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It's not easy for smaller fish in the Power 4 to make waves in the transfer portal, but that's exactly what California football (6-7, 2-6 ACC) did on Friday. Two days after losing 24-13 to No. 24 UNLV in the Art of Sport LA Bowl, the Golden Bears landed ex-Notre Dame cornerback Jaden Mickey, via On3.
The California native redshirted for the rest of the 2024 season after just four games played, which will guarantee him two years of eligibility left. Mickey lost his mother to cancer during the 2023 campaign, so this move allows him to be closer to home.
The junior and former four-star recruit played over 500 snaps for the Fighting Irish, appearing in 11 games with one start as a freshman in '22 and 13 contests with three starts in '23. Mickey “excels in man-to-man coverage,” via 247 Sports' Cooper Petagna.
“Primarily positioned as a field corner in 2024, possesses the ability to slide inside as a nickel corner where he’s shown flashes of excelling in man-to-man coverage in the short to intermediate part of the field,” Petagna reported. “Lacks true bulk and top end speed which can show up in run support and downfield coverage. Projects as as a potential starter and versatile depth piece for a Top-25 caliber program.”
The six-foot, 178-pounder's arrival comes at the right time for a California program that's losing several players in the portal.
California football still has work to do
Mickey is the second transfer the Golden Bears have landed in this cycle, as they also snagged Notre Dame defensive lineman Tyson Ford. Ford and Mickey continue the transfer pipeline from South Bend to Berkeley, with defensive tackle Aidan Keanainna and wideout Tobias Merriweather arriving last year.
However, California still has plenty of ground to cover, as nine players have either committed to another school or entered the portal. With only one four-star recruit in its 2025 class, the program hasn't yet done enough to improve its roster after finishing 14th in the ACC, via On3.
