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Khalfani Muhammad Commits To Cal; Will Cal Commit To Ron Gould?

Is Ron Gould coming back? The Cal running back coach landed the commitment of Sherman Oaks running back Khalfani Muhammad.

By Avinash Kunnath

Bless you Ron Gould.

Cal lands a top running back recruit with no head coach. My goodness.

Here are some stats from our main man ManBearCal.

Here are his rankings.

  • 17th best running back, and 30th best recruit in California by Rivals.
  • 34th best running back, and 41st best recruit in California by ESPN.
  • 14th best all-purpose back and 48th best recruit in California by 247Sports.
  • 45th best running back by Scout.

Muhammad's offer list: Notre Dame, Oregon State, UCLA, Washington, Utah, Purdue, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Duke, San Diego State.

And his video highlights are wowzers. Check below for his junior highlights.

Obviously, we still have to hold our breath here. A lot of this might be determined by whether the next coaching staff retains Gould.

Muhammad seems confident.

I hope he's right. It might just be case of wishful thinking, where Muhammad believes it'll be impossible that the next coaching staff that comes in pushes Gould out the door. Obviously, Muhammad probably has much of an idea as the rest of us whether the next head coach will keep Gould around. But if Jeff Tedford could recognize the talents of Gould and retain him despite the stench of Holmoe, I imagine the next head coach will do the same. I would have to think Gould is the likeliest among any of the coaches to come back.

Obviously this hasn't been an easy season for anyone on the coaching staff, and particularly Gould, who struggled to balance snaps between Sofele, Anderson and Bigelow. And the running backs always seemed to keep fumbling, which had to further frustrate him because of how much he emphasizes ball security.

But one tough year of luck shouldn't overlook one of the most incredible eight year stretches of running back development I've ever seen from one program. Over an eight year stretch, Cal was treated to the talents of SIX NFL-caliber running backs, and Gould recruited pretty much all of them. It's not like all of these were home run hits like Best or Lynch; he had to find Forsett and Vereen and Eche and Arrington. And he's been perhaps the best recruiter of the Tedford era.

More importantly, he never left us. When other coaches on Tedford's staff tried something else, or bounced around, Gould stay true to gold. He and his wife live and breathe Cal. He's been with us nearly a decade and a half. And here he is, selling a top recruit on the virtues of California without a leader, with no guarantees that he might be back next year. What a man.

While it's going to be weird imagining life without Tedford, I can't even imagine life without Gould. Who else has excelled at their job like he has?

Welcome to Khalfani, Cal. Hope Ron is coming back to coach you.

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