Cal Sports Report

Cal LB Jackson Sirmon Will Return for 2023 Season

He was the only Bears player named to the all-Pac-12 squad this season

Jake Curtis

Cal received some good news on Wednesday when its first-team, all-Pac-12 linebacker Jackson Sirmon announced on social media that he is returning to Cal for the 2023 season.

His twitter announcement said, "Unfinished business. Coming back for another year. Go Bears"

Sirmon played three seasons at Washington before transferring to Cal for the 2022 season.  But one of the those four seasons was the shortened 2020 pandemic season, which did not count against a player's college eligibility.

When the 2022 season ended Sirmon was undecided about whether he would return for another college season or perhaps enter the the 2023 NFL draft.  But his return bodes well for Cal since he was the only Cal player named to the all-Pac-12 first team or second team this past season.

Sirmon, who started all 12 games at an inside linebacker spot, finished the season with 104 tackles, which ranks third in the Pac-12.  He also had 6.0 tackles for loss, including 3.5 sacks, and one interception.

Jackson Sirmon is the son of Cal defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon.

Jackson Sirmon was the hero of Cal's Big Game win over Stanford, returning a fumble 37 yards for a touchdown.

Femi Oladejo, the player who started the most games at the other inside linebacker spot, entered the transfer portal after the season and has committed to UCLA.

Cal quarterback Jack Plummer has a similar decision to make.  He has another year of eligibility remaining but has not announced whether he will return to Cal for the 2023 season.

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Cover photo of Cal inside linebacker Jackson Sirmon is by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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