BERKELEY?? Junior quarterback Jared Goff announced at a press conference Thursday on campus that he intends to forego his senior season at Cal and enter the 2016 NFL Draft. The two-time team captain finishes his Cal career with 12,220 passing yards and 96 touchdown passes among 26 school records over 37 games played all starts.
"I talked about it with my family and my close friends," Goff said. "What it came down to really is I felt like I'm ready. I've done a lot here and I think I've had a great career here. I just felt ready to take the next step. I feel like I'm prepared and as ready as I've ever be to take the next step to being an NFL quarterback. That's really what it came down to. I didn't listen to too many outside influences. I just tried to focus on what I thought and what the people who matter to me thought. I didn't think I would be emotional, but when I think all the people who have had an impact on me here, it's hard to put into words, so I guess that's why I've been a little bit emotional. Just thinking about all my teammates and all the fun we've had, it's hard to say goodbye to that but I'm excited for what's next."
"It's hard with all your players,” Dykes said. “Jared is part of a group of guys who have been here since we got here. Jared was part of our first recruiting class. We got to know him early in the process. He graduated early and got here in the spring. He's been here for as long as I have. It's hard to lose guys like that, especially everything we've gone through as a program and as a team. At the same time, you know things like this are going to happen. It's inevitable. You're excited for all your players and what's next in their lives. Jared will receive more attention, but I'm excited to see what they all do when they're all done with football. I think Jared has a really bright future. I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to watch him."
Goff set 26 school records during his three seasons as the Cal's starting quarterback from 2013-15 including career marks for passing yards (12,220), touchdown passes (96), total offense (12,086) and completions (977). He was also second on the school's all-time list for passing efficiency (143.95) behind only Aaron Rodgers. He ranks third all-time in Pac-12 history in passing yards and fourth in passing touchdowns, while he is 26th all-time nationally in passing yards and 27th in passing touchdowns.
Goff also broke a pair of Pac-12 single-season records in his final season as a 2015 junior when he passed for 4,719 yards and 43 touchdowns to lead an 8-5 Cal team to a winning record and bowl game for the first time since 2011. He was also the first Cal quarterback to earn first-team All-Pac-12 honors since Rodgers in 2004, a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award and Cal's Most Outstanding Player in a Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl victory over Air Force when he set the bowl's single-game records by passing for 467 yards and six touchdowns in his final collegiate game. The bowl victory was Cal's first since a 2008 win over Miami (Fla.) in the Emerald Bowl.
Through games of Jan. 2, Goff leads the Pac-12 and ranks third in the nation in 2015 in both passing touchdowns and passing yards in 2015. He is also second in both nationally and in the conference in passing yards per game (363.0) among 10 categories in which he ranks among the top three in the conference and top 20 nationally.
Goff finished his career on an incredible run, combining for 1,462 yards passing and 17 touchdown passes to a single interception for a 206.33 passer efficiency rating during the final three wins (Oregon State, Arizona State, Air Forces) of his career over his last four games. He passed for a school-record 542 yards in the win over Oregon State.
Goff was a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award and was on watch lists for nearly every quarterback and player of the year award in 2015 reaching as high as No. 3 on the USA Today Heisman Hot List and tied for sixth on the ESPN Heisman Watch after a 5-0 start that was the Golden Bears' best since also winning their first five games in 2007 and one victory away from their best since the 1950 team won its first nine contests, ranking as high as No. 19 in the Amway Coaches Poll and No. 20 in the AP Top 25 in the Week 8 national rankings for its highest national rankings in six seasons.
"That's what I wanted to accomplish when I came here is to get Cal back to where it was before, in the right direction, and I think we've done that. Going from 1-11 to being one win away from a bowl game last year and then winning eight games this year and finishing with a bowl victory is huge. We're back in the right direction. Hopefully they can continue to do that and keep things on the upswing."
As a 2014 sophomore, Goff completed 316-of-509 passes (62.1%) for then single-season school records of 3,973 passing yards and 35 touchdowns that were later broken in 2015 to earn honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors for the second consecutive season. He passed for a career-high seven touchdowns in a 59-56 double overtime victory over Colorado and a then single-game school record 527 yards in a 60-59 win at Washington State the following game. His 92-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Lasco against Colorado is the longest in school history.
Goff also earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors in his first collegiate season as a 2013 freshman when he set Cal then single-season school records for passing yards (3,508), passes completed (320) and total offense (3,446) before later surpassing all of the single-season marks.
