Cal has agreed in principle to a five-year deal to make Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi the school’s next head coach, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Thursday.
After Justin Wilcox was fired as the program’s head coach following a 48-55 record over nine seasons, Lupoi quickly became the favorite to land the job. Several former high-profile former players advocated publicly – as well as privately to Cal general manager Ron Rivera – for Lupoi to get the position.
Lupoi played at Cal from 2000 to 2005 before starting his coaching career with the Bears under head coach Jeff Tedford in 2008. He was a defensive line coach at Berkeley through 2011 and developed a reputation there as an elite recruiter. The 44-year-old is also from the Bay Area, having attended high school powerhouse De La Salle.
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After a one-year stint at Washington as a defensive line coach in 2012, Lupoi spent the next five years at Alabama as an analyst, outside linebackers coach and defensive coordinator in 2018.
Lupoi then spent three years as a defensive line coach in the NFL for three separate teams before landing at Oregon in 2022 as the defensive coordinator under Dan Lanning.
In each of the last three seasons, Lupoi has led the Ducks’ defense to a top-25 unit. Earlier this week, Lanning confirmed that both Lupoi and offensive coordinator Will Stein, who will be Kentucky‘s new head coach, will remain in their coordinator roles throughout the Ducks’ playoff run before officially leaving for their new jobs.
The Golden Bears have not had a winning record in conference play since Tedford was there in 2009.