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2020 Cal Poly Roster
2020-21 Cal Poly Winter Depth Chart
(Players Listed Alphabetically, Not as Nos. 1-2-3)
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Offense Defense Z-Back (Wide Receiver) Defensive Tackle 16 Mitch Anderson 6-0 187 RFr. 56 Myles Cecil 6-3 268 Jr. 3 Xavier Moore 6-1 190 So. 68 Jojo Falo 6-2 280 So. Nose Tackle 55 Kain Su’a 6-1 300 Jr. 99 Richard Watkins 6-0 315 Sr. Defensive End 37 Ryan Boehm 6-4 250 Sr. 41 Dusty Mitchell 6-2 219 RFr. Rush Linebacker 31 Dustin Grein 6-1 215 So. 3 Joey Ruiz 6-1 230 Sr. 11 Lance Vecchio 6-2 220 Sr. Mike Linebacker 40 Timothy Miller 6-0 220 So. 7 Laipeli Palu 6-0 222 Sr. Will Linebacker 42 Matt Shotwell 6-0 225 Sr. 52 Fenton Will 6-0 225 Jr.
X-Back (Wide Receiver) 11 CJ Cole 6-0 200 Jr. 81 Quentin Harrison 6-2 195 Sr.
Left Tackle 72 Austin Anderson 6-5 260 Fr. 71 Charles Lincoln 6-4 260 RFr.
Left Guard 76 Vatulele Finau 6-2 270 So. 72 Wade Willet 6-5 290 Jr.
Center 73 Nico DiFronzo 6-2 275 Jr. 62 Hunter Jones 6-3 292 RFr.
Right Guard 77 Eli Otero 6-4 295 So. 50 De’Jon Stuckey 6-3 300 Jr.
Right Tackle 65 Payson Campisano 6-4 265 RFr. 58 Garrett Weichman 6-4 325 Jr.
Quarterback 9 Conor Bruce 6-0 190 Jr. 4 Jalen Hamler 6-1 195 So. 14 Jackson Pavitt 6-2 190 Fr. 18 Hunter Raquet 6-4 205 Jr. 12 Kyle Reid 6-1 210 Jr.
Running Back 28 Chuby Dunu 5-11 188 Sr. 5 Lepi Lataimua 5-9 193 Sr. 22 Duy Tran-Sampson 6-1 215 Jr.
F-Back (Slot Receiver) 1 Juanie Campbell 5-7 170 Sr. 6 Eli Shelton 5-10 165 Jr.
Y-Back (Tight End) 34 Ryan Rivera 6-3 240 So. 85 Michael Roth 6-4 210 Jr. 48 Nick White 6-6 225 Sr. Special Teams
Sam Linebacker or Nickel Back 9 Aaron Cooper 6-2 208 Jr. 20 Corey Thomas 6-0 210 So.
Field Cornerback 29 Jamarri Jackson 5-9 180 Jr. 12 Isaiah Jernagin 5-9 165 RFr. 4 D’Angelo McKenzie 5-10 180 So. Field Safety 27 Brandon Davis 6-0 190 Jr. 17 Bradley Mickey 5-11 185 Sr. Boundary Safety 10 Freddie Gaines 6-1 195 Sr. 14 Dawson Hurst 6-0 195 RFr. 36 Caden McCloughan 6-1 190 Jr. Boundary Cornerback 1 Cameron Crump 6-1 190 Sr. 2 Jaylen Morgan 5-10 170 Sr. 23 Julian Reed 6-2 175 So.
2020-21 Cal Poly Football Season Preview
Cal Poly football fans accustomed to seeing two slot backs and a fullback in the backfield of the Mustangs' Triple Option offense the last 13 seasons will have to make some adjustments.
In fact, Mustang faithful might not see anyone in the backfield at times. Instead, one might see four wide receivers and a tight end or perhaps even five wide receivers on the field. Customarily, it will be one running back, three wide receivers and a tight end.
That's just one of many changes in store for Cal Poly's 2020 football squad as first-year head coach Beau Baldwin, the Mustangs' almost entirely new coaching staff and the 115-player squad get ready for what is hoped to be a six-game Big Sky Conference schedule in the late winter and early spring of 2021.
The arduously long 15-month offseason prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic hopefully will be climaxed by a four-week preseason practice period beginning Friday, Jan. 29, inside Doerr Family Field. The six-game Big Sky campaign opens Feb. 27 with Cal Poly visiting UC Davis inside UC Davis Health Stadium.
Baldwin will have at his disposal about 50 returning lettermen, including 14 who started at least five games in 2019 (eight on offense, six on defense), along with 25 redshirts or returning injured players (some of whom played up to four games under the NCAA's new rule preserving the redshirt year), eight who were on the roster but did not play in any games a year ago, six transfers and 35 who played football in high school in 2019 but have yet to see a down in college.
The offseason began in late November 2019 with the retirement of 11-year head coach Tim Walsh. Baldwin, 85-32 in nine seasons at Eastern Washington with five Big Sky titles, six FCS playoff berths and a national title in 2010, followed by three years as offensive coordinator at Cal, was hired 17 days later.
The 2020 Spring Camp, however, was canceled due to the pandemic. Still anticipating a normal fall schedule of 11 games, Cal Poly's Summer Access Period, limited to eight hours of weight training, conditioning and film review per week, was limited to 11 days in July. The four-week Fall Camp (which replaced the customary Spring Camp), scheduled for late October and much of November, was cut short to just five days by the pandemic.
How have the Mustang players handled the changing landscape, particularly the installation of new offensive and defensive schemes along with a plethora of Zoom meetings replacing on-the-field practice sessions, since winning the 2019 season finale at Northern Colorado?
"I am so appreciative of the group as a whole in terms of how they work, how they compete," said Baldwin. "They have that typical chip on their shoulder of being an FCS football player who wants to go attack things and show that 'I can take it a notch above whatever I was out of high school.'
"There is that edge with these guys too," Baldwin added. "I saw this over the years coaching at the FCS level. There is a different edge and a different hunger and this group has that. This group has a lot of talent in a lot of spots, they have that chip on their shoulder, they have that edge, they have that 'want to to get better' mentality.
"Their capacity mentally allows us to put a lot on their plate and they can handle it," Baldwin continued. "They make certain things that aren't easy look smooth, whether we're implementing new things, giving a new schedule to follow, demanding that we need this or that. That's not easy to do. This is just a really fun group to be around." A detailed look at each position:
Wade Willet returns after starting all 11 games at left guard a year ago.
Quarterbacks
Jalen Hamler returns for his sophomore season, but even though he started 10 of the 11 games in 2019, he faces stiff competition in his effort to keep the job, Baldwin says.
Junior Kyle Reid also returns. He stepped in for Hamler in the second quarter of the Northern Colorado game and rushed for 143 yards and one touchdown while completing four of nine passes for 45 yards as Cal Poly bounced back from a pair of 14-point deficits for the 28-21 win.
Also in camp are junior Conor Bruce, redshirt freshman Cole Powers and two newcomers -- junior Hunter Raquet from Monterey Peninsula College and freshmen Jackson Pavitt from Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa, Calif.
"With Jalen coming back, we have some data and some film from the year previous, so that definitely gives us some information," said Baldwin. "But with Kyle, it's minimal.