“I am excited for Jared and his family as they move into their next challenge,” Cal offensive coordinator Tony Franklin said. “I include his family because I firmly believe that Jerry and Nancy have played an integral role in molding Jared into one of the best quarterbacks to ever play college football. But more important is how they raised him to being a really good human being with a heart and soul that all parents should strive for their children to possess. It has been a beautiful adventure traveling this journey with Jared and watching him develop from a skinny kid ? who was extremely well coached in high school, to a young man with elite leadership skills that blended perfectly with his physical talent.”
"One of the best parts about being AD here at Cal is that I have the opportunity to get to know, work with and interact with a group of incredibly gifted, bright and amazing young people, our student-athletes,” said Director of Athletics Michael Williams. “One of those incredible young people is Jared. Jared, you should know that we're all proud of you, and we want to wish you nothing but the best of what promises to be a great career at the next level. On behalf of Cal Athletics and our university, I want to say thank you for representing us so well these past few years. Thank you for being such a great role model for so many. Thank you for playing such a pivotal role in turning our football program around. And thank you to your parents for raising a young man with tremendous character."
"All the times in the locker room with the guys is going to be tough to say goodbye to. Some of my best friends that I've made have been here. It's been fun. It's been a wild ride. It's hard to talk about in the past tense now. All the memories with my teammates is what I will remember the most."
"It's special to play here and to be a part of the Cal family, as a lot of people in my family were. It was fun and exciting. That's the best way to describe it. I enjoyed every moment. It's been a lot of fun."
The 2016 NFL Draft will be held April 28-30 at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. Cal has had 26 first-round picks and 226 selections overall since the draft began in 1936, as well as 53 selections overall and 10 first-round picks in the last 16 drafts that have taken place since 2000. Former Cal quarterback Steve Bartkowski is the only Cal player to ever be selected with the first pick overall in the draft in 1975.
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Jared Goff Statement ? December 31, 2015
After much deliberation with my family and close friends I've decided to forego my senior season at Cal and declare for the 2016 NFL Draft. This decision was not an easy one by any means. When you are a student-athlete at the No. 1 public university in the world and part of a tremendous football program it is really hard to postpone finishing school and getting your degree while playing one final season with your best friends. With that being said, I feel ready to take the next step in my football career and am excited about what the future holds.
Playing football and attending school at Cal has been by far the best experience of my life ? from what I've learned in the classroom to the lifetime friendships and bonds I've made.?
It would be nearly impossible to thank everyone I want to but I need to make sure to thank several people who have helped me get to this point and who I owe a lot of my success to. First is the Cal football family, community and fan base. The overwhelming amount of support I've received over the years has meant the world to me and I can't thank you all enough. Secondly, I want to thank coach Tedford and coach Arroyo for initially offering me a scholarship and recruiting me to Cal. I also want to thank our AD Mike Williams and our Associate AD Chris Pezman for all they have done for me since I've been here. Next I would like to thank the entire support staff and coaching staff for all they do for me and our team behind the scenes that no one really knows about. I want to thank everyone on the strength and training staff for working relentlessly with me to improve my strength and speed, help me rehab from my shoulder surgery two years ago, and develop an individual eating schedule to help me gain the weight I needed to over the past three years.
I also want to thank two of my high schools coaches ? coach Maz and coach Munoz ? for developing me and getting me ready for college.
I want to individually thank coach Dykes for continuing to recruit me, believing in me from the start and always sticking by my side through both the tough times and the great times. He's been there from the start with me and I feel as if we have gone through everything together. I want to thank coach Franklin for having a significant impact on my life from a football aspect as well as the overall life lessons he has taught me. I've never had a coach change my life and my outlook on things the way he has over the past three years. He has taught me so much about myself and has guided me through the process of being a Division I quarterback week in and week out. I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am now without these two coaches and appreciate everything they have done for me.
I would also like to thank my family and friends for their endless support over the past few years. I couldn't imagine having a better support crew. In particular I want to thank my dad, Jerry; mom, Nancy; and sister, Lauren, for always being there for me and helping me along this bumpy but amazing journey.
Lastly, and most importantly I want to thank my teammates. Over the last three years we have been through so much together and that has only brought us closer as I have formed lifelong friendships with so many of my fellow student-athletes on the team. These guys are my brothers and I owe everything to them as they have been one of well over 100 pieces of a puzzle just as I have been. As successful as I have been able to be here, none of it would've been possible without every single one of the guys in that locker room. I am so incredibly proud to be on this team with these guys and to be able to call myself a Golden Bear for life.
