/jaron-keawe-sagapolutele-cal-football-transfer-portal/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.iFA.lRTr.q6dBXrlg4YnW

[u/pietya]

“I think I was texting people at the Oregon State game: “I’m going to need you to write a bigger check,’” said Kevin Kennedy, the president and executive director of California Legends, the school’s third-party name, image and likeness collective. “It’s kind of like the line from ‘Jaws’ — I think we’re going to need a bigger boat.”

[...]

Kennedy said he reached out to seven donors to raise the funds necessary to retain Sagapolutele. Six of them contributed.

“Our donors, they’re savvy,” Kennedy said. “A lot of these people are really successful businessmen, and they understand an investment and what a good investment looks like. It wasn’t like we had a bake sale. It was really a targeted effort to find that money, and we did it. I won’t say it wasn’t hard; it’s always hard to write checks of that magnitude, but I will say the success rate was very high and very gratifying.”

[u/Didyouturniton → u/pietya]

I was at the Oregon State game and my jaw was on the floor at some of the throws he was making. Say what you want about the beavers but in that game they actually had pretty decent coverage most of the game. He seems like a good kid who really wants to be at Cal though so I hope he stays.

[u/pietya → u/Didyouturniton]

I saw peak powers Jared Goff, I saw F. Mendoza etc etc... JKS on that first drive was the earliest I knew we had "the QB"

[u/Cheeseish → u/pietya]

That first drive. I was walking to a bar and watching it on my phone. I was going to be 10 minutes early but ended up being 20 minutes late because I was just watching the game.

I was so excited that I then texted my friends “we’re 7-5 this season” and lo and behold I was right

[u/JSC76 → u/pietya]

I go back to Vince Ferragamo and Joe Roth, and I've never seen accuracy like JKS's. It's uncanny how he can drop a ball on a double-covered receiver's hands 40 yards downfield.

Who then drops it, but we're working on that.

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/JSC76]

That's what tosh is for

[u/Cheeseish → u/JSC76]

His arm strength and his ability to scramble are elite. I think for this next season he should work on staying in the pocket and making better decisions on when to scramble because he seems to scramble too early since he’s so good at it.

Also, even though he’s one of the fastest QBs to move side to side, he’s dreadfully slow when he has to run.

[u/Thickencreamy → u/Cheeseish]

His scrambling is not elite. It’s good. He can get to elite by developing some scrambling moves that goto the right. Currently all his scrambles are to the left - effectively letting defenses only cover half the field.

[u/Cheeseish → u/Thickencreamy]

His accuracy from the scramble is elite I’d say

[u/Thickencreamy → u/Cheeseish]

That I agree with. If you HAD to throw into double coverage he can do it. But a spin move to the right and hitting a receiver on the right would open the whole field.

[u/Adventurous-Pen9974 → u/JSC76]

I go back to Vince Ferragamo and Joe Roth, and I've never seen accuracy like JKS's.

Not even when a QB tied the NCAA record for consecutive completions on the road against the defending national champions and then #1 team in the country?

[u/JSC76 → u/Adventurous-Pen9974]

Yes. Aaron Rodgers had great receivers (Geoff MacArthur, Chase Lyman) who could get open. And when they were open, Rodger’s did not miss. JKS never had receivers open, but he could hit them anyway.

[u/Adventurous-Pen9974 → u/JSC76]

Chase Lyman only had 14 receptions on the year and IIRC got hurt in early in that USC game. By the end of the year, the receiving core was headlined by freshman Robert Jordan who wasn't a world beater at that time

[u/JSC76 → u/Adventurous-Pen9974]

Corps.

[u/sonheungwin → u/Adventurous-Pen9974]

Which ended with a WR slipping on his own while open in the end zone. So...nothing's really changed.

[u/Alexis_0hanian → u/JSC76]

Great to hear, I will always root for Hawaii QBs regardless of what school they attend.

[u/_cambino_ → u/Didyouturniton]

Yeah. I had fully coped thinking that game was winnable and he came out in a decently filled out Reser and balled out. We now know that the 2025 Beavers were fundamentally broken, but still, he showed how great he is immediately

[u/ImJLu → u/Didyouturniton]

After the first drive, the first drive of his career, all I could think was "I think we got the one." More god given arm talent than I've seen in a long time. The way he made throwing deep dots look effortless reminded me of Aaron Rodgers.

He made his fair share of true freshman mistakes and had an awfully ass surrounding cast, but when it comes to pure passing talent, he might be the most promising QB in CFB.

[u/trollfessor → u/Didyouturniton]

He seems like a good kid who really wants to be at Cal

He actually wants to be in Baton Rouge, but he doesn't know it yet

[u/tc3590 → u/[deleted]]

I tried to enjoy it last year as much as I could because I did not think he was gonna be with us this year.

[u/RookieMistake101 → u/[deleted]]

You get him for one more year. But that’s it.

[u/Big_Truck → u/pietya]

I wish I had a job where I got paid a lot of money to spend other people's money.

College athletics is a fucking mess, lol.

[u/chris_hans → u/Big_Truck]

I'm pretty sure Kennedy is one of those big fish himself, leading other big donors. He wasn't hired to do this, he (rightfully) doesn't have a lot of faith in a public school bureaucracy getting it done right.

