The Cal football team will have one of its biggest playmakers back next year as running back Jaydn Ott announced Friday that he will be returning to the Golden Bears for his junior season in 2024 rather than enter the transfer portal.
Ott made the announcement on social media and during a news conference in advance of Saturday’s Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., where the Golden Bears will face Texas Tech.
On the Cal football team’s X account, Ott sat down in a chair and said with a straight face that he was going to enter the portal.
“Respect my decision, please,” Ott deadpanned.
After he sat up and stepped off camera, Ott came back and said, “Nah, I’m playin’. I’m going to stay.”
Ott, a Chino native, rushed 229 times for 1,260 yards with 11 touchdowns this season and caught 21 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown, and set new career highs with 1,501 all-purpose yards and 14 touchdowns.
Thank you Cal pic.twitter.com/wRFYmJnOkl
— Jaydn Ott (@THEJAYDNOTT) December 15, 2023
Ott’s 1,000-yard rushing season was the 19th in Cal history and the first since Patrick Laird in 2017.
In two seasons with the Golden Bears, Ott has 399 carries for 2,157 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, plus 67 catches for 486 yards and five touchdowns.
The 2024 season will be Cal’s first in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
