Small-School Roots Haven't Held Back Cal's Ryan McCulloch

Originally posted on Cal Bears on SI | By Jeff Faraudo | Last updated Aug 23, 2025 9:43 AM ET

As a freshman at Cal two years ago, outside linebacker Ryan McCulloch took a nutritional science class with 500 students.

If that sounds like a crowd, imagine what it must have felt like for McCulloch, who came to Berkeley from Rio Hondo Prep in Arcadia, near Los Angeles.

His senior class at Rio Hondo: 19 students.

“Honestly, I think I surprised myself,” he said. “It only crossed my mind because thinking about coming to college I thought it would be a bit of a challenge. School is school. My high school prepared me very well.”

Now a junior starter for the Bears, McCulloch’s football development doesn’t seem to have been hampered by playing at such a small school.

Rio Hondo combines middle school and high school and its enrollment this year for those six grades totals 180 students. The Kares, as they call themselves, take pride in being the smallest school in the state to play 11-man football.

And they’re good.

In 58 years of sponsoring a football team, Rio Hondo has qualified for the CIF Southern Section playoffs 46 times, including the past 30 years in a row. They won Division 7 section titles the past two season, boosting their all-time total to 16.

Playing at 6-foot-3, 255 pounds this season, McCulloch was a formidable high school player — 6-3 and 235.

“I was usually the biggest guy on the field,” said McCulloch, whose varsity teammates included a 130-pound freshman quarterback and a 139-pound freshman linebacker.

“Honestly, at my high school every boy in school participated on the football team. Ninety percent of them played and the ones who didn’t play were doing stats or helping out with water and nutrition," he said.

“Fortunately, I didn’t have to play O-line at all. I appreciate my coaches for that, letting me play skill positions and helping me develop.”

McCulloch played defensive end, fullback and middle linebacker, and as a senior led the team with 14 touchdowns and 12 sacks. He rushed for nearly 100 yards per game, caught three touchdowns, threw one, forced two fumbles and recovered three.

Still, because McCulloch played at such a small school, he’s convinced not everyone believed his game would translate to major college football.

“Coming out of high school I had no choice but to be confident because I’m sure I had a lot of doubters coming from a small school,” he said. “My family and my coaches, they believed in me, so I believed in myself as well.

“The competition I played was questioned at times, but I have some God-gifted abilities and my size so I was still able to put my name out there.”

McCulloch, who attended Cal’s camp in the summer of his junior year, was rated a consensus 3-star prospect by his senior season. Ultimately, he picked Cal over reported offers from Washington State, Boise State, Colorado and Columbia.

He played in 12 games as a freshman then made his first career start last season against Auburn, winding up the season with 18 tackles in 10 games.

McCulloch will be a starter at one outside linebacker spot this season, likely opposite T.J. Bush, a junior transfer from Liberty University, where he had 9.5 tackles for loss including 5.5 sacks last season to earn second-team All-Conference USA honors.

“”We’re pretty loaded outside,” said Vic So’oto, the Bears’ co-defensive coordinator who also handles outside linebackers.

McCulloch says he feels better than ever this fall and has set a personal goal of collecting 12 to 13 sacks.

This article first appeared on Cal Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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