University of Washington Pursuing Tosh Lupoi
By Mark Knight
The rumors have been swirling around the internet for weeks that Tosh Lupoi, currently the defensive line coach at California, is being pursued by the University of Washington and Coach Steve Sarkisian.
Many of you have asked me about this exact issue, so I have done some digging and asked around to people that are more informed than me and have dug up some information for you, the Husky Haul reader.
First off, here is what I know about Lupoi:
- He graduated from California in 2005. He is an alum of the school that UW is trying to lure him away from.
- After graduation he quickly joined the the staff for the California Golden Bears.
- He spent two years as a graduate assistant and then the next four as the defensive line coach.
- In 2010 was recognized as the “Recruiter of the Year” by Rivals.com
- He is credited to being one of the main reasons Cal has found success in recruiting the last few years.
Sources have stated that UW has in fact inquired about hiring Lupoi. A few of these sources have made public claims, Greg Biggins of ESPN is one of them when replying to a question on twitter about UW hiring Lupoi: “They tried, but he’s happy at Cal,” He went on to say, “They’re still trying, haven’t thrown the kitchen sink in yet, I guess.” He also mentioned things like “UW has an open checkbook” etc.
A source close to the situation, has indicated to me that Lupoi wants to
stay at Cal but at the same time needs assurance that he will eventually be a defensive coordinator. He isn’t after more money as many have speculated but instead is looking to rise the ranks in the football coaching world (and of course money comes along with that). UW can and probably will be used for leverage. This is not to say that Lupoi wouldn’t be interested in UW if things didn’t go well with Cal.
Lupoi will meet with UW and ask for those type of guarantees and then allow Cal to respond. Thus, in the end the likely destination for Lupoi is Cal for he is too valuable for the Golden Bears to lose. He is valuable on the field and on the recruiting trail and they do not want to lose that. They will give him the assurances that he is seeking, and in the end this seems to be the most likely scenario.
Tosh Lupoi is Cal’s to lose.