For those who haven't been keeping up, the criteria have been outlines in the other "ranking" threads. But to be reductionist -- this does not consider NFL talent, draft order, or professional longevity. It is just about the players' contribution at Cal. Their subsequent relevance to our university is salt and pepper. But professional football credentials is not.

For these rankings, I am going with four DL and four LBs. I know it isn't really fair. But I am not sure how else we could do this, as we played both 3-4 and 4-3 base defenses over this 25-year period.

Again, this is just one Yabbo's opinion:

First Team:
Interior: Lorenzo Alexander, Brendan Mebane
Ends: Andre Carter, Tully Banta-Cain

Second Team:
Interior: Trevor Guyton, Jacob Waasdorp (his subsequent rugby accomplishments push him to second team)
Ends: Tyson Alualu, Brandon Whiting

Third Team:
Interior: De'Andre Coleman, Austin Clark - partially for being such a badass on so many bad teams (apologies to Matt Malele and Derrick Hill)
Ends: Ryan Riddle, Cameron Jordan (apologies to John McLaughlin, who could legitimately surpass Riddle or Jordan -- it was really close. Also, apologies to Nu'u Tafisi and Rulon Davis)

Defensive linemen who should be trespassed from our memories:
Interior - Mike Costanzo (? for those terrible rap videos?), Aaron Tipoti (but just for one play)
Ends - Brennan Scarlett, Tosh Lupoi, Chris Martin

Completely understand the criteria of the rankings. But it just goes to show that you never know who's going to excel at the next level. To think, Cameron Jordan was on the third team with an apology. Go figure.

Man..I'm getting so old that now the studs I remember as a kid are aging out of these lists..I was like..Where's Chidi Ahanotu lol. Zach Follet should be on the list for sure...err but he's probably considered more a LB..but he was a OLB in a 3-4..so you could consider him an edge guy. Alualu was probably the best defensive lineman in the last 25 years at Cal imho.

In reply to RedlessWardrobe He was okay at Cal, but I don't remember him being like an absolute monster like he became in the NFL. I do remember him being good enough to be in the NFL, but I always thought he'd be a kind of fringe guy.

In reply to RedlessWardrobe

RedlessWardrobe said:

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Completely understand the criteria of the rankings. But it just goes to show that you never know who's going to excel at the next level. To think, Cameron Jordan was on the third team with an apology. Go figure.

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Definitely. But a few of us will remember he had a bit of a work ethic issue for most of the time he was here at Cal.

In reply to MinotStateBeav

MinotStateBeav said:

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Man..I'm getting so old that now the studs I remember as a kid are aging out of these lists..I was like..Where's Chidi Ahanotu lol. Zach Follet should be on the list for sure...err but he's probably considered more a LB..but he was a OLB in a 3-4..so you could consider him an edge guy. Alualu was probably the best defensive lineman in the last 25 years at Cal imho.

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Chidi missed the 25-year cutoff by quite a bit. And Zach will definitely make the list for LB.

Alualu was an absolute monster on the field and a credit to Cal. But in my view, it was really hard to decide which of the "top 3" to move to second team. Andre Carter was probably the best defensive lineman in the history of Cal football. And Banta-Cain was an absolute killer while he was here.

If we were factoring in NFL accomplishments, of course Banta Cain would be second team and Alualu would be first team.

How would you do the first three teams MinotStateBeav?

It is also kinda weird that 75% of our first team ended up playing linebacker in the NFL -- including our 1st team nose tackle.

In reply to TheDuke!!!

TheDuke!!! said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Completely understand the criteria of the rankings. But it just goes to show that you never know who's going to excel at the next level. To think, Cameron Jordan was on the third team with an apology. Go figure.

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Definitely. But a few of us will remember he had a bit of a work ethic issue for most of the time he was here at Cal.

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Cameron Jordan was a first round draft pick. You don't get that and the results (tackles, tackles for a loss, sacks, fumbles forced) he accomplished at Cal and in the NFL with a "bad work ethic."

In reply to calumnus

calumnus said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Completely understand the criteria of the rankings. But it just goes to show that you never know who's going to excel at the next level. To think, Cameron Jordan was on the third team with an apology. Go figure.

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Definitely. But a few of us will remember he had a bit of a work ethic issue for most of the time he was here at Cal.

