Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele Recalls Tosh Lupoi's Late Night Visit

Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was watching his alma mater, Campbell High School of Ewa Beach, battle Kamehameha for the Hawaii state championship last Friday night when his phone buzzed.

It was a text from his mother, reporting that new Cal coach Tosh Lupoi was at that moment on a flight from the Bay Area to Hawaii.

Lupoi walked into the Sagapolutele home at 12:45 a.m. and two hours later the Bears’ talented freshman quarterback knew he was staying at Cal.

“He wanted to talk with us and figure out some things, (answer) questions that we had,” Sagapolutele recalled on Tuesday. “It was great to talk to him and great that my family was able to meet him. Coach Tosh is a great person.”

Lupoi, a 44-year-old Cal alum and for a few more weeks the defensive coordinator at Oregon, had just been introduced as the Bears’ new head coach hours earlier.

Sagapolutele, appearing happy and relaxed Tuesday, had no hint that Lupoi might be making a detour on his way back to Eugene.

“It was good. I’m just grateful that he even wanted to make the flight, traveled all the way from Berkeley to Hawaii just to spend a couple hours with me and my family,” Sagapolutele said.

“It’s really a testament to how great of a coach (he is) and what he wants to do for this program. How much I meant to him. That meant so much to me and I’m grateful.”

Sagapolutele, who will lead the Bears back to the islands for the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl against Hawaii, did not disclose exactly what Lupoi pitched during their two-hour, late-night visit. He didn’t say whether he already was inclined to return to Cal for his sophomore season or if Lupoi delivered a specific message that closed the deal.

Either way, it was clearly a worthwhile trip for a coach regarded as elite recruiter.

Asked what vision Lupoi laid out for next season, Sagapolutele responded with four words: “He wants to win.”

The conversation went well, Sagapolutele confirmed. “I have full trust in him that we’re going to have a great year, we’re going to do some great things here,” he said. “The biggest thing is we want to win. We want to attack this thing — we’re going to attack it hard. That’s what we plan to do.”

The visit home was a win-win for Sagapolutele, who watched Campbell beat Kamehameha 26-23 in overtime to win its first GGSAA Open Division State Championship. The game was played at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, the same stadium that will host the Bears in the Hawaii Bowl.

Being on hand for his former high school teammates, and especially coach Darren Johnson, was special to Sagapolutele. Johnson has coached three different high schools in Hawaii for 37 years but was 0-7 in state semifinal games before this season.

“Coach Rolo allowed me to go home, just enjoy some time off, to go watch my guys, my high school alma mater Campbell play in the state championship,” Sagapolutele said, offering his appreciate to Cal interim head coach Nick Rolovich.

“Those are my guys . . . the community, the fan base. I’ve lived in Ewa my whole life and there’s so much great people there,” he said. “Coming home and being able to cheer on my guys was really a blessing for me.

“Something I wasn’t able to do — make it to the state championship — they were able to accomplish. It was really more for Coach DJ, my head coach. He deserves it. He’s coached there a long time. He’s coached at a lot of different places. To finally get that open state championship, it meant the world to me for him to be able to get that. Just for the boys back there, seeing the joy on their faces.”

NOTES: Rolovich said one unnamed Cal player has informed him he will not be with the team for the Hawaii Bowl, presumably suggesting he plans to enter the transfer portal. Rolovich said the player is not a current NFL prospect exiting to prepare for the draft. No Cal player’s name appeared on the transfer portal lists by On3 or 247Sports as of this story’s publication . . . Cal plans to fly to Hawaii on Dec. 19, after the end of final exams, to begin prep for the bowl game.

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