Golden Recruiting Wire: Cal Football 2014 Class Update, Joe Mixon Package Deal?

As we all continue to look towards August 31st Northwestern game, I think it's important that we continuously take in some of the positive things that have gone on with Cal football in the last few months.

I think most people would agree with me when I say that this coaching staff has demonstrated a commitment to a level of academic excellence that was not here before. For me, that's the biggest bright spot. I've always thought that there was a strong correlation with on field performance, and coaches' working to ensure that players demonstrate academic and personal integrity off the field.

In terms of this current recruiting class, I would say that we aren't near the level of prowess that we were say, 4 or 5 years ago, when our classes were filled with top 300 guys. But I think this current class is definitely something to be proud of. All of the commits are impressive individuals both on and off the field. Overall, we have 8 firm recruits now, and one soft with Koa Farmer. That's a pretty good number for mid-July. Although we're still lacking that big time player, and who knows if we will actually get someone like that this year or even next year, I do think Rubenzer could turn out to be a real wizard in the Bear Raid. The more I look at his tape the more he reminds of Johnny Manziel. In the right offense, elusive guys like that can be absolute stat monsters.

Now let's take a look at some of the other guys we're going after to help complete this class.

Here's some interesting news that will probably intrigue most Cal fans. Apparently Joe Mixon and Damien Mama want to play college football together.

As reported last week at B2G Camp, RB Joe Mixon and OL Damien Mama want to play together in college but their top lists vary a little.

— Adam Gorney (@adamgorney) July 1, 2013

We've done a few write ups on Damien Mama, but in case you don't remember, he is a guard from St. John Bosco in Bellflower, and ranks in as the 67th overall player in the country according to ESPN. Fortunately for Mixon and Mama, their offer lists are somewhat similar, so they technically do have a lot of choices in terms of where they want to play together (and that's of course assuming they stick to that commitment of being a package deal). Unlike some other package deals that Cal has dealt with in the past in terms of recruiting, I think this is a pretty solid one to go after. Great guard, great running back; both of these things go pretty well together. What's more, rumors have it that other recruits are also tied into this package deal (not sure who specifically). But by signing day next year, we could have something along the lines of what happened at Ole Miss this last year happening at one of the PAC-12 schools.

Why this is potentially good for Cal fans?

Well we know that Damien was high on Cal early on in the recruiting process. Today, he seems to be hot on USC, Bama, and Notre Dame. But he still has Cal in his top 10, which is enough to keep me happy.

Damien Mama has a top 13 of #Alabama #BYU #Cal #Florida #FSU #OleMiss #Miami #NotreDame #OhioState #UCLA #USC #Washington and #Wisconsin

— Adam Gorney (@adamgorney) July 17, 2013

Now of course this is all speculation, but if this really is one large package deal, then I like where our chances stand. We already have one commit from St. John Bosco, which I hope would further entice Mama into coming here, which IN TURN also entice Joe Mixon into becoming a Bear. It's a shame we didn't land Naijiel Hale, the John Bosco cornerback, because that would have really helped our cause. I however am not firmly opposed to counting Hale out. Recruits will change schools, and considering how high he was on Cal before the Arizona commit, I'd say we still have an outside shot at landing him.

I know, I know, there is an excessive amount of domino theory going on here, but there definitely has been a little buzz on the recruiting front in terms of these guys ending up at Cal. Given the harsh reality of being a Cal fan, there's a much greater chance that these stellar recruits end up at USC, but oh well, one can always hope.

Here are a few other recruits who are considering Cal.

Jeffery Farrar, WR, Upland CA

Came on an unofficial visit in May and has been high on Cal since then.

Bobby Okereke, LB, Santa Ana CA.

Right now looks like it's a tight race between us and Stanford, with USC just now getting in the mix too.

Jeremy Winchester, CB, Spring TX.

Winchester was recently offered by Cal. Slightly under the radar recruit, but is really high on Cal and Colorado right now with. I bet he commits to Cal, seeing we jumped to his number one spot just shortly after we offered him.