Cal has named freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele its starting quarterback ahead of the program’s season-opener against Oregon State, the school announced on Monday. Sagapolutele, the former No. 65 overall recruit in the 2025 recruiting cycle by 247Sports, won the starting job over Ohio State transfer Devin Brown.
“We felt like he earned it,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “We also feel like Devin is a really good football player. Devin, his ability to be a winning starter at this level, but Jaron earned it.”
Brown spent the last two seasons as a backup at Ohio State and transferred to Cal to compete for the starting job. Brown received an NIL package from Cal in the upper six-figure range, sources told CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz. With Sagapolutele tabbed as the starter heading into the season, Brown is expected to be the backup.
“Jaron is excited obviously,” Wilcox said. “I’m sure Devin is disappointed, which is what you would expect. At that position, when you make a decision, it’s not like a lof of people are swapping quarterbacks every play. … I think Devin is a good football player. He does a lot of things well. He’s extremely smart and he’s been a great leader. I’m sure he’s disappointed.”
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Sagapolutele’s road to Cal has been a rollercoaster. After initially committing to Cal last summer, Sagapolutele de-committed on National Signing Day and flipped his commitment to Oregon before entering the transfer portal in early January. He signed with Cal days later.
He was the No. 5 transfer portal quarterback available only behind Nico Iamaleava (UCLA), Carson Beck (Miami), John Mateer (Oklahoma) and Fernando Mendoza (Indiana), who spent the previous two seasons with the Golden Bears.
Sagapolutele was considered one of the biggest risers in his respective recruiting class. He ranked as the No. 393 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class last June and skyrocketed to a top 100 recruit by the end of the cycle. After he committed to Cal last July, he received an offer and took an official visit to Georgia months later.
“His accuracy down the field,” Wilcox said about what Sagapolutele does best. “He keeps his eyes down the field well. He’s very coachable. Learns quickly… the accuracy and the ability to make throws down the field, which we felt he did a nice job of. He feels the pocket really well.”
Cal finished 6-7 for the second consecutive year under Wilcox last season. The program reached a bowl game for the fourth time in Wilcox’s tenure, which began in 2017. Cal (+12500) has the third-longest odds behind Wake Forest and Stanford to win the ACC, per FanDuel.
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