Cal Coach Expects Special Teams to Bounce Back After Rough 2020 Season

Bears special-teams coach Charlie Ragle said last season was the ‘toughest year of my career’

You could argue that Cal would have finished 3-1 instead of 1-3 last season had it not been for a handful of egregious special-teams errors.

No one knows that better than the Bears’ special-teams coach Charlie Ragle.

“Last year was the toughest year of my career personally as it dealt with the profession,” Ragle said Monday. “It was really hard for me to go through that four-game stretch and everything that went with in.”

In the 31-27 loss to Oregon State, a penalty wiped out what would have been an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown by Nikko Remigio, and later a penalty erased what would have been a 94-yard kickoff return by Remigio that set Cal up at the 3-yard line.

But Cal still had a lead until a blocked Cal punt with 5:26 left gave Oregon State the ball at the Cal 14-yard line and led to the game-winning touchdown.

A Cal player who had been plugged into the Bears’ punt-protection unit the night before because of a COVID-19 absence let a defender through to make the block. But Ragle knows excuses don’t cut it.

Then, a week later against Stanford, Cal kicker Dario Longhetto had a 32-yard field goal blocked and had what would have been a game-tying extra point blocked with 58 seconds left in a 24-23 loss to the Cardinal.

The main characters will be the same this year. Jamieson Sheahan is back as the Bears’ punter and holder on place kicks. Longhetto is expected to be the place kicker again. Slater Zellers is still the long-snapper. And Remigio will again be the Bears’ primary punt returner and kick returner.

And, of course, Ragle is back. In fact, Ragle is the only one of Cal’s nine current assistant coaches who was on the Bears’ staff in Justin Wilcox’s first season as Cal’s head coach in 2017. And Cal's special teams had been pretty good until last season.

The only difference from 2020 is that, unlike last year’s pandemic-restricted practices, Cal will have normal practice sessions to iron out all the special-teams problems.

“I really think that, looking back now, those four games, what we went through, will be a blessing for us and guy like Jamieson,” Ragle said. “We’re going to be better because of that four-game stretch, I truly believe that.”

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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