One of the most recognizeable additions to the Cal staff in the offseason by new Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi in terms of name recognition and NFL pedigree was new receivers coach Ike Hilliard.
Hilliard’s resume includes a national championship as an All-American with The University of Florida in 1996 followed by being drafted 7th overall in the 1997 NFL Draft, playing 12 seasons with the Giants and Buccaneers where he had 546 receptions for 6,397 yards and 35 touchdowns in 161 career games, also playing in Super Bowl XXXV with the New York Giants.
Following his successful playing career, Hilliard transitioned to coaching with the Washington Commanders, Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons, developing 1,000-yard receivers like Brandon Marshall, Pierre Garcon, DeSean Jackson, Diontae Johnson and Drake London.
The new receivers coach seems content with how things have progressed in his two plus months on campus.
"Everything's going just about as expected," Hilliard said. "You know, some good, some bad. That's why we're coaching. There's a lot thrown at the guys. We're trying to see who can handle what. We're right where we need to be two spring practices in. We're grateful to have no injuries, especially in my room, everybody's functioning at a high level. I think as a coaching staff, we're happy where we are in the program right now. We'll take a kind of a step back this week, take a deep breath, and we'll get back into it a week from now. But really happy with the way the guys are working, really happy with the limited mistakes they've been making with so much volume that we have, and we're looking forward to seeing what's going to go in the future."
Hilliard is excited to work with the Bears’ three big portal receiver acquisitions, starting with 6-3/210 senior receiver Ian Strong, a Rutgers transfer who the Bears beat out Notre Dame and a host of other top prospects for his signing.
"They're three uniquely different guys," Hilliard said. "Starting with Ian, he's the tree and he's the big receiver in the room. We're going to lean on Ian from a physical standpoint - his size, his catch rate, his production and contested catches is what's really attractive about him.
"They're all really three cerebral kids. Ian is kind of the guy that we know from possibly a volume standpoint so we're going to have to get him going all over the field. We're just not going to have him stationary in one spot. Use his size, and length to his advantage with the playcalling."
Head coach Tosh Lupoi was able to bring along one of his former Oregon receivers in 6-1/195 soph portal transfer Cooper Perry and Hilliard likes what he sees in the Arizona native.
"When it comes to Coop, what's unique about Coop is that he can play inside and outside,” the WR coach said. “He's also a punt returner, so he can strike from all over the field. Really cerebral, really good hands, shifty. He can win some isolations and we're excited about that as well and getting him into the frame utilizing his skillset.”
The third of the Bears’ three high level receiver acquisitions - senior Ohio University receiver Chase Hendricks is another experienced veteran the Bears will lean on in many capacities.
"When it comes down to Chase, people don't probably realize this, but Chase was one of 21 guys last year to have over 1000 yards (1,037) receiving. So from being a factor in the MAC conference out here to the bay/ we're going to have high hopes for him for leading us kind of where we need to be as an offense and as a team.
“He's a do-it-all guy, kind of similar to the other two, just different in stature. We may see him in the perimeter game, may see him underneath, in the intermediate game. We're trying to get him over the top as well. He's sure-handed, tough as nails, really, really smart. And what's really good about all three is they communicate very, very well together on the field and it just kind of trickle down into the room and all over the offense."
So far, the transition for QB Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele and the three talented additions has gone pretty seemlessly so far, with the super soph hitting each of the three receivers with some pretty completions so far, including a 35-yard TD pass dropped over a pair of DBs into Strong’s waiting hands in the corner of the end zone in 11x11 action today.
"Well, I'll let Jaren speak for that, but I think we're really excited," Hilliard said. "I'm personally excited. I think when you look at the three guys and they're uniquely different in how we're trying to fit them in the offense, I think the way we're using our stems and releases and combinations, I think is exciting for Jaron because it's new, and the skill sets that we're adding to the room now, it's just different. So it's exciting in that standpoint, we're operating in a high clip, and we're just trying to see how far we can go with it right now this spring."
With his strong NFL player and coaching resume and no experience on the West Coast, Cal might not have been the most likely of landing spots for Hilliard but a special bond he had with his future offensive coordinator gave the Bears an assist in securing Hilliard’s services.
"I think when you look at my situation and travels that I've had, I think people will see that I just love football," Hilliard said. "Specifically, the relationship with Jordan Somerville is what drew me here. We faced each other twice a year. He was in Tampa and I was in Atlanta. We had a couple conversations and decided to join forces. So it starts there. We had some zooms with the head coach. Had some zooms with the players on offense, the three that we talked about with Chase, Coop and Ian and we decided to join forces here and I'm excited about it, man."
"You mentioned about college football changing. Yes, it's changed. It's changed for the better, too. And, you know, we're just kind of looking forward to what we can do to help Cal get where it needs to be.
"We don't want to set any kind of parameters or ceilings. I think the work needs to be done, every day. We feel good about the team we put together. We still have a lot of work to do. Obviously, we're in the beginning stages of spring ball, so we're not going to get too ahead of ourselves, but I think we like who we have in the building. We're going to rely on those guys hard. We're going to push them as hard as we can and see how much production we can get out of them in this stage and keep building as we get to the fall."
