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California Golden Bears center Michaell Saffell is returning in 2021. And that should make every fan extremely happy.
In a video with Cal Sports Report, Saffell explained that he is returning for next season after talking with head coach Justin Wilcox and his teammates.
“I’m coming back in 2021. I talked to coach (Justin) Wilcox about it and the guys. Really excited. I think we’ve got a great group coming back, especially on the offensive side of the ball. In spurts we saw it this year, we flashed some things we could do in the new offense with coach (Bill) Musgrave. Man, it’s a great opportunity. Couldn’t be more excited.”
Saffell went further into what prompted the decision to return in 2021, citing injuries and the inability to ‘finish the business’ that they have, which is to win the Pac-12.
“That’s really what I’m striving for with this team. And then just some unfinished business left on the table. We want to win the Pac-12 — that’s our goal.”
With Saffell on the table to return, that gives Cal eight players who started a game this season returning on the offensive line alone. With COVID-19 positive tests and subsequent contact-tracing protocol steps in place, the Bears started 10 players on the offensive line. Jake Curhan has accepted an invitation to play in the Hula Bowl, thus all the more likely that he’s gone, as well as Valentino Daltoso, who hasn’t made his intentions on whether or not to return public yet. So without Curhan and Daltoso, that gives the Cal Bears Saffell, Matthew Cindric, Ben Coleman, Will Craig, Brian Driscoll, Brandon Mello, McKade Mettauer and Brayden Rohme as players who started a game and are returning in 2021.
Saffell continued to explain that the Cal offensive line depth was an important piece of his returning.
“You look across the country at the teams that are great, they have depth on the O-line every year. This is the most optimistic I’ve felt about our O-line.”
Welcome back to Berkeley, Michael! We’re excited for you, we’re excited for 2021!