New Cal Coach Tosh Lupoi's Top Priority: Retain Prized Freshman Quarterback

Tosh Lupoi’s chance for immediate success as Cal’s head coach rests in large part with one task: Can he retain freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele?

Seeing Fernando Mendoza leave Cal after last season and become a Heisman Trophy candidate this season at Indiana raises the question whether Sagapolutele might transfer too.

Quite simply, retaining Sagapolutele, who was the centerpiece of Cal’s upsets of Louisville and SMU, is key to the near-term success of the Bears’ football program. And Lupoi and general manager Ron Rivera know it.

There is only one two-week period when players can enter the transfer portal and that runs from January 2 through January 16.

However, if a team changes head coaches, a player has a 15-day transfer portal window that starts five days after the new head coach is hired. Since Lupoi’s hiring was announced Thursday, a Cal player can enter the transfer portal on Tuesday and until December 23.

Cal general manager Ron Rivera said Friday he is “very confident” Cal can prevent Sagapolutele from transferring elsewhere. He noted that Sagapolutele’s situation and what Cal is doing to try to keep him was part of his discussion with Lupoi during the hiring process.

Rivera ended his comment on the Sagapolutele situation by saying, “I know it would be very hard to match what we’re trying to present.”

That’s probably not something Rivera could say a year ago, but now Rivera said Cal is fully funded for revenue-sharing with players for 2026, and added that Lupoi’s salary in his five-year contract with Cal as well as the buyout for Justin Wilcox’s final two years of his contract will be funded entirely by private donations.

In short, Rivera suggests that money will not be the reason Sagapolutele would leave.

Plus Rivera is more familiar with the entire transfer process than he was when he was hired last March.

As of Friday, neither Lupoi nor Rivera had spoken to Sagapolutele since Lupoi was hired, because the quarterback is back home to Hawaii.

Cal’s ability to keep Sagapolutele may come down to Lupoi’s well documented skill as a recruiter.

“He probably wore his wife down to get her to marry him,” Rivera said.

Lupoi did not guarantee he would keep Sagapolutele at Cal, but he made it clear on Friday how important retaining the budding freshman star would be.

“Well, I hope dearly that our quarterback . . . he has already established himself here quite a bit as far as, I’m talking about off the field. His leadership, relationships, just doing my research and homework on him, so I’m extremely excited to meet Jaron, meet the family and start that process with them. I have not been afforded the opportunity to have any individual meetings with any of the players.”

Lupoi believes the perspective he offers as a defensive coach will be attractive to Sagapolutele, since Lupoi has been associated with future NFL quarterbacks Jalen Hurt and Tua Tagovailoa as Alabama’s defensive coordinator, and with Bo Nix and Dillon Gabriel as Oregon’s defensive coordinator.

Lupoi noted that the high number of high-quality coaches who have inquired about joining Cal’s coaching staff may appeal to Sagapolutele as well.

Plus Cal has a reputation for sending quarterbacks to the NFL as first-round draft choices, including current starters Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff. Lupoi said Goff “has hit me up several times today” to help with the process.

“I think it’s a really cool package,” Lupoi said.

The cool package of retaining Sagapolutele would have attractive by-products for the Cal football program.

“One thing that is interesting is the number quarterback coaches that want to get involved [with the Cal staff],” Rivera said. “That’s a great name for your resume. That’s the value of having a guy like that, people are going to want to play for him, or play with him -- be it a receiver, be a tight end or a running back, be an offensive lineman. Why? Because not only are the scouts going to come watch him, they’re going to see the other people around him.”

Maybe Sagapolutele has already decided where he’ll be next season, but the 15-day transfer-portal period starting next week will be closely watched by Cal fans.

Before Tuesday Lupoi will no doubt find time while he’s preparing Oregon’s defense for its opening College Football Playoff game to contact Sagapolutele and give him the recruiting pitch that has persuaded so many prospects -- in this case a proven prospect.

Lupoi ended his long statement on the plan to keep Sagapolutele with three telling words.

"We shall see."

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