Cal Poly Holds First Spring Camp Session Under Coach Paul Wulff

Paul Wulff chats with his team at the end of the first practice of Spring Camp.

Paul Wulff talks to his players after the first day of Spring Camp, which culminates with the annual Spring Game on April 29.

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Holds First Spring Camp Session Under Coach Paul Wulff

4/4/2023 12:52:00 PM | Football

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- A few players have changed positions. There were five transfers from Division I schools and a pair of high school graduates who enrolled at Cal Poly for the spring quarter. In addition, there are three new full-time assistant coaches.

Otherwise, things were fairly normal during the first day of the 2023 Spring Football Camp at Doerr Family Field.

Oh, one more thing. Paul Wulff is a head coach again.

"It doesn't take long to get back into that mode, but it is a little different just getting used to it," said Wulff after the first of 15 practice sessions over the next four weeks. "I was kinda looking across the field or being a little bit more around the field just to get a peek at everybody, see how everyone is doing. That's definitely different doing that."

Wulff was head coach at Eastern Washington for eight seasons (2000-07) and at Washington State for four more years (2008-11). Since then, he was an assistant for the San Francisco 49ers (2012-13), South Florida (2014), Iowa State (2-15), Sacramento State (2016-18) and UC Davis (2019) before coming to Cal Poly to coach the offensive line under Beau Baldwin in 2020.

On Dec. 6, Wulff succeeded Baldwin as head coach of the Mustangs.

"I am excited to be a head coach again, but I am more excited to be with this group of players and coaches who are out on this field," Wulff said. "With so many of these young men, I haven't had the opportunity to watch them too close, particularly on defense.

"I want to try to get a good feel for watching them in practice, see the coaches coaching on the field and see how the players respond to teaching and coaching," Wulff added. "I want to see how they work in drills and get a good feel for how they respond to each coach.

"You don't see that when you're working one side of the field and working with just one particular group of players," he said. "That's important for me to get a good feel, especially in the first week for sure."

Sam Huard throws his first pass as a Cal Poly football player. — **Sam Huard, a transfer from Washington, attempts his first pass as a Mustang.**

The roster for this year's Spring Camp includes 90 returnees, 20 of whom started at least four games last fall (nine on offense, 11 on defense) and 36 others who earned letters by playing in at least one game. The Mustangs lost just five starters to graduation or the transfer portal.

"It felt different today," said Wulff. "A lot of guys were nervous, being out on the football field for the first time in a long time. Everything was positive and we built a good base. Now we keep going through the rest of the practices."

Many eyes were trained on the six quarterbacks competing for the starting nod, led by Sam Huard, a five-star recruit out of Kennedy Catholic who was on the Washington Huskies' roster the last two seasons. Under his prep head coach, Sheldon Cross, Huard passed for 13,214 yards and 153 touchdowns, completing 804 of 1,297 passes (62 percent), in four varsity seasons.

Spencer Brasch and Jaden Jones shared signal-calling duties with Huard. Jones started the first three games of the Mustangs' 2022 season before sustaining a knee injury and Brasch, his replacement, passed for a career-high 415 yards and equaled his career high with four touchdowns in a season-ending 49-42 victory over Portland State, finishing with 2,604 yards through the air, No. 2 all-time in the Cal Poly record book.

Brasch completed 206 of 348 passes with 19 touchdowns last fall. His 206 completions is a school record, surpassing the 196 passes completed by Robert Perez in 1986, while his 348 attempts is No. 2 behind Mike Fisher's 386 attempts in 1994. The 19 touchdowns are No. 6 all-time. Add his statistics from the 2021 season and Brasch now is No. 4 in career passing yards (4,329), No. 3 in completions (351), No. 3 in attempts (615) and seventh with 29 touchdowns.

Also on the roster are Bo Kelly, Jackson Pavitt and Bryce Weiner.

Huard is one of the five transfers from Division I schools. The others, all in camp Tuesday, are linebacker Ethan Calvert from Utah, tight end Carlton Brown from Nevada, offensive lineman Thomas Cole from UCLA and wide receiver Reed Shumpert from Washington State.

Brown is a Mission Prep graduate while Cole played at San Luis Obispo High School. Like Huard, Shumpert also played under Cross at Kennedy Catholic and Calvert is an Oaks Christian High School product.

Cornerback Delano Franklin (Bishop Amat High School) and offensive lineman Jayden Smith (McNair High School) graduated early and have enrolled at Cal Poly in time for Spring Camp.

Players who have switched positions include Kahliq Paulette (from quarterback to cornerback) and Michael Otterstedt (from defensive end to linebacker).

In addition to Cross (offensive coordinator and running backs coach), joining the Cal Poly coaching staff after the departures of Baldwin (Arizona State), Robbie Rouse (South Dakota State) and LaTef Grim are Ryan Payne (offensive line and running game coordinator) and Brandyn Thompson (cornerbacks). Asa Jackson moved from the cornerbacks to the wide receivers.

Spring Camp continues primarily on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8:30 a.m. at Doerr Family Field, with a scrimmage planned for Saturday, April 22, at 10 a.m. and the annual Spring Game on Saturday, April 29, at 11 a.m. inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.