Golden Nuggets: Sonny Dykes Discusses Each Member of Cal's 2013 Recruiting Class

If you watched the recruiting press conference on Wednesday, you noticed it abruptly ended when Dykes transitioned to the film highlights of each of his recruits. Fortunately Faraudo has some of Dykes' comments on each of the new Bears. First some, of the defensive ends.

KYLE KRAGEN, DE (6-3, 250), Diablo Valley College: "He’s a productve player. Love the way he plays. He plays with an attitude. He’s an explosive pass rusher. Tenacious. He’ll make a quick contribution to our program. His dad (Greg) played in the NFL. He really knows how to play football, never gives up on a play."

TAKKARIST MCKINLEY, DE (6-3, 240), Kennedy HS-Richmond: "He’s a pretty special talent, a unique guy. An unusual football player. There’s not many guys who are 6-3, 240 pounds and run 10.5 (for 100 meters). He’s a very raw athlete that we’re very excited about. I think he’s got a tremendous upside."

As is the Bears' custom over the past several years, Cal welcome several exciting linebackers.

JOHNNY RAGIN, OLB (6-3, 225), Wilsonville HS, Ore.: "A really athletic, fast, sudden guy. A relentless player. A great student. He’s had like one `B’ in his entire life. A tremendously interesting guy just because he’s interested in everything. Oregon made a run at him. He stuck with us. Cal sold him."

EDWARD TANDY, OLB (6-1, 220), Tustin HS: "I’m really surprised everyone in the country wasn’t recruiting Edward. He’s a physically mature kid. The first time I met him he looked like he was about 25 years old. A really tough kid. They told us pound-for-pound, the strongest ever to play at Tustin. An intense guy."

CHAD WHITENER, MLB (6-1, 240), Mansfield HS, Texas: "We recruited him at Louisiana Tech and he’s gotten bigger. He’s 6-1, about 250. He’s a heck of a football player. He was a top BMX bicycle racer as a kid. He’s going to be successful at whatever he does. It’s really hard to find middle linebackers. Chad’s a true physical middle linebacker."

Even during the streamed press conference Dykes expressed excitement about Hudson's wealth of potential positions in the Dykes-Franklin offense.

RAY HUDSON, TE (6-3, 235), Foothill HS-Pleasanton: "A big guy that has the body of a tight end who can do a lot of different things. The thing that was fun about watching Ray’s (high school) film is they would split him out at times. He catches the ball very well. Can be a matchup problem. Can play a lot of different roles in this offense. Those guys are hard to find."

Finally, he gives his thoughts on several of the skill players.

KHALFANI MUHAMMAD, RB (5-8, 175), Notre Dame HS-Sherman Oaks: "Great speed, great quickness. You’d be surprised how physical he is for a smaller guy. He’s a good player in space, but runs surprisingly hard. He gives us some pop. He gets going north and south fast. He had about a 20-minute highlight video, which is usually a good sign."

JARED GOFF, QB (6-4, 185), Marin Catholic-Kentfield: "We’re really excited about Jared. He’s got good size, a good arm. Felt like he does everything well. Moves well, shows touch — has all the intangibles. A very smart kid. He does a nice job working the pocket — a skill that’s very underrated."

These guys are going to graduate in 2017 and 2018: does anyone else feel ancient when realizing that?

Football

• CalBears.com has an exceptionally long and surprisingly comprehensive transcript of Sonny Dykes' press conference yesterday.
• Each of the assistant coaches gives his take on the recruiting class. They sound excited that they were able to convince many of Tedford's recruits to stay with the Bears.
• Amid the recruiting hubbub, Sonny Dykes quietly acknowledged that Daniel Lasco and Brendan Bigelow will miss spring ball.
• Uncle Ted provides the Pac-12-wide recruiting rankings. Consensus has Cal at 5th in the conference. The Normal School was first, followed by USC, Toshington, and Oregon.
• How did the Pac-12 North teams fare on signing day? Cal fulfilled its needs in the trenches, although the youngsters may not immediately contribute.
• Wilner says Dykes did everything a replacement head coach needs to do for his recruiting class. He flipped several recruits, kept nearly everyone who qualified, and brought in a top-30 class.
• On Wednesday afternoon Coach Dykes said the team addressed its major needs in the trenches. He expects next year's recruiting class to have more "star power."
• Dykes says this class of recruits will help sort out the team's academic issues.
• Rivals gives the Bears' offensive recruits an overall grade of B.
• JO talks to Sonny Dykes about the finer details--donuts, watching the phone, doing interviews--of NLI day.
• Keenan Allen goes to the Texans (27th overall pick) in Todd McShay's latest mock draft.
• Keenan sits at 28th in McShay's ranking of the top-32 NFL prospects.
• Allen climbed to 24th in Mel Kiper's Big Board.

Basketball

• Cal lost 66-62 on the road at Arizona State.
• Faraudo's game thread follows the action. Another lousy first half prevented the Bears from seizing a winnable game.
• CalBears.com has begun an online series that takes us into the lives of members of the men's team. In this episode strength and conditioning coach Scott Thom has Allen Crabbe demonstrate the proper form and technique for the single-leg eccentric front squat, which helps strengthen vastus medialis and prevent knee tendinitis.
• Layshia Clarendon was named a Senior CLASS Award finalist. Fan votes help determine the winner, so encourage your friendly neighborhood computer scientist write a script to go to her page and stuff that ballot box.

Rugby

• Cal's underclassmen defeated Cal-Maritime 62-6. The Bears have outscored their opponents 588-13 this season. The next opponent, Cal Poly, could provide a little more resistance.

Softball

• After coming up short in last year's Women's College World Series, the Bears have adopted the slogan "Unity '13" and are as motivated as ever.

Baseball

• The team announced several upgrades, including lights and a new scoreboard.

Swimming and Diving

• Eight Bears won nine races as the men's team defeated Cal State Bakersfield 135-113.

Soccer

• Coach Grimes signed a class of seven and expects more signees soon.
• Coach McGuire welcomed ten new members to the women's team.

Field Hockey

• Cal welcomes seven new recruits to the team.

Golf

• The top-ranked men's golf team's unique approach to academics and funding was featured in a New York Times article.