Following the head coaching change, Cal QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele had a chance to enter the transfer portal after his standout 2025 true freshman season. But the QB chose to stay with the Golden Bears. That didn’t stop multiple rivals from trying to lure him away, and an anonymous Cal official confirmed that, accusing those teams of tampering.

“Anytime you have a true freshman that comes in and balls out and does incredibly well, you’re going to have teams that try and get in on him and try and talk to people around him and hit him up,” said the Cal official this week. “There were numerous teams that came in and hit his representation up, hit his family up. Teams from all over the SEC, ACC, Big Ten. There were teams everywhere trying to get in on him.”

Despite these external pressures and a head coaching change from Justin Wilcox to former Oregon assistant coach Tosh Lupoi, Sagapolutele has reaffirmed his commitment to staying at Berkeley for the 2026 season. But Wilcox’s firing spiked interest from other programs amid speculation that the Cal QB might leave, and tampering efforts intensified because of his outstanding performance last season.

In 2025, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele threw for 3,454 yards and 18 TDs, leading the ACC in completions per game. He became the first Power 4 QB to start a career with 13 straight games of 200+ passing yards. Nationally, he is the second player in FBS history to reach this milestone, trailing only Houston’s David Piland. Then, as a true freshman, he became only the second Cal QB, joining Jared Goff, to win the starting job for a season opener.

With this kind of talent on display, following Wilcox’s firing in late 2025, other major programs aggressively pursued Sagapolutele. But new Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi, who previously recruited the QB at Oregon, secured his stay by flying to Hawaii for a face-to-face meeting shortly after being hired. After meeting with Lupoi, the QB confirmed that he would remain at Cal in 2026.

However, his path to Berkeley was unconventional. In July 2024, he committed but flipped his commitment to Oregon on signing day in December. Yet he didn’t stay with the Ducks too long. After enrolling for just one week and participating in Oregon’s CFP prep, he entered the portal and signed with Cal in January 2025.

Now, his second season with Cal, whether it will be a breakout campaign or not, is a waiting game, but the expectation from the QB is high.

The Cal QB’s future in Berkeley

Although his success likely hinges on Cal’s overall team performance, analysts consider Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele a legitimate “dark horse” for this season’s Heisman race. The QB’s chances of success are enhanced because new head coach Tosh Lupoi has already upgraded the WR room with transfers like Chase Hendricks to maximize Sagapolutele’s efficiency.

Major outlets like ESPN and FOX Sports have listed him among their “Way-Too-Early” contenders for the 2026 season, following his record-breaking 13-game freshman streak. But for him to truly contend, Cal will probably need to finish the season ranked and improve its 133rd-ranked rushing offense to keep defenses from focusing solely on him.

The Cal QB reached as high as No. 10 on the On3 Heisman poll earlier in his freshman year. Now, let’s see how he performs in his sophomore year to remain a serious contender for the 2026 Heisman.