Cal Counting on Improved Special Teams This Season

Arrival of placekicker Ryan Coe and return man Mikey Matthews could make a difference.

Ryan Coe / Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Cal made progress offensively and declined on defense a year ago.

All the while, the Bears’ special teams remained anything but special.

“We all felt coming out of last season one area we could make a huge jump was special teams. We feel like we have the opportunity to do that,” said Cal coach Justin Wilcox, whose teams opens its season next Saturday at home vs. UC Davis. 

The Bears added two players they hope will be difference makers in the kicking game: placekicker Ryan Coe and return made Mikey Matthews.

Coe played in 42 games over five seasons at Delaware, Cincinnati and North Carolina, converting 48 of 61 field goals and all 99 of his PAT kicks. 

Coupled with returning punter Lachlan Wilson, who averaged 44.5 yards per kick last season, Wilcox likes what he's seen so far.

“Those specialists only get one play at a time and it’s kind of — as Ryan Longwell would put it — A or F,” Wilcox said, referring to the former Cal punter and NFL placekicker, who is serving this season as an analyst for Cal’s kickers. “What they’ve done in camp has been really impressive. So we’re excited about that group.”

Matthews, also a slot receiver, has been banged up during fall camp and his status for the Davis game is uncertain. But as a freshman at Utah last season, he averaged 20.6 yards on 15 kickoff returns and his 75 yards of punt returns, while hardly extraordinary, were 49 yards more than Cal totaled as a team last season.

Matthews totaled more than 900 yards in kick and punt returns during his career at Mission Viejo High School in Orange County.

“The other area we feel like we’ve made a big jump, and we’ll find out ultimately on game day, is the actual returners,” Wilcox said. “Most coaches that I’ve ever been around, and I think it’s true, would say to be a great return team, it starts with the returner.”

Wilcox believes a deeper roster will help the Bears fill their coverage teams with better athletes. He hopes that benefits Cal in an underrated area.

"Average field position is something we talk about a lot and we feel like we have an opportunity to be much better than we were,” Wilcox said. "Over the course of a game, the field position thing is a huge, huge deal. 

“When you look at average starting position and what that means to successful drives and also when you can back people up, make them go long fields, ultimately that’s the difference winning and losing sometimes.”

Here’s how we graded Cal’s special teams categories in 2023: 

Placekicking: Michael Luckhurst began the season as the Bears’ kicker but struggled mightily. He made just three of nine field goal attempts and missed three PAT kicks. Luckhurst was then replaced by freshman Mateen Bhagani, who converted 8 of 9 field goals — none longer than 43 yards — and made all his PATs. Both players have left the program. Grade: C-minus 

Punting: Wilson, a transfer from Tulsa last season, averaged 44.5 yards per punt, second-best in the Pac-12. He dropped 15 punts inside the 20-yard line and had 17 of 50 yards or more. Spoiling the equation was Cal’s coverage team allowing opponents an average of 13.7 yards per return, which ranked 119th nationally and dropped Cal’s net punting to 74th in FBS. Grade: B

Kickoff coverage: Cal kicked off 74 times and produced just 12 touchdowns, an average of 16 percent. The Bears ranked 67th nationally in kickoff return defense. Opponents kicked deep enough for 34 touchbacks on 81 kickoffs or 42 percent of the time. Grade: C-minus

Kickoff returns: Jaydn Ott had a 100-yard return for a touchdown and averaged 48 yards on three returns. Cal averaged just 16.3 yards on its other 21 kickoff returns. Grade: C

Punt returns: The Bears returned nine punts for a total of 26 yards — an average of 2.89 yards per return. That ranked 122nd out of 130 FBS teams nationally. Grade: F