One last “Thank you, Justin.” 

Though he never had a breakthrough season, he kept the ship steady through some tumultuous years… That was not an easy task. 

The Big Game loss, at least, made the decision to fire him easy. There was no… ‘Oh, did we do the right thing??” 

It’s like you are 80% sure you want to break up with your girlfriend, then she cheats on you. 

Thank you! 

Speaking of being cheated on. 

Tosh Lupoi

It seems the Golden Bears will be getting back together with their high school girlfriend who made out with another guy. 

And I am ok with it. 

I was not a Cal fan when this all went down. Here is a quick summary of the Tosh Lupoi drama. 

2011

• Tosh was Cal’s Defensive Line Coach and STAR recruiter 
• As a former player he was the heart of the Cal brand 
• He put together Cal’s highest rated recruiting class ever (top 15) 
• Days before signing day, Washington poached Tosh 
• Tosh flipped multiple Cal recruits (including 5 star Shaq Thompson) to Washington
• He was accused of recruiting for Washington while on Cal’s payroll (infidelity) 
• This left Cal with a bad recruiting class 
• The Tedford era collapsed 

He betrayed his Alma Mater and Tedford. For what?

His salary went from $105,000 to $165,000. 

It was ugly. Some old blues are still upset, but most are dying to win back the girl that cheated. 

Tosh’s Resume

After one year at Washington, Tosh went to Alabama as an intern (appropriately donning the scarlet letter).

Under Saban he climbed the ranks efficiently up to Defensive Coordinator. He was hailed as a masterful recruiter. 

This encouraging stretch of his career was brought to a sudden halt after a BEAT DOWN by Trevor Lawrence and Clemson in the 2019 Natty. 

Fired. 

Then things get funky…. 

His strength as a coach is undoubtedly recruiting. But for some reason…  He ends up spending three years as a journeyman NFL Defensive Line coach. Why? I don’t know. Maybe he was trying to improve his Xs and Os . 

Then he lands the Oregon DC job where he has an amazing stretch. 

Aside from this beatdown reminiscent of Clemson v Bama.  

People Change

At first, I was not excited about Tosh because of the whole cheating thing but that was almost 15 years ago now.

In the back of my mind I have to say I am scared that he is playing Cal to negotiate a contract with Penn State. 

But… If Cal does land him I will be thrilled. 

I want young. I want hungry. I want a PUT YOUR HAT ON type motivator as Head Coach. 

Wilcox and Dykes were similar in that they were soft spoken leaders who lacked the fire of a Tedford, Carroll, Saban or Harbaugh. That is not a prerequisite to being an elite head coach, but it is something that I think this program in particular needs given the lack of excitement from the fan base when things are going poorly. 

Tosh fits that perfectly.

He understands Berkeley. He was here at our peak and if anyone can restore us to our former glory it is him. 

Plan B?

It looks pretty close to a done deal… But If we do not land Tosh we would be in trouble.

There is no other coaching candidate with ties to Cal.

I’d guess we end up promoting Rolovich to Head Coach permanently. Not a terrible option.

But let’s pray for Tosh.

Update: We got Tosh !