Berkeley, CA (U-WIRE) -- Marvin Philip is one guy who understands what a lot of his new teammates are going through.

After all, he was in their exact shoes not too long ago.

Let's go back in time for a minute, five years to be exact.

Philip, then a slender-sized offensive lineman, arrives on the Cal campus fresh off a very successful high school athletic and academic career.

Coming from nearby Oak Ridge High School in Redwood City, Calif., garnering first team all-county honors his senior season, as well as being named to SuperPrep magazine's All-Far West list, Philip is one of the bigger "catches" in former Bears coach Tom Holmoe's tenure in leading the program.

Of course, with his skills, and with the Cal program faced with a deep desperation for even a little inkling of success on the field, Philip is thrust into the fray, making his first career start three games into the season against Fresno State in 2000 as a true freshman.

Philip would go on to start several games that year at center -- some good, some bad -- with a sprained ankle mixed in between. All in all, Philip himself calls the season a big positive.

Fast forward to today, five years after his freshman campaign.

Philip, dressed in a nicely fitted and professional suit, walks in the press room with coach Jeff Tedford and four other teammates.

It's the Bay Area Media Luncheon held annually in San Francisco, where selected representatives from the Bears, Stanford and San Jose State football programs show up to talk about the upcoming season right before their respective training camps are set to kickoff.

Five years ago, the media attention at this event was pretty spaced out evenly between the teams.

Most of the folks here, including a couple of national reporters, are talking almost exclusively about Cal.

As the players and coaches walk towards their assigned tables, Philip, a 6-foot-2, 305-pound gentleman who is always one to be boisterous, shouts out jokingly, "Dang, this little table for all five of us?"

Ryan O'Callaghan, Philip's fellow offensive lineman who conveniently stands a sturdy 6-foot-7, 360 pounds, walks up behind Marvin, stops, and gives a big chuckle as the "little guys" -- defensive backs Harrison Smith and Donnie McCleskey are first to take a seat.

For the Cal football team, who enters training camp this week with a bevy of new faces and even higher expectations with the success that Tedford has had over the past three seasons, the word "pressure" looms larger and larger over the program everyday.

As Philip knows, that sensation of feeling pressure and high expectations to win is not something that has always been around these parts.

Add on to the fact that the Bears will shoulder several new starters this year, both on offense and defense, and that pressure factor that the players and coaches face gets multiplied.

But Philip is ready for the challenge that this season will present. He's been ready ever since his freshman year. He's ready to teach, tell and show the new guys what it will take to get the job done.

"Anytime you come in the spring and you're thrown into the fire like that with coach Tedford on you it can be overwhelming at times," says Philip. "A lot of these guys, a lot of these young faces have never tasted Division I football before, so they're anxious to get out there and show everyone what they're made of.

"I can speak for myself on this because I came in the spring my freshman year and tried to learn the offense, which was definitely overwhelming."

Overwhelming? No doubt.

Impossible? No way.

Philip says he remembers being there, and eventually coming out the other side smelling like a rose. His early years also helped him gain a new appreciation for hard work and commitment.

Of course, what most people don't know is that Philip's journey took a little detour after his successful campaign in 2000.

A devout Mormon, Philip took two years off from school to fulfill his mission, returning to the team in 2003 with not only a better understanding of life, but also a trimmer figure -- he weighed 15 pounds less than he did during his freshman year.

Essentially, "Big Marv" had to start all over again.

"As a football player, every person needs to grow a lot mentally," says Philip. "A lot of players come in with the physical capabilities to perform but it takes time to get your mindset correct.

"That is one of the things in which going on the mission really helped me with," he continues. "When I came back, I was much more mature and I understood the game a lot more, plus the desire inside of me to succeed grew a lot more as well."

Ironically, the same type of injury that kept Philip out for parts of his freshman year gave him the chance he needed to get back in the lineup in 2003-incumbent center Nolan Bluntzer went down with an ankle sprain late in the season.

Philip was named the starter by Tedford, and since then has never looked back.

Although he received plenty of accolades after the 2003 season, including garnering the Bob Tessier Award as the team's most improved offensive lineman during that year, the honors paled in comparison to the 2004 season.

Headlining the only offensive unit in the country to boast a 2,000-yard rusher in J.J. Arrington and paving the way for its rusher to gain over 100 yards against USC for the second consecutive season, Philip, along with the rest of the Cal offensive line, received plenty of postseason awards.

Philip was named a first team All-American by Sports Illustrated.com after the season. He also was one of seven finalists for the Dave Rimington Trophy, given annually to the nation's best center.

"Marvin is a good guy off the field but on the field he's really aggressive," says O'Callaghan. "He goes out there and plays football. He's a really smart guy and he's got an attitude. That's what it takes."

(C) 2004 Daily Californian via U-WIRE