#3 Biggest OffSeason Story - James Montgomery leaves Cal

Whenever a player leaves a program, expect a fair share of rampant speculation about the reasons for leaving. Especially when the player who leaves is the Number 1 running back on the depth chart heading into the spring.

Montgomery, who had more carries than Jahvid Best last season, was slated as being first on the depth chart, and was expecting some pretty strong competition with Best, Shane Vereen, Tracey Slocum, and new recruit Covaughn Deboskie for the starting RB spot. In March, there came rumblings that James Montgomery, last year’s backup to Justin Forsett, had left the program. When the story broke on Washington Husky fansite RealDawg.com, there were pretty strong quotes from Montgomery.

"Cal was never my first choice," Montgomery told RealDawg. "I didn't feel (Cal) was a (football) school that had a lot of tradition. They were ranked sixth in the country and yet couldn't sell out that week's game." (Okanes)

The quotes were later pulled from the site, although it’s unclear whether he had misspoken, or if he was misquoted. Montgomery, was however quick to point out that he would never speak poorly of Cal. "There's a lot being twisted. I would never talk bad about Cal. Everybody knows I'm a team guy. Cal sells out games every year. I would never say that."

Many Cal fans wouldn’t really hear out Montgomery about his reasons for leaving, or were embittered enough that we weren’t “good enough for him.” Reading some Cal message boards, it was slightly reminiscent of a messy breakup. It didn’t really matter why the other party dumped you, or how nice they were about it when they left, the point was that they were gone. And then sooner or later, the “he/she was never good enough for me anyway” defensive retorting tactic kicks in. Ultimately, it left a lot of Bears fans wondering what they missed, and a few Bears feeling like this:

(whoa there George)

Most Cal fans were fairly level headed about it though, and simply wanted to know why. Did the fear of competition get to Montgomery, knowing he would possibly be stuck in Best’s or even Vereen’s shadow as a backup for his remaining years at Cal? Maybe. But I think it’s unfair to deeply speculate on the matter, and question the kid’s resolve.

The real reasons for leaving, according to Montgomery came down to him really not feeling at home at Cal. You hear it all the time with friends who transfer midway through college because they don’t feel at home there. These are young kids who are pushed and pulled in different directions for what school they go to when they’re 17 or 18 years old. Sometimes, they make a choice, and it doesn’t work. I sincerely believe that he tried to make it work, and it didn’t. I don’t think it was a knock on Cal or its legacy, facilities, coaching staff, teammates or anything else that some people have construed it to be.

It was just reported earlier in the week that Montgomery had transferred to Washington State, and in a year’s time, we’ll have a chance to face off against him and his new Cougars squad. I for one, sincerely wish him the best of luck. Like many Cal fans, I'm appreciative of his contributions last year and really hope that he flourishes at WSU, and more importantly finds his community and home there. I just hope we end up limiting him to thirty yards when we face him.