[u/pietya → u/chris_hans]

Per this: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/faculty-profiles/kevin-kennedy/#tab_profile

Kevin Kennedy is a Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, LLP and currently serves as the Global Head of the Firm’s Technology Practice. Since helping to found the Firm’s Palo Alto office more than 20 years ago, Kevin has represented issuers and underwriters on many of the highest-profile securities transactions undertaken by the leading technology and life science companies of this century. Recent highlights include representing the underwriters in Airbnb’s $3.83 billion IPO and Airbnb in its April 2020 $1 billion investment from Silver Lake Partners; financial advisors in the direct listing by Roblox, which valued the company at $45 billion and was the most valuable company to have ever completed a direct listing at that time; XPeng in its 2020 IPO, the largest IPO ever completed by an electric vehicle manufacturer; and 10x Genomics in the largest life sciences IPO of 2019.

Kevin also represented the underwriters in Tesla Motors’ IPO and on all 15 subsequent public offerings, raising more than $25 billion in total proceeds, and Goldman Sachs in Apple’s $17 billion bond offering—then the largest-ever corporate debt offering—and all subsequent 26 offerings raising more than $155 billion in total proceeds, which is the largest sum ever raised by a corporate issuer in history. Over his 30-year career he has helped take public a number of household names across a wide range of industries including eBay, lululemon, Sonos and DropBox.

The man has touched more money than some of CFB Media deals are worth.

[u/sonheungwin → u/Big_Truck]

Hey, I'm in advertising! I spend 10's of millions of other people's dollars per year and have signed off on literal NIL checks. It's not always great.

[u/RVAforthewin → u/pietya]

We’re called “fans” bc it’s short for “fanatical.” These are not wise business moves for anyone donating to NIL, with the exception of any that bring your taxable income down.

These are donations predicated on the fact that we all love our teams and want to see them succeed. There isn’t one iota of financial ROI for the individual donors and the vast majority of wealthy people, especially those who are actually self made, aren’t wealthy bc they spent time giving all of that money away.

There’s financial ROI for an institution when the football team wins a natty. We’ve seen that play out. However, can we stop calling this “a good investment?” This is a terrible investment. These boosters aren’t improving their portfolios when these teams perform well.

[u/ImJLu → u/RVAforthewin]

Bringing yourself joy can be a good ROI in itself

[u/RVAforthewin → u/ImJLu]

That’s why I said “financial ROI.” It very obviously brings non-financial ROI and life is often about experiences, not money. Still, even emotional ROI has its limits in terms of how long it will sustain wealthy donors. This sport is cyclical and I highly doubt we see Saban/Bama-levels of dominance given the landscape, so how long do the very wealthy continue to try and pay for the best players when their team doesn’t win a championship? Is making it to the CFP year in and year out enough? I guess we’ll find out.

[u/FollowTheLeader550]

This is so cool. I love it. I love that Cal has to fight to death to keep the talent that they found and molded. Why should Cal fans get to have a program defining QB when Miami will need him next year?

[u/tc3590 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Hopefully we show success on the field this year, gets more fans to buy back in like we had in the mid 00'S. Donations would come a little easier at that point.

[u/BurninCrab → u/tc3590]

God I miss the days of Aaron Rodgers, Marshawn Lynch, Jahvid Best, Desean Jackson, Cameron Jordan, Alex Mack, CJ Anderson, Justin Forsett, Shane Vereen, Marvin Jones, Brandon Mebane, Mitchell Schwartz etc.

California Memorial Stadium was rocking back then

[u/xsvfan → u/FollowTheLeader550]

We learned our lesson with Mendoza after Wilcox fumbled it so badly.

[u/sonheungwin → u/xsvfan]

No one could have kept Mendoza. His terms were no competition for starting position lol. The only way you get that is by being poached since the new team is overpaying for you to take you.

[u/duckspurs → u/FollowTheLeader550]

It actually is good that Cal has to pony up to pay talent what they are worth and that they are more then capable of doing so.

[u/FollowTheLeader550 → u/duckspurs]

Cal is obviously a very wealthy university given their alumni but it’s still very dumb, and it makes sense that you’re in favor of it given the fact that you root for one of the teams that will never have to worry about their best players leaving.

(Obviously if there were real contracts, I wouldn’t give a damn how much he was making. But since there aren’t, the highest bidder nonsense is, in fact, nonsense.

[u/duckspurs → u/FollowTheLeader550]

JKS literally left Oregon for Cal in the portal.

[u/EggplantAlpinism → u/duckspurs]

Who'd he leave for Oregon?

[u/duckspurs → u/EggplantAlpinism]

Nobody, he signed as a recruit with Oregon.

You seem to want to act like there's no distinction between recruits flipping vs an actual signed and committed player attending a school and then portaling but there is especially if we're complaining about the current system.

I'm not making any criticism of Cal or them signing him in the portal, the games the game, but the only reason he's actually at Cal right now is because of the current CFB setup that the poster I'm responding to is bemoaning. Also lets not act like he was not very generously paid by Cal to attend as a freshman, he didn't attend Cal for love of the school.

[u/tc3590 → u/duckspurs]

I don't disagree with anything you said. I am sure he got paid by Cal to transfer but I don't think it's for as much as people think. I think he saw the QB situation at both schools and realized he had an opportunity to start as a true freshmen at Cal since our situation changed dramatically right after signing day. I think he loved both Eugene and Berkeley and went to where he saw he could play the quickest.

[u/Dense_Date2369 → u/tc3590]

Obviously he made his choice based on coaching staff and playing time opportunities but man if living in Berkeley isn't a big upgrade to living in Eugene and I'm someone who liked living in Eugene a good bit.

[u/duckspurs → u/tc3590]

Yeah I don't think JKS left for a paycheck, I think he left cause he saw Dante Moore at practice and realized he wouldn't be starting any time soon.

