Cal Hires Tosh Lupoi, The People's Choice

A Bay Area native, Cal grad and seemingly the people’s choice, Tosh Lupoi has been hired as the Golden Bears’ new head football coach.

Lupoi, 44, comes home to Cal after spending the past four years as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Oregon. The Athletic, citing sources familiar with negotiations, was the first to report the news. The news subsequently was widely reportedly by other media outlets.

Cal had not made an official announcement as of 5 p.m. Thursday, but an introductory news conference reportedly has been scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Cal football general manager Ron Rivera told reporters he began the search process with a list of 14 names. But Lupoi’s popularity among Cal fans and especially on social media seemed to drive his candidacy.

His selection got an enthusiastic endorsement from Ducks head coach Dan Lanning, and public support from former Cal stars DeSean Jackson and Cameron Jordan.

“Cal gave me Coach Lupoi, who has been the greatest coach I’ve had and has helped develop techniques that come natural to me as well as introduce new techniques and do it in a way the players gravitate to want to learn them,” Jordan, an eight-time Pro Bowl defensive end with the New Orleans Saints, wrote on social media.

Lupoi will remain through the end of the season with Oregon, which will participate in the 12-team College Football Playoffs, according to the Oregonian. Nick Rolovich, promoted from senior offensive analyst to interim head coach after Justin Wilcox’s firing, will coach the Bears in their bowl game.

Lupoi's salary at Oregon has been reported as $2 million, but a buyout wil be waived because he is becoming an FBS head coach.

Lupoi has no head-coaching experience, but seems to check all the other boxes in terms of qualifications Rivera was seeking. He grew up in nearby Walnut Creek and played at De La Salle High School during the Spartans’ national-record 151-game win streak.

And he understands Cal, having played defensive line for the Bears from 2000 through ’05 under coach Jeff Tedford. He remained in Berkeley as a graduate assistant for two years before being promoted at age 26 to a full-time assistant, a position he held for four seasons through 2011.

Lupoi also reportedly has a relationship with Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolotele, who spent a month on the Oregon team late last season before flipping back to Cal, which originally signed him as a high school prospect out of Hawaii. Their familiarity may aid in the Bears keeping Sagapolutele out of the transfer portal.

A two-time Broyles Award finalist as the nation's top assistant coach, Lupoi directs an Oregon defense that ranks third nationally in total defense and pass defense, eighth in fewest points allowed and 20th against the run this fall.

After his time at Cal, Lupoi coached the defensive line at Washington (2012-13) then five seasons at Alabama under coach Nick Saban, promoted to defensive coordinator in 2018. He was part of teams compiled a record of 57-6, advanced to the playoffs every year and won national championships in 2015 and ‘17.

He coached the defensive line for three seasons in the NFL, working with the Cleveland Browns (2019), Atlanta Falcons (2020) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2021).

Lupoi replaces Wilcox, who led the Bears to four bowl games in nine seasons but departed with a career win-loss record of 48-55. Until their 38-35 upset of SMU last Saturday — six days after Wilcox was dismissed — Cal hadn’t had a winning season since 2019.

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