Maybe it's the curse of coming away with All-ACC linebacker and California standout Cade Uluave through the transfer portal, but BYU football can't seem to shake Cal-Berkeley in the hunt for 2027 recruits.
Seemingly everywhere the Cougars look, the Golden State is there. If a prospect -- especially one from the California -- lists their top potential landing spots to call their college football home, I keep seeing the word "Cal" or "UCLA" written out in script.
Almost carrying shades of Mark Pope and Kentucky, BYU's number-one recruiting rival these days. Every major prospect the Cougars investigate is already covered in the fingerprints of BYU's former coach and the floundering figurehead of a college basketball blue blood. It's irritating, but Pope hasn't exactly been a threat on the recruiting platform this offseason, so he's more of a nuisance than an obstacle.
I guess that when it comes to football recruiting, that role is filled by UCLA. That role is filled by Cal-Berkeley, a team that BYU hasn't met on the field since the days of independence.
It's perplexing. It's baffling. It's completely inexplicable, and yet, it's the reality we live within.
Brody Rudnicki, a three-star quarterback out of Folsom High School (the same high school of five-star signee, Ryder Lyons), narrowed down his options to BYU, Utah, and Cal.
There's Giovanni Henley, another highly-recruited athlete whose final five narrows down to BYU, Texas, Penn State, Washington, and... Cal.
Then there's Elyjah Staples, a four-star athlete who is down to just two programs: BYU and Cal.
There's nothing nefarious going on here -- I'd be shocked to learn that Cal viewed themselves as a direct competitor to the Cougars' recruiting mission -- but I can't help but chuckle seeing this Pacific Coast ACC program appearing on all the same final lists as BYU, a program with which Cal has virtually nothing in common, and no ties to speak of.
It's likely the happenstance of being a local option for California-based recruits, but one has to applaud the Golden Bears for a strong recruiting push following a mediocre 7-6 season in the ACC.
Then there's UCLA, another California-based institution taking shots at players like four-star wide receiver Blake Wong, three-star O-lineman Kyle Nabrotzky, and several others despite not reaching the final choices.
If BYU has a shot at Weston Port, the Bruins' missionary de-commit, that could very well be a cause for concern if you believe in the power of a curse.
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