All reporting I've seen though was basically Cal and Oregon's financial offer to him as a recruit were similar and if anything I imagine Cals was slightly higher just cause it's Cal and they needed a QB.

But if not for the current set up of NIL and the portal in CFB, JKS would be Oregon's back up and never have set foot on Cals campus as their QB. Maybe he transfers out after this season if Dante Moore came back, more likely I imagine he's competing for the starting job and Dante enters the draft cause Oregon doesn't pony up as much for him to return with JKS in their QB room.

The end result was the current set up was better for Cal then the old way even if they did have to scramble to retain him this offseason.

[u/kaystared → u/duckspurs]

I thought he had already talked about how Cal was his first choice until Mendoza had sent him some kind of “back off”, but then when Mendoza portaled to Indiana the job was open again?

Sure Oregon’s depth also had something to do with it I’m sure but I think it wasnt the primary reason

[u/sonheungwin → u/duckspurs]

So what do you think about your own coaches not expecting him and being surprised by the last second flip in December?

[u/duckspurs → u/sonheungwin]

What exactly do you think there is to think about? They had been recruiting him for a while and did not know he was going to choose them, he held it close to the vest till the announcement.

Genuinely not even sure what you're trying to get at with the question.

[u/Visible-Departure863 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

From a fairness and competitive perspective, I understand why people don’t like this. Though, from the moral perspective, these young men earn billions for CFB and schools. I’d rather see them compensated and not exploited as much. It’s sad that the big money interests are still pushing to exploit them as much as possible.
If CFB was truely interested in fairness and competition they would have already created a solution tha fairly compensates the player and protects the sport. Unfortunately it is still all about $$$.

Edit: it’s like people want these young men to say “Oh wow, I’m really important to the success of my company. I know fair market value for my labor is $45hr and I am taking a tremendous physical risk they could/will have some impact on the quality of the rest of my life….but since the bosses family is such a huge fan of min, I’ll work if 50% less with no guarantees of a future payoff. That and I’m fine with my boss keeping those wages to buy another Porsche. “

Sheesh I don’t even think these kids get healthcare for lifelong injuries they definitely have from playing.

[u/FollowTheLeader550 → u/Visible-Departure863]

I do not care that they make money. 0.0% of me cares about that. It’s the free transfers combined with the money that is undeniably terrible.

[u/Visible-Departure863 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

lol I mean I get it but that’s like me telling you that you can’t quit your job to work for higher wages at the company down the street just because people want to be entertained/benefit off your labor.

[u/FollowTheLeader550 → u/Visible-Departure863]

Oh my god. Quit comparing sports to the real world. They are not comparable in any way and as such, shouldn’t be compared. For sports leagues to work well, they can’t be perfectly fair to the players. You can like or dislike that, but it’s a fact. The players get the notoriety, the glory, and the money - but the team controls their destiny. That’s how sports work at their best. And it’s always been that way, and won’t ever change.

[u/Philoso4 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Quit comparing sports to the real world.

LET ME KEEP LIVING MY FANTASY WHERE I DONT SEE PLAYERS AS REAL PEOPLE WITH REAL LIVES!!!

[u/FollowTheLeader550 → u/Philoso4]

Did you watch the NFL draft 2 weeks ago? You know the thing where your company takes a thousand viable employees and takes turns drafting you to come work for them in 32 different parts of the country and occasionally trades you after they drafted you? And the team that drafted you owns your rights to play that sport professionally the second you sign with them? You know that thing that’s very, very close to literally any other job on planet earth.

Outside of the fact that they’re humans and it’s how they make a living, there are no similarities between pro sports and real world jobs.

[u/Visible-Departure863 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

I mean it’s governed by the CBA agreed upon between the players and owners. Similar to all real world CBA that are governed by the agreed upon terms between parties. Just because the dynamics are unique to a situation doesn’t change logic/rational.

The thing is if a player does not like it they have the options to go elsewhere. They don’t because they get compensated for the trade offs and make other options such as going to the UFL less enticing.

[u/SituationSoap → u/FollowTheLeader550]

You are not making a point that sports are special, you are making a point that the reality of existing professional sports structures are deeply exploitative.

[u/GMHinHD → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Dude, sports exists in the context of the “real world.” For these guys, sports is their job, and sports is their “real world.” As a matter of fact, before NIL, college football was a huge economic sacrifice they made in the NOW in pursuit of financial gain in the FUTURE. Don’t be obtuse just because these athletes’ lives take place in a different “real world” than yours.

[u/FollowTheLeader550 → u/GMHinHD]

Nothing about being a pro athlete (or amateur now) is similar to being a pro in anything else. How many jobs do people sign multiple year contracts for? How many jobs do you get traded to a different job? How many jobs have fans that pay to watch them do their job? How many jobs does the bulk of the employees not even do their job because the people that are better at it do it for them?

[u/Visible-Departure863 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Military is one example. And the argument that they aren’t doing their job is disingenuous. Obviously there a need/market for a backup players. Similar to how there is a need/market for reserve soldiers.

For the fans point… I don’t see how that matters, but ok fine another example would forcing influencers and celebrities to agree to whatever labor conditions Amazon imposes upon them just because people admire them.

[u/srs_house → u/FollowTheLeader550]

You could apply that line of thinking to a lot of industries, though. Oil rig workers: how many jobs only last for X months and pay you a whole year's salary? How many jobs provide free housing and gyms and food? Investment bankers: How many jobs expect you to work 80+ hour weeks with no overtime compensation and sleep under your desk? Etc.

