Will Hawaii Bowl Be Nick Rolovich's Final Game on Cal's Coaching Staff?

Nick Rolovich’s final game as Cal’s head coach will be the December 24 Hawaii Bowl game against Hawaii, his alma mater, but he would like to remain on Cal’s coaching staff next season.

“Yeah,” said Rolovich when asked this week whether he’d be interested in a position on Tosh Lupoi’s coaching staff at Cal. “It’s been a good experience for me. Cal’s been really good for me. And I would be interested in that.”

Rolovich has spoken to Lupoi, and Rolovich said they discussed the possibility of Rolovich being retained on the Bears’ staff.

“We’re talking about that,” Rolovich said.

Rolovich, a former head coach at Hawaii and Washington State, served in the Bears' newly created position of senior offensive assistant this season, working closely with freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, after being hired at Cal in December 2024.

He was named Cal’s interim head coach for the Bears’ final two games (SMU and the bowl game) following the dismissal of Justin Wilcox.

Rolovich was hoping to be named the Bears’ permanent head coach, and improved his status in that regard when Cal defeated nationally ranked SMU in Rolovich’s first game as the Bears’ interim head coach.

However, when Lupoi came into the picture, it became evident that Lupoi would get the job based on his success as a defensive coordinator at Oregon and Alabama, his recruiting skills, his Bay Area roots and his experience as a Cal player and assistant coach.

But Rolovich also has Bay Area roots, and Cal general manager Ron Rivera told Lupoi that some current members of the Cal coaching staff might be worth keeping.

“These are guys who have found ways to make things happen,” Rivera said, telling Lupoi, “’I encourage you to interview them all.’”

That might include Rolovich and Bryan Harsin, the Bears offensive coordinator and a former head coach at Boise State and Auburn.

Harsin’s name has been mentioned in speculation about Washington State’s next head coach. Wilcox’s name has also been tossed around for that vacancy, with folks like Rick Neuheisel and Chip Kelly also being thrown into the large speculation pile for the Cougars’ head coaching job.

Rolovich served as the offensive coordinator at Nevada for four years (2012-2015) and was the architect for the offenses at Hawaii and Washington State while he was the head coach at those places.

(The names of Rolovich and Harsin are being tossed around in speculation to be Nevada’s offensive coordinator under new head coach Jeff Choate.)

Rolovich has the resume to be considered for the offensive coordinator and/or quarterback coach position at Cal, and perhaps enough time has passed since his dismissal at Washington State in October of the 2021 for refusing to satisfy Washington's vaccination mandate.

His position at Cal is his first fulltime coaching job since being dismissed at Washington State. Rolovich was named the offensive coordinator for the San Diego franchise of the XFL for the 2024 season, but San Diego was not included in the XFL merger with USFL so that position never materialized.

Before being hired by Cal, Rolovich spent the three previous seasons (2022, 2023, 2024) as a volunteer assistant high school coach in his hometown of Novato, California, at San Marin High School, where his son was the quarterback.

Now he’s back on the college football level, and he seems to like where Cal football is headed under Lupoi.

“I was able to get a few minutes with him,” Rolovich said. “I think he has a really good plan. Here’s what I told him. I said, ‘I wanted to be the head coach at my [alma mater], and was able to do that [at Hawaii]. I understand where your mind is at this. I respect it. I’m fired up for you. I think you’ve got a plan.”

It's possible Tupoi will want to hire someone outside the current Cal staff to be his offensive coaches. He must work with someone he’s familiar with and trusts, because the Bears' next offensive coordinator presumably will have a lot of authority given Lupoi's experience as a defensive coach..

Rolovich’s relationship with Sagapolutele will be his most persuasive argument to retain a spot on Cal’s 2026 staff.

If Cal wins the Hawaii Bowl with Rolovich as its head coach, there will certainly be some support inside and outside the Cal program to keep him on the Cal staff with Sagapolutele having already committed to remaining at Cal for the 2026 season.

It’s up to Lupoi, who said he’s been contacted by a lot of people who want to join Cal’s coaching staff.

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