BERKELEY — Ahhh, the crisp odor of leaves amid the pageantry and custom of faculty soccer.
And if you consider faculty soccer within the fall, you actually consider Friday night time video games, Atlantic Coast Convention soccer at a venue overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and Invoice Belichick.
Wait, what?
Sure, it’s certainly a wierd second for America’s most absurd sport, which is really outdoing itself today. Not an oz. of this is smart. Not a little bit of it’s regular.
However for the Cal Bears, it’s a wierd second they should seize.
As a result of for a program that has lengthy wanted a big-stage, course-setting breakthrough win, one has introduced itself on a peculiar day in a weird league in opposition to a bizarre opponent.
The eyes of the school soccer world, and maybe even the sporting world, might be on Berkeley Friday, albeit for perverse causes:
Belichick, arguably the best NFL coach of all time, is attempting his hand on the faculty recreation this season for North Carolina.
It’s not going effectively.
What began with palace intrigue in Chapel Hill (the athletic director being overridden by boosters to rent Belchick) then led to bed room intrigue (what’s occurring there?!). Now there’s coaches’ room intrigue (who would have thought Michael Lombardi couldn’t successfully run a university soccer program?). It’s all resulted in three straight blowout losses, a woeful 2-3 file, and a dreaded vote of confidence lower than two months into Belichick’s first season.
And after every week off to relaxation, recuperate, and reshuffle a couple of issues, the Bears have been granted the unimaginable alternative to “Kill Bill”, if you’ll.
Not actually, after all.
However on the scoreboard and maybe within the eyes of soccer followers and maybe even the still-fawning North Carolina administration? Completely.
A nation will tune into the one recreation on the town on Friday night time to see if Belichick is getting his enamel kicked in once more, an within the course of, they may look upon Cal head coach Justin Wilcox’s protection (restocked with extra NFL expertise), or his could-be-superstar true freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele and assume “hey, there’s something good happening at Cal.”
As a result of I’d see it, and also you may assume it, however outdoors of the East Bay, I’m undecided many of us bear in mind Cal exists.
Now they’ve a captive viewers, even when they’re all simply gawking on the automobile crash on the opposite sideline.
“It’s an excellent alternative. Friday night time recreation, nationwide tv, nice opponent. The power goes to be unbelievable. I’m actually excited for our staff, not only for these causes, however as a result of we get one other probability to go on the market and play our greatest recreation. And what does that appear to be?
You understand, if we go play our greatest recreation and we play like we’re able to… I believe actual good issues will occur.
There’s solely so many possibilities you get.”
It was an opportunity the Bears — led by now-Indiana quarterback and Heisman frontrunner Fernando Mendoza — did not take final season when ESPN’s School Gameday got here to city for the sport in opposition to Miami; a recreation the Bears have been controlling, up 20, till all of it unraveled within the fourth quarter.
Ask any Bears fan, they usually’ll inform you it felt like quite a lot of the air got here out of this system’s balloon when Cam Ward hit Xavier Restrepo for 77 yards with 1:42 to play within the recreation.
It’s time to reinflate it.
This system will inform you that one recreation doesn’t outline a trajectory. Respectfully, if you’re Cal, it completely does. Consideration is the foreign money of the game now, and the Bears flushed a duffel bag filled with it down the bathroom in opposition to Miami.
That focus may not be again on the identical ranges this time round, however Friday is one other probability, however. Cal must profit from it, not only for this season, however for the seasons to return. Momentum is granted solely by exterior validation and fashionable faculty soccer is something however provincial.
If the Bears are going to be a constant top-25 staff once more — a contender for the ACC crown in years to return, maybe — this can be a stepping stone recreation.
The entire setup is ridiculous. The circumstances are absurd. It’s every thing flawed, and subsequently every thing proper, with faculty soccer in 2025.
Of us might be watching Friday to see a legend fail. They’ll be waiting for the schadenfreude. They’ll tune in for the memes.
However they’ll be watching.
America, meet the Cal Bears as soon as once more.
Cal, what do you need to say for your self?
Initially Revealed: October 16, 2025 at 11:00 AM PDT