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Cameron Jordan was a first round draft pick. You don't get that and the results (tackles, tackles for a loss, sacks, fumbles forced) he accomplished at Cal and in the NFL with a "bad work ethic."

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That was the knock on him for his first several years at Cal, yes.

He turned it around his senior season. But he would have been drafted much higher with a better work ethic from the get go.

The NFL Draft doesn't care about past results. They care about current talent and future potential. That is why so many Heisman players don't get drafted.

In reply to TheDuke!!!

TheDuke!!! said:

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calumnus said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Completely understand the criteria of the rankings. But it just goes to show that you never know who's going to excel at the next level. To think, Cameron Jordan was on the third team with an apology. Go figure.

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Definitely. But a few of us will remember he had a bit of a work ethic issue for most of the time he was here at Cal.

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Cameron Jordan was a first round draft pick. You don't get that and the results (tackles, tackles for a loss, sacks, fumbles forced) he accomplished at Cal and in the NFL with a "bad work ethic."

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That was the knock on him for his first several years at Cal, yes.

He turned it around his senior season. But he would have been drafted much higher with a better work ethic from the get go.

The NFL Draft doesn't care about past results. They care about current talent and future potential. That is why so many Heisman players don't get drafted.

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"Bad work ethic" is such a specific personal criticism. Is that something the coaches shared with you in confidence? Or were you on the staff? Or was it just a gossip spread on Bearinsider? Something from practices? Because he was always relentless on the field. And he is such a smart, positive person, with an infectious personality. A real student of the game. Just a great representative of Cal.

In reply to calumnus

calumnus said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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calumnus said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Completely understand the criteria of the rankings. But it just goes to show that you never know who's going to excel at the next level. To think, Cameron Jordan was on the third team with an apology. Go figure.

---

Definitely. But a few of us will remember he had a bit of a work ethic issue for most of the time he was here at Cal.

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Cameron Jordan was a first round draft pick. You don't get that and the results (tackles, tackles for a loss, sacks, fumbles forced) he accomplished at Cal and in the NFL with a "bad work ethic."

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That was the knock on him for his first several years at Cal, yes.

He turned it around his senior season. But he would have been drafted much higher with a better work ethic from the get go.

The NFL Draft doesn't care about past results. They care about current talent and future potential. That is why so many Heisman players don't get drafted.

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"Bad work ethic" is such a specific personal criticism. Is that something the coaches shared with you in confidence? Or were you on the staff? Or was it just a gossip spread on Bearinsider? Something from practices? Because he was always relentless on the field. And he is such a smart, positive person, with an infectious personality. A real student of the game. Just a great representative of Cal.

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It was published on several sites.

In reply to calumnus

calumnus said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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calumnus said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Completely understand the criteria of the rankings. But it just goes to show that you never know who's going to excel at the next level. To think, Cameron Jordan was on the third team with an apology. Go figure.

---

Definitely. But a few of us will remember he had a bit of a work ethic issue for most of the time he was here at Cal.

---

Cameron Jordan was a first round draft pick. You don't get that and the results (tackles, tackles for a loss, sacks, fumbles forced) he accomplished at Cal and in the NFL with a "bad work ethic."

---

That was the knock on him for his first several years at Cal, yes.

He turned it around his senior season. But he would have been drafted much higher with a better work ethic from the get go.

The NFL Draft doesn't care about past results. They care about current talent and future potential. That is why so many Heisman players don't get drafted.

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"Bad work ethic" is such a specific personal criticism. Is that something the coaches shared with you in confidence? Or were you on the staff? Or was it just a gossip spread on Bearinsider? Something from practices? Because he was always relentless on the field. And he is such a smart, positive person, with an infectious personality. A real student of the game. Just a great representative of Cal.

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great questions. Absolute bear stud who exceeded all expectations but his own.

In reply to cal83dls79

cal83dls79 said:

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calumnus said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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calumnus said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Completely understand the criteria of the rankings. But it just goes to show that you never know who's going to excel at the next level. To think, Cameron Jordan was on the third team with an apology. Go figure.

---

Definitely. But a few of us will remember he had a bit of a work ethic issue for most of the time he was here at Cal.

---

Cameron Jordan was a first round draft pick. You don't get that and the results (tackles, tackles for a loss, sacks, fumbles forced) he accomplished at Cal and in the NFL with a "bad work ethic."

---

That was the knock on him for his first several years at Cal, yes.