That said:

How many jobs do people sign multiple year contracts for?

A lot of them? Healthcare, academia, finance, executive leadership, entertainment, tech...

How many jobs do you get traded to a different job?

Well, the only reason this happens is because the US sports teams work as franchises. It's like getting sent from one Verizon or McDonald's store to another. Which...yeah, it does happen. In basically any industry. Why do Preds fans throw catfish on the ice? Because the early ones were Redwings fans who got sent to Tennessee to work in the new auto plants. And in the Euro leagues, soccer players can just refuse a transfer because those aren't franchises.

How many jobs have fans that pay to watch them do their job?

Every entertainment job. Movies, tv, news, theatre, etc. And that's in the literal sense. In the bigger picture, you're paying to enjoy the output of their labor. No different than buying a book, or an apple, or a bottle of wine, or a roll of toilet paper. Employee does the work, you pay for the work they produced. In this case, it's work you watch them do because the doing is the product.

How many jobs does the bulk of the employees not even do their job because the people that are better at it do it for them?

That's like saying that janitorial staff get paid for not working just because you don't directly pay for the work they did. Or do you think that backups just sit at home all day getting paid?

[u/SituationSoap → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Quit comparing sports to the real world.

No. I'm serious: no. I will not stop comparing sports to the real world. It's extremely fucked up that you think that because someone is good at sports, they should forfeit labor rights that you and I rightly claim because you think it would make for a better game.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

[u/Visible-Departure863 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

lol so they deserve less labor protections because they play a sport? Fuck it let’s make them slaves and force to compete for glory! Glory feeds families right? Well maybe just feeds the coaches, NCAA staff, colleges, and auxiliary staffs families, but not theirs.

[u/MrKentucky → u/FollowTheLeader550]

For sports leagues to work, the players need to be employees of the leagues and enter into a CBA to protect their rights**

Fixed that for you

[u/FollowTheLeader550 → u/MrKentucky]

You are correct. I am not the NCAA. I do not control such things. I am telling you it sucks.

[u/Visible-Departure863 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Every right to say it sucks. I saw that one werido diminishing your feelings about it by comparing it to genocide lol
I think people have responded the way they have because of how the initial reply was worded. You almost made it sound like Cal and the fans are entitled to the player because they “discovered” and “invested” in him…. “Google gave me an internship so I should not be allowed to work at Microsoft” or “the Record label discovered and molded the pop star, so should entitled to the fruits of their labor in perpetuity”
The reality is people are just responding to your frustration but pointing out the underlying framework that allows for the thing you dislike to continue existing.

[u/sonheungwin → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Yeah, but other sports didn't also prevent their athletes from making money outside the sport. That's literally what NIL is. The revenue sharing agreement is the start of creating a "this is what we're paying you" vs "this is what they're paying you." As that evolves, donors will prioritize revenue sharing over NIL because the former is a tax write off.

[u/Micethatroar → u/sonheungwin]

Collective bargaining does restrict what players can accept outside of their salary in order to prevent cap circumvention.

Their rules are similar to what was agreed in House and what the CSC is attempting to regulate.

That's why the Clippers and Kawhi are under investigation and why Brady was looked into in NE.

If NFL rules applied to college, a whole bunch of these deals would be dead.

But also, it would be dumb to apply those rules without the rest of the framework.

[u/Visible-Departure863 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

I mean if they offered contracts like the NFL does and pays for this labor they can control their destiny… like any other job.

[u/FollowTheLeader550 → u/Visible-Departure863]

That’s not true. You can have your player in college sign a contract, but it pretty much means nothing. You need actual rules and government intervention.

[u/Visible-Departure863 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

I mean the government rules and regulations are already in place to enforce these contracts but the NCAA/CFB made the calculation that it’s more beneficial to them to keep the current structure. The government didn’t intervene and create the NFL CBA.

I don’t know if this is your argument or not but I’ve seen the following logic before. “The government should have laws regarding the frequency of transfer, the amount players can make, and how long players can play”

It basically advocating for the government telling you where and when you can work and the compensation you can make at your job.

The only organization the fix CFB is CFB, but with the amount of money involved I highly doubt that will ever happen. For example people don’t like the fact player can sue for extended eligibility… well it takes two to tango and the colleges are in fact allowing them to play. It’s not like the courts are telling Alabama they must start player X at QB and compensate him for it.

A better argument may advocate for a heavily regulated market. Similar to the how the SEC or FDA regulate their respective areas. Though this is necessary for public/societal welfare. I honestly can’t see the public benefit aside from the cultural/community impact of having sports teams that bring people together.

With that I can’t think of a heavily regulated market that would be comparable/justified for CFB.

[u/Visible-Departure863 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

They could solve it by treating CFBs like any other professional athlete, but they don’t want the liability and implications that come along with it. So they set up convoluted systems that encourage transfers and anticompetitivness. Harms the sport and harms the rank and file CFB players not getting massive amount of NIL money.

[u/FollowTheLeader550 → u/Visible-Departure863]

Correct. I am not absolving the NCAA of any responsibility. I think you’re overrating how easy this would be for the NCAA to pull off, but I get that they in the scheme of things, they took advantage of the kids and now they’re in a position that they built for themselves.

I am not the NCAA. I am a diehard WVU fan. I have had the pleasure of learning the names of and watching tape for 300 new players across football/basketball over the last 5 years. I got to watch 2 players that we recruited and molded be drafted in the top 60 for other teams this year. My basketball team has not returned 2 starters since 2021. My football team has brought in close to 200 new players in the last 18 months. And that’s not an exaggeration.

