Where Does Cal’s 2025 Football Recruiting Class Rank in the ACC?

ESPN, 247 Sports, Rivals, On3 all rank the Bears incoming class outside the top 50 in the nation

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

A lot of Cal’s football recruiting these days is in the transfer portal, but bringing in high school talent is still an ingredient to success.

ESPN recently revealed its latest ranking of the top 75 schools in the 2025 college football recruiting classes, and the Bears are among the top 75, but outside the top 50 and low among ACC schools. ESPN puts the Bears’ recruiting class as the 54th-best in the country, but it’s up 11 spots after quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele transferred to Cal.

Here is ESPN’s comment on Cal’s 2025 class

54. California Golden Bears

ESPN 300 commits: 2

Top offensive prospect: QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele

Top defensive prospect: CB Aiden Manutai

Previous ranking: 65

The Golden Bears briefly lost ESPN 300 QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to Oregon, but quickly got him back in the fold; he is a key get as he could lead their offense in 2025. The lefty out of Hawai'i has elite arm strength and can make all the throws, including driving the ball downfield with good accuracy. In-state TE Jacob Houseworth is a productive downfield target who can stretch the seam, having been measured at nearly 21 mph in game play. Anthony League is a strong in-state pickup at RB with good size (6-foot/205), body control and speed. As a senior he rushed for more than 1,500 yards and 20 TDs and averaged more than 10 yards-per-carry, showing big-play ability. On defense they landed a pair of talented CBs in four-star Aiden Manutai and high three-star Jae’on Young. On the defensive line, LeBron Williams is explosive and strong with good tools to develop.

Cal’s spot in the ESPN rankings differ slightly from the team recruiting rankings provided by 247 Sports, Rivals and On3.

No ACC team ranks among the top 10 classes at any of the four sites, and Miami has the highest ranked class in all four, placed at No. 13 at all sites. We take a look at where each of the 17 ACC football programs rank at all four sites.

ESPN

13 – Miami

19 – Georgia Tech

25 – Florida State

30 – SMU

35 – Duke

36 – Syracuse

37 – Clemson

41 -- Virginia Tech

42 – Stanford

43 – North Carolina State

45 – Pittsburgh

48 – North Carolina

52 – Virginia

54 – Cal

55 – Boston College

56 – Wake Forest

67 – Louisville

.

247 Sports

13 – Miami

18 – Florida State

21 – Georgia Tech

26 – Clemson

28 – SMU

33 – Duke

35 – North Carolina State

38 – Virginia Tech

40 – Syracuse

48 – Stanford

51 – Pittsburgh

54 – Virginia

56 – Boston College

58 – North Carolina

63 – Wake Forest

68 – Louisville

70 – Cal

.

Rivals

13 – Miami

17 – Florida State

22 – Georgia Tech

27 – SMU

30 – Duke

32 – Clemson

35 – Virginia Tech

38 – Syracuse

41 – North Carolina State

47 – Pittsburgh

51 – Stanford

53 – Boston College

57 – Virginia

58 – North Carolina

60 – Wake Forest

64 – Cal

67 -- Louisville

.

On3

13 – Miami

19 – Florida State

22 – Clemson

24 – Georgia Tech

31 – SMU

34 – Duke

35 – North Carolina State

38 – Virginia Tech

45 – Stanford

46 – Syracuse

52 – Pittsburgh

55 – Cal

57 – Virginia

58 – Boston College

60 – North Carolina

61 – Wake Forest

69 -- Louisville

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