BearTalk

Cal coach Jeff Tedford confirmed Monday that incoming linebacker Cecil Whiteside will indeed grayshirt, meaning he won’t enroll at Cal until January.

Tedford had said recently that grayshirting was the likely option for Whiteside, rated as the country’s No. 4 outside linebacker by rivals.com. The NCAA is still evaluating his academic standing.

But even if the NCAA were to rule Whiteside eligible today, he still couldn’t play this season for Cal. That’s because the school would not allow him to enroll since he missed the Summer Bridge program.

That means the Bears now will be missing half of the highly regarded linebacker quartet they expected to have in camp. Chris Martin, one of the country’s top recruits, announced last month he was transferring to Florida without ever playing for Cal.

A fifth linebacker in the class, Chris McCain, also will grayshirt. The class of linebackers was rated as the third-best nationally by rivals.com.