Cal Athletic Department: Cal Football Holds First Practice of 2006

Golden Bears Welcome 104 Players to Preseason Camp

BERKELEY - The University of California opened fall training camp for the 112th season of Golden Bear football on Monday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. One hundred and four players reported to camp on Sunday, including 18 starters from the 2005 squad, which ended last season with a record of 8-4 and a 35-28 win over BYU in the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl.  As a reminder, all California football practices are CLOSED to the public.  Included in the returnees are five players from last year's All-Pac-10 squad. Returning first teamers include cornerback Daymeion Hughes and defensive lineman Brandon Mebane. Members from the second team that the Bears welcome back this year are linebacker Desmond Bishop, special teams standout Byron Storer and defensive end Nu'u Tafisi. Storer was also a second-team Pac-10 All-Academic selection.  Monday's practice was a 90-minute session with players just wearing helmets. The main focus of practice was teaching the new players the system. The veterans and newcomers participated in one-on-one drills, seven-on-seven and team drills.  "It's just showing them the process of practice, teaching formations of basic plays, alignments and huddle procedures," Cal head coach Jeff Tedford said. "They did a lot of hard work. Still, collectively as a team, we're going to do everything we can to make sure we're ready for Tennessee."  

The Bears travel to Tennessee for their season opener on Sept. 2 in Knoxville. The game will be broadcast on ESPN at 2:30 p.m. (Pacific). The home opener for the Bears is Sept. 9 against Minnesota at 4 p.m. For ticket information, call 1-800-GO-BEARS.