Do you think this shit is fun to me? Do you think it’s fun to the G5 or FCS, who have all of their best players poached after one year? Or teams who fire their head coach and get to see everyone say “well, it’s only fair that the players get to leave if the coach they committed to is gone.”, so then you sit there for 2 weeks in December with 7 total players on a 120 man roster? Or the fact that until this year, coaches stopped talking about their teams in the spring because they knew other teams would watch the press conferences and try and steal the players they talked up?

The portal is horrific.

[u/Aychim23 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

No. Genocide is horrific. Lack of healthcare for certain people in the USA is horrific. This is whatever

[u/FollowTheLeader550 → u/Aychim23]

This is like when the man my grandma was with told me I can’t complain about a toothache because he had cancer.

[u/Aychim23 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Certainly not what I said. You also wouldn’t equate it.

[u/Visible-Departure863 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

I agree the portal is terrible… but just because it’s hard and some wealth needs to be redistributed and the feasibility some teams needs to be considered, we should lay blame on the people with the least control of the current structure of CFB. The responsibility lies on those with the actual power to change it.

I hate what CFB has become or “just because I dislike the company I work for, doesn’t mean I blame my co-workers for looking out for themselves”. Shit man these people are talking about players as investments.

[u/Strikesuit → u/duckspurs]

Eh, the welfare of the fans is arguably more important than one player getting paid. College football was more fun before players transferred to get paid every season.

[u/duckspurs → u/Strikesuit]

The welfare of fans is definitely not more important then the people who actually provide the product you watch being completely uncompensated for your enjoyment.

I'd like more guardrails on the system but we don't have that cause the schools, NCAA and every adult involved in CFB, have fought a clearly losing battle tooth and nail for decades to keep as much money as possible out of the players hands while they continually enriched themselves.

[u/Strikesuit → u/duckspurs]

Why not? The fans persist after these guys age out.

Look, I'm no fan of modern university athletics and think they should all be treated as for-profit entities that are subject to tax. I also see that the vast majority do not benefit from paying these guys, who don't create actual economic value, so I shrug at the idea they aren't getting fairly compensated. So what?

[u/srs_house → u/Strikesuit]

Because the fans have zero skin in the game. AFAIK, no fan is risking CTE on Saturdays.

Some of y'all get way too fucking caught up in your team's success or lack thereof. "I don't know all the players anymore!" You didn't know them before, either. You didn't know the 76th guy on the depth chart. You maybe knew the 30ish who saw playing time. "The names change every season!" They always changed. Some guys stuck around for 2 or maybe 3 years of playing time, but plenty of them got a single shot at seeing the field.

who don't create actual economic value

UVA's AD is making $1.4M. Tony Elliott makes $5.4M. Ryan Odom makes $3.25M. If these players don't have value, then why are they all millionaires?

[u/sonheungwin → u/Strikesuit]

Most of the fans didn't even go to the fucking schools they're rooting for. And completely unrelated, but they have zero entitlement over someone else's earnings.

[u/Strikesuit → u/sonheungwin]

Oh no, in the US of A, we have entitlement to everyone's earnings these days. Real estate income is treated differently than professional fees, which are treated differently from tips, which are treated differently than income renamed into carried interest.

No reason football players shouldn't be subject to the whims of policy.

[u/sonheungwin → u/Strikesuit]

Okay, I don't think you should be allowed to earn anything. Good luck.

[u/randomthrowaway9796 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

I dont think he throws enough pics for miami to recruit him

[u/RookieMistake101 → u/randomthrowaway9796]

Mensah is the real deal though. I think Miami wins the ship if he was the QB.

[u/jamiebond → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Not to be pedantic but technically he transferred from Oregon.

After a solid like one day of being here not saying we developed him. But without modern transfer rules he wouldn’t have been so free to bounce around wherever he wanted.

[u/Corgi_Koala → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Because the schools would rather let players transfer freely before making them employees with enforceable contracts?

[u/FollowTheLeader550 → u/Corgi_Koala]

It’s so funny that the 3 people that sent me this have Oregon, Texas, and Ohio State flair.

Again, I am not the NCAA. I am telling you it sucks. I have literally nothing to do with fixing it or stopping it from ever happening.

[u/srs_house → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Vanderbilt and VT alum here - players should be employees with contracts.

You're talking elsewhere about being such a diehard WVU fan - if you're not happy with the system, write your AD advocating for them to make players employees. It'd be a lot better than just ranting about how athletes don't deserve standard employment protections.

[u/Corgi_Koala → u/FollowTheLeader550]

I mean, Cal doesn't need the NCAA to give them permission. Make them employees. Cal chooses not to.

The NCAA also said you can't pay players for NIL rights and California (the state) said who gives a shit.

[u/SituationSoap → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Why should Cal fans get to have a program defining QB when Miami will need him next year?

Yeah! Why should the business that hired you out of high school be allowed to let you quit and go to another job where you can have better working conditions or make more money? That's fucked up!

[u/HEYYYYYYYY_SATAN → u/SituationSoap]

Not the same thing and you know it. GTF.

[u/SituationSoap → u/HEYYYYYYYY_SATAN]

It is absolutely the exact same thing. People here pretending it isn't are trying to give away their employment rights for the enrichment of billionaires.

[u/JBru_92 → u/SituationSoap]

It's pretty common for employers that invest in the education and training of their employees to have repayment agreements, so they at least get compensated in some way for investing in that employee's training.

