Cal Set to Hire Bay Area Native to Coach Tight Ends

Steven Huanga, a Bay Area native who got his start in coaching as an intern at Cal a decade ago, will join new coach Tosh Lupoi’s staff as tight ends coach and run game coordinator, Pete Thamel reported.

He will come to Cal from Oregon, where he has served as an offensive analyst for the past four seasons on the same staff as Lupoi, the Ducks’ defensive coordinator.

Cal has not made an official announcement of Huanga’s hiring.

Huanga, 34, is a native of Richmond who played offensive guard at Arkansas State in 2012 and ’13.

At Cal, Huanga was a strength and conditioning intern on coach Sonny Dykes’ staff. He also served in that role at Boise State and had coaching stops as a grad assistant at Auburn and for three years at Tulsa.

Huanga worked at North Texas in 2020 as an offensive quality control coach.

In 2021, he was one of five coaches chosen to work with the Cincinnati Bengals as an intern in the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship program. Because of the pandemic, all five worked virtually with the club.

During his playing days at Arkansas State, Huanga competed under head coaches Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin, who this season served as Cal’s offensive coordinator. The Red Wolves compiled an 18-8 record his two seasons, winning bowl games both years.

As a senior in 2013, Huanga won the Gary Withrow Award, given annually to the team’s most outstanding offensive lineman.

He will replace Mike Saffell as Cal’s tight ends coach.

Lupoi, who will join Cal full-time as soon as Oregon’s run in the College Football Playoff ends, has hired more than half his Cal coaching staff. Still unknown are his choices to oversee the Bears’ offensive line, wide receivers, defensive line and linebackers.

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