After a 3-8 campaign in 2024, the Mustangs are retooling their roster ahead of the 2025 season.
In the past week, they’ve added four offensive players through the transfer portal.
Leading the group is quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr., who spent his redshirt sophomore season at the University of Nevada but did not appear in any games.
Before that, he was in junior college at the College of San Mateo. He played in just two games during his first year in 2022, but broke out the following season.
Across 13 games, he threw for 3,527 yards and 34 touchdowns against 11 interceptions, finishing in the top four for passing yards, touchdowns and yards-per-game in the 109-team California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA).
He also adds a different dimension to the Mustangs’ pass-first offense. He averaged nearly five rush attempts per game and scored six touchdowns on the ground in his two seasons at San Mateo.
Grigsby Jr. joins a crowded quarterback room that features Bo Kelly, Lucas Razore, Sam Wulff, Jackson Akins, and fellow transfer from Pitt, Ty Dieffenbach. Jaden Jones, a primary starter from last season, is currently in the transfer portal. Head coach Paul Wulff used four quarterbacks in 2024, so Grigsby Jr. will have a real opportunity to see the field in 2025.
If he proves himself ready to start, he will be joined by two newly-transferred weapons on the offensive side of the field.
Wide receivers Fidel Pitts and Makai Puga are joining a position group that will be fighting for a share of targets in the wake of departures.
Pitts, a former teammate of Grigsby Jr. at College of San Mateo, is transferring from Old Dominion and also didn’t see the field last season. At San Mateo, Pitts totaled 44 receptions for 737 yards and six touchdowns over two seasons. Five of those six touchdowns were thrown by Grigsby Jr.
Puga, an Arroyo Grande native, is transferring from Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, where he spent three years — redshirting his first season.
In 2024, Puga led the Southern California Football Association, Allan Hancock’s conference, in receiving yards-per-game with 114.6 and recorded the most receiving yards in the school’s history with 1,146. He also had the most catches and touchdowns on the team and was named a 2024 CCCAA First Team All-American.
Redshirt sophomore Tyrece Fairly-Diyem recently entered the transfer portal, leading receiver Giancarlo Woods graduated, and his cousin — fourth-leading receiver Jake Woods — transferred to Temple, which may clear a path to playing time for Pitts and Puga.
Of the 16 wide receivers on Cal Poly’s roster, just four received significant targets last year. In 2023, his last season at San Mateo, Pitts recorded 660 yards receiving, which would place him second on the Cal Poly team in 2024, one yard off of Woods’ team lead.
Other returning options include Cal Poly’s second and third-leading receivers from 2024: seniors Michael Briscoe and Logan Booher.
Lastly, offensive lineman Keanon McNally is also transferring from Old Dominion. He played in 12 games last season, starting twice at left tackle for the Monarchs.
Standing at 6-foot 8-inches and 325 pounds, McNally would be the largest player on the roster. A native of Kearney, Missouri, he began his college career at Tulane but didn’t appear in any games and transferred following the 2021 season.
With his experience and size, he could quickly become a contributor on an offensive line that struggled to protect the quarterback last year. Cal Poly allowed 17 sacks last season, seventh in the 12-team Big Sky Conference.
Cal Poly football kicks off its 2025 season at the University of San Diego on Aug. 30. Their home opener is on Sept. 13 against Western Oregon.