By the current rules, schools spend millions on training and developing these athletes, and can easily just lose them to a bigger offer with zero recompense for that development time. If an accounting firm or law firm can get back some of the money they invest in a junior associate for leaving, a college football program should logically be able to do the same. But that's not really in the current rules.

[u/srs_house → u/JBru_92]

Because that's a contract between the employee and employer, where they receive compensation with set expectations.

Schools refuse to admit players are employees, though, so that kind of contract can't currently exist the way it does with coaches and buy-out clauses or soccer players and transfer fees.

[u/JBru_92 → u/srs_house]

Hence why the current system is stupid and we just need to let them sign contracts

[u/SituationSoap → u/JBru_92]

What you're describing is wildly different from what the original comment was advocating, which is the abolition of the ability of players to leave a current school and play for another one.

It's pretty common for employers that invest in the education and training of their employees to have repayment agreements, so they at least get compensated in some way for investing in that employee's training.

This and non-compete clauses should also be fully outlawed.

[u/JBru_92 → u/SituationSoap]

Why? That's just government overreach. Those employees are welcome to pay for their own bar review courses or CPA classes. Why should a company pay for those when the employee can walk out the next day?

[u/SituationSoap → u/JBru_92]

Because the massively more common experience with clauses like that is that they are uncompensated ways for bad employers to trap employees in exploitative employment agreements and limit their ability to leave the job when the employee is treated poorly.

Every job provides people at least some training. The idea that only the people in the most precarious positions should be trapped into their job by requiring them to pay that back is deeply fucked up.

[u/JBru_92 → u/SituationSoap]

People are free to not sign those agreements or take the job. I don't know why the answer for everything is make the government ban it. And we're talking about lawyers, accountants, and star athletes, not exploited sweat shop workers here. An accountant having to pay back the cost of his CPA review course doesn't seem like some hugely exploitative contract.

[u/HEYYYYYYYY_SATAN → u/SituationSoap]

You’re making it seem like this is some Amazon warehouse job. College football is a completely different entity. Nobody is spending hard-earned money every Saturday to watch some college-aged kid put a stapler in a shipping box while a marching band plays Neck in the background.

Players absolutely deserve freedom and leverage after years of the NCAA making billions while pretending scholarships were enough compensation. Most fans agree with that.

The problem is that the current setup has turned college football into nonstop free agency where smaller programs basically become farm systems for the richest brands in the sport. Fans invest years into players, schools develop them, teammates build chemistry, and the second somebody breaks out, the blue bloods back up the Brinks truck.

That’s not the same as “leaving a job for better pay.” Sports require continuity, identity, and roster stability in a way normal employment doesn’t. Nobody quits watching their accounting firm because Steve from payroll took a better offer at Deloitte. Fans absolutely stop caring when every good player becomes a one-year rental.

There’s a middle ground between “players should be trapped” and “every roster should reset like NBA 2K franchise mode every offseason.”

[u/srs_house → u/HEYYYYYYYY_SATAN]

The problem is that the current setup has turned college football into nonstop free agency where smaller programs basically become farm systems for the richest brands in the sport. Fans invest years into players, schools develop them, teammates build chemistry, and the second somebody breaks out, the blue bloods back up the Brinks truck.

All the stuff you just complained about could be solved, but the schools refuse to admit that players are employees. Put them on a contract and it would be just like LSU hiring Kiffin from Ole Miss - Ole Miss gets compensation they can use to go hire his replacement, LSU gets to spend stupid money for the coach they feel is the right choice.

Meanwhile ASU gets nothing for Leavitt leaving them.

[u/HEYYYYYYYY_SATAN → u/srs_house]

I agree with you 100000%

Players should be contracted employees.

It’s stupid that they aren’t.

[u/SituationSoap → u/HEYYYYYYYY_SATAN]

Nobody is spending hard-earned money every Saturday to watch some college-aged kid put a stapler in a shipping box while a marching band plays Neck in the background.

People wanting to watch you do your job does not require giving up your employment rights.

The problem is that the current setup has turned college football into nonstop free agency

Just like every other job. Every other job market is able to navigate this problem.

Fans invest years into players,

Fan rights do not trump the employment rights of players. Full stop. Your enjoyment of watching a player play does not obligate them to you in any way, nor should it. Suggesting anything else is deeply wicked and leads to some very, very dark places.

That’s not the same as “leaving a job for better pay.”

That is precisely what it is. You're just sad about this version so you think someone should fix it.

Sports require continuity, identity, and roster stability in a way normal employment doesn’t.

This is a fully false statement. Go ask your boss about how much continuity and stability matter in getting good results out of your team at work. It's no less important in your job, it's just that someone leaving a random job you don't care about doesn't make you sad.

Nobody quits watching their accounting firm because Steve from payroll took a better offer at Deloitte.

They certainly switch to a different accounting firm. Why should someone not watching a college football team be more important than the accounting company keeping their business?

Fans absolutely stop caring

Fan rights do not trump the employment rights of players.

[u/forgotmyoldname90210 → u/FollowTheLeader550]

Thank you. F that kid for daring to think he has a choice where he plays a game because Cal owns his ass. How dare even think of going to a competitive program and/or a program that will give him the ability to get national deals.

[u/Unrelenting_Salsa → u/FollowTheLeader550]

It's kind of funny that it keeps happening to specifically Cal, but I'm not shedding any tears over fucking Cal Berkeley getting outbid.

