"He's the perfect example," Holmoe said of the Bears' senior defensive end.

Carter arrived in Berkeley three years ago from nearby San Jose, the most decorated defensive prospect the Bears had attracted in over a decade. Expectations placed on him were ridiculous -- and he has exceeded them every step of the way.

Last spring, with the chance to exit to the NFL after his junior season, Carter decided to stay one more year.

"Every coach in America would love to have 22 guys like that," Holmoe said. "I never remember being disappointed in him. He might make a (physical) mistake, but he's just an unbelievable person.

"He might be the most respected player I've seen in my five years at Cal."

Carter, at 6-4, 257 pounds, is polite, responsible, bright, articulate and driven. On the field, he's all business.

Despite playing over the tight end on the strong side last season, he led the Pac-10 with 20 tackles for loss totaling 101 yards. Included among that total were 10 sacks.

Cal's Andre Carter puts fear into opposing quarterbacks.(Allsport)

"He sacrificed a lot of stats and a lot of honors to play that position, which is the crux of our defense when it comes to stopping the run," Holmoe said.

A scary prospect for opposing offensive coordinators -- and quarterbacks -- is that Holmoe tinkered in the spring with using Carter at rush end.

Either way, Carter should be one of the nation's top defenders. Asked if he's concerned opponents may respect him too much, Carter just shrugs.

"I could be double-teamed, they could run the ball the other way," he said. "Those are possibilities. It won't be frustrating. I'll have to work harder to make plays."

Carter consulted with his father, former Denver Broncos defensive line star Rubin Carter, before electing to bypass the pros this year. No doubt, he would have been drafted, maybe in the first round. As always, Carter wasn't satisfied.

"As far as becoming a dominating player, it's coming along. It's not there yet," he said. "I'm not where I want to be. I want to be flying around the ball. I want to let other teams know this is a new level I'm playing on."

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