He turned it around his senior season. But he would have been drafted much higher with a better work ethic from the get go.

The NFL Draft doesn't care about past results. They care about current talent and future potential. That is why so many Heisman players don't get drafted.

---

"Bad work ethic" is such a specific personal criticism. Is that something the coaches shared with you in confidence? Or were you on the staff? Or was it just a gossip spread on Bearinsider? Something from practices? Because he was always relentless on the field. And he is such a smart, positive person, with an infectious personality. A real student of the game. Just a great representative of Cal.

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great questions. Absolute bear stud who exceeded all expectations but his own.

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Again, it was published on several sites back in the day. It came from his teammates, coaches and S&C during his first years at Cal.

By all accounts, he turned it around big time in his final year here. And it seems he kept the pedal to the metal in the pros. Which is awesome.

But it does affect to some degree my ranking of him in terms of the all time greats the past 25 years.

All the guys ahead of him (those in the first and second teams) had careers in the pros that ranged between very good to borderline eventual hall of fame inductee. But none of that matters, as this is a ranking mainly based on their time at Cal. And for their time at Cal, I can't see Cam (as much as I loved watching him) beat out Carter, Banta-Cain, Alualu or Whiting.

In reply to TheDuke!!!

TheDuke!!! said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Completely understand the criteria of the rankings. But it just goes to show that you never know who's going to excel at the next level. To think, Cameron Jordan was on the third team with an apology. Go figure.

---

Definitely. But a few of us will remember he had a bit of a work ethic issue for most of the time he was here at Cal.

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Seriously? Wasn't he in the playing rotation as a true freshman?

In reply to mbBear

mbBear said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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RedlessWardrobe said:

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Completely understand the criteria of the rankings. But it just goes to show that you never know who's going to excel at the next level. To think, Cameron Jordan was on the third team with an apology. Go figure.

---

Definitely. But a few of us will remember he had a bit of a work ethic issue for most of the time he was here at Cal.

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Seriously? Wasn't he in the playing rotation as a true freshman?

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Don't recall, but it wouldn't surprise me. He is a freak of nature. Once he started giving 100%, he became a beast.

Brandon Whiting's last Cal season was 1997. I assume this would disqualify him from "last 25 years" team, no?

In reply to BearGreg

BearGreg said:

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From what I know, this is a false narrative.

The guy was a beast from day one. And like ALL players his maturity physically and mentally made him better as he got older.

Played in 50 games at Cal, 32 starts, 2 time HM All Pac 12 as a Soph and Junior before making some AA teams and 1st team AP12

Data

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He is so smart and such a student of the game, not hard to imagine his technique just got better and better year after year. He was always so smart and positive in interviews, so rah rah and demonstrative on the field, truly hard to believe he ever had a "work ethic problem." Really sounds like internet slander gossip (there was a lot of that going on back then) or confusing him with someone else.

In reply to BerkeleyBAT

BerkeleyBAT said:

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Brandon Whiting's last Cal season was 1997. I assume this would disqualify him from "last 25 years" team, no?

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I majored in Econ…so if you assume this question was asked a few years ago I suppose Whiting can be included

In reply to BerkeleyBAT

BerkeleyBAT said:

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Brandon Whiting's last Cal season was 1997. I assume this would disqualify him from "last 25 years" team, no?

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Yup. He misses it by a year. Looks like I screwed that up.

Well, now we can move Jordan up to the second team. So that's good news.

What I said about Cam's early years at Cal was discussed on the old board. There were plenty of links back then. But we have to remember who his DL coach was at the time (Tosh).

His position coach also played DL at Cal. And when he did, he was 100% focussed and didn't seem to have much fun playing football. Cam liked to joke around. It is possible that it was just a personality difference. Regardless, I didn't invent this story. It was out there.

Can't seem to find any of those old threads. And nearly 15 years later, it is hard to find links to the stories.

Hardly definitive proof, but I did find this about how much he listened to his favorite coach (his Dad):

"Since before college, my dad has always tried to give me tips on how to beat a tight end, because that's what he played," said the younger Jordan. "Being that he was more of an O-lineman type of tight end anyway, he has just always given me tips on how to beat a guy, control a guy. He gives me any tips that he can I may listen to about 45% of it. He gives me a lot of advice, so I take it for what it is.

"He is my father, so I listen to most of everything he says. But yeah, some of it goes in one ear and out the other. He would probably tell you the same thing."