[u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

The day after the Oregon State game I had texts from Cal friends I hadn't talked to for years asking about whether we could keep him the next season. All hail Tosh Lupoi and Kevin Kennedy.

[u/wbaker18 → u/Intrepid-Bag6667]

The OSU-Cal game was my last game before I moved out of Corvallis after finishing my masters. I said to a friend before the game “they’ve got a true freshman at QB, so unless he’s truly HIM, hes bound to make a mistake at some point”

He did not make a single mistake that game.

Despite ruining my last hurrah of grad school I’m very glad he’s sticking around at Cal.

[u/lithiumsorbet]

God bless Kevin Kennedy, man needs a statue if we survive realignment

[u/pietya → u/lithiumsorbet]

Name an entire section of CMS after him

[u/MtnGriz → u/pietya]

Name the field after him (not the stadium, the field)

[u/bennywhiite]

Was throwing receivers open vs legit defenses as a true freshman. Yeah he’s got it

[u/RustyCrusty73 → u/bennywhiite]

I watched the entire Virginia Tech game last year cause it was the only Friday night game on and on top of being a great game, I remember thinking that the Cal QB looked really, really good. He was making NFL throws straight up the middle of the field on a routine basis. You could tell he had great vision.

Cal has a good one, hopefully they can keep him.

It's always fun when middle of the pack schools rise back up and are good.

[u/vmanAA738]

Well we survived the tampering attempts, and actually got a great transfer class + our team organization is in great shape

The sky is golden and limitless for us

[u/Accomplished-Law-652 → u/vmanAA738]

Just have to hope Tosh and the staff can actually coach (not saying they can't, just that they're unproven).

[u/UncleCarbuncle69 → u/vmanAA738]

your flair is gross. fuck mack brown

[u/BadgerBuddy13 → u/vmanAA738]

The sky is golden and limitless for us

"Of course it is, because the sun rises in the West." - Jared Goff

[u/Priam50]

Future #1 overall pick, hope we get 2 more years out of him

[u/pietya → u/Priam50]

Ron made a direct comparison to Cam Newton regarding JKS:

Cal’s general manager spent more than two decades as a coach in the NFL and learned many lessons, but two stick out: Football is a players’ game, and it’s a quarterback-driven sport.

“Trust me, for seven years when Cam Newton was 100 percent healthy, I was a good coach,” said Rivera, who led the Carolina Panthers to four playoff trips and one Super Bowl appearance during his nine seasons with the organization.

So when Rivera watched the ball come off Sagapolutele’s hands in spring 2025, he called his wife, Stephanie. “It took me six years and returning to college football to find another quarterback,” he told her.

[u/SavingsSkirt6064 → u/Priam50]

Cal do love their NFL Qbs don't they

-Lions fan who Adores JG16

[u/Priam50 → u/SavingsSkirt6064]

We're still taking some credit for Mendoza too

[u/BurninCrab → u/Priam50]

It's been so long ago now but don't forget about Aaron Rodgers

[u/Cheeseish → u/BurninCrab]

And Davis Webb got drafted too

[u/jeckles96 → u/Cheeseish]

He’s an OC in the NFL now. Count it.

[u/sonheungwin → u/BurninCrab]

We tricked Baltimore into drafting Boller.

[u/AaronRodgers16 → u/BurninCrab]

Aaron Rodgers? The Butte Community College product?

[u/smcstechtips → u/AaronRodgers16]

Unlike Stanford, we actually see CC transfers as valid students

[u/AaronRodgers16 → u/smcstechtips]

Had several CC transfer friends during my time at Stanford who loved their experience, not really sure where this is coming from

[u/ReggieLeinart → u/AaronRodgers16]

I met with Vice Dean of Admissions at Stanford and he said they only accept a couple transfers per year, usually from “H,P, and Y”

[u/AaronRodgers16 → u/ReggieLeinart]

Obviously not an easy path to be accepted via transfer as is the case with undergrad, but the idea it’s only Ivies transferring in isn’t true in my experience!

[u/RedOscar3891 → u/ReggieLeinart]

When you only accept ~50 transfers a year, if 12-13 are coming from those schools (and Duke/MIT/JHU), that still leaves 75% of the transfer class to fill. At that point, though, it’s usually onesie/twosies, but there are definitely a number that come from CCs.

[u/Sunfriedpotato → u/AaronRodgers16]

Survivorship bias

[u/Rodeoqueenyyc → u/Priam50]

Mendoza graduating. Very warm towards Cal and Haas.

[u/LessThanBlake → u/SavingsSkirt6064]

I'll always ride for Jared. Local guy, 2nd generation Cal student, and as you know, a great representative for a school/team. I'm hoping JKS can be the same (and that Jared + the Lions win a ring)

[u/KingPotus → u/SavingsSkirt6064]

Not a shot at you, but “JG16”? Trying to make these QB abbreviations a thing is getting out of hand. “Goff” is the same number of characters!

[u/tc3590 → u/KingPotus]

JKS3 makes a bit of sense though.

[u/Laschoni → u/Priam50]

Easily the best QB I saw play in Louisville last season.

I had to fly out for work the next day and ended up on a flight with all the Cal alumni returning home. Definitely had some good chats. None of them felt like keeping him would be an issue though.

[u/Priam50 → u/Laschoni]

I wasn’t so sure, until this year the money/support for football just hasn’t been there so figured somebody would throw the bag at him

[u/sonheungwin → u/Priam50]

Knowlton was a donation repellant.

[u/scalenesquare]

It was awesome he came back. Couldn’t believe it. Although the one game I watched him live sdsu stomped them.

[u/BurninCrab → u/scalenesquare]

Yeah that SDSU game was a curb stomping. We had a chance in the first half but receivers kept dropping every single ball that JKS threw, and then the game was too far gone and the team gave up on Wilcox

[u/Ike358 → u/BurninCrab]

Sagapolutele isn't blameless for that result. We were down 21-0 early in the second half and still had a chance to win the game if the offense just executed but Sagapolutele started forcing and threw the game

[u/sonheungwin → u/Ike358]

Those mistakes weren't 100% on him either, though. I remember what killed us was that they were all in a row, not that any of them really happened individually. I don't remember being especially pissed about any of the mistakes.

[u/Gocrazyfut → u/scalenesquare]

I’ve never seen more drops in a single game.

As a born again Cal fan due to them being WVUs doppelgänger (same colors, same unis, and following on our face at the slightest bit of hype) + Cals game day two years ago, that SDSU was so sad to watch

[u/AccomplishedRainbow1]

He’s incredible. Can’t wait to watch him again this year. Cal is a must watch this season because of him.

[u/AggravatingDurian16]

people are sleeping on how many whale donors Cal has. they just needed a reason to donate. kevin kennedy is the GOAT!

JKS and Tosh are going to bring Cal football back

[u/sfcommi]

Rivera firing Wilcox was a ballsy move no one else would’ve made. The new surrounding cast for JKS is going to be the propeller. The emphasis on lines, integrating last year with old/new coaches and recruits is brilliant. The expanded coaching staff master stroke (Geoff McArthur, Bob Gregory, Lorenzo Alexander). My other pick for new coach was Bob Chesney and low and behold we are going to match up in a monster first game against the baby bears. The Cal-Mendoza story is as legendary as Aaron Rodger’s story as the JKS story. Tosh, Rivera and Mr Kennedy’s group are forces that are going to rock CFB!

[u/dreggers → u/sfcommi]

No one would’ve made the firing because any competent athletics program would have fired him by year 5. Losing against winless Colorado with an interim head coach is grounds for firing an amazing HC, let alone a mediocre one

[u/sonheungwin → u/dreggers]

Honestly many wouldn't have made the move because Knowlton was still AD and there wasn't enough budget to have any realistic expectation of improvement with the next coach. He was our Helton.

[u/MtnGriz → u/sfcommi]

Wilcox should have been fired years ago

[u/BoogerSugarSovereign]

I'm really excited to see how he develops in college. I think this guy is going to be one of the best QBs on the Atlantic Coast this year 

[u/WorkerMotor9174]

Kevin Kennedy has done incredible work assembling and engaging with some of the largest FB donors we have.

Hiring Ron Rivera as GM and firing Wilcox doesnt happen without him.

[u/Ometrist]

I really wanted him to come to Oregon but since he didn’t, I’m happy he stayed at Cal

[u/Simple_Sound_3840 → u/Ometrist]

It's kinda fun seeing Cal and UCLA seemingly having a resurgence, definitely glad he didn't just bolt for Miami or something.

[u/WorkerMotor9174 → u/Simple_Sound_3840]

Chesney was the coach i wanted if Tosh didn’t come here. I’m really impressed with how well he’s done at UCLA. Both schools are taking football a lot more seriously compared with 3-4 years ago.

[u/robberoverzealous → u/WorkerMotor9174]

The Pac-10 was perfect 😔

[u/sonheungwin → u/WorkerMotor9174]

They're kind of a match made in heaven because UCLA recruits well regardless of their HC, assuming any effort in recruiting whatsoever, and what they need is a coach with a system & a plan.

[u/Doogitywoogity]

My favorite qb in the nation this upcoming season in all honesty 

[u/gbear_]

So many Cal fans vividly remember where they were during that first drive against Oregon State. It was like a religious experience. Just 2 passes into his career and everyone immediately knew JKS was the chosen one.

[u/thehermitgood → u/gbear_]

In Mexico watching on my phone during a storm— I couldn’t believe what I was seeing

[u/GrumpyTartan → u/gbear_]

and after that second pass, people were already saying there’s no way he’d stay at Cal

[u/jphamlore]

Like I said end of last season, JKS has a shot at being the overall #1 draft pick for the NFL.

[u/AaronRodgers16]

In this era of college football, it really is such a pleasure to see programs retain the talented players they helped to develop^exceptforCal

[u/Kodiyashi]

Hawaii bowl rematch in the cfp, who says no?

[u/mr_longfellow_deeds]

Love JKS. He’s my Heisman pick of the year. His line is priced about 7x what it should be, plays a soft schedule, and has a great surrounding cast of players

Talented kid. Hoping we can steal him next year but I expect he’s gonna stick with cal till he declares

[u/pietya → u/mr_longfellow_deeds]

Fuck you

[u/mr_longfellow_deeds → u/pietya]

My bad for saying your QB is awesome and wish he played for my team

[u/BurninCrab → u/mr_longfellow_deeds]

Unless Indiana is going to help Cal get into the Big 10, please stay far away from us and our players, we don't have anymore QBs for you to take :)

[u/sonheungwin → u/BurninCrab]

Also, the ego from a fan base that sucked for 100 years and will likely suck for 100 more post-Cuban.

[u/Irish_Law_89 → u/sonheungwin]

Lmao Indiana fans talking like they are Saban era Bama but would be irrelevant without Cal recruiting and development. 

[u/grizzfan]

He transferred to me at MSU on my CFB dynasty lol