It appears that the Oregon Ducks will likely lose both of their coordinators to head-coaching positions following their run in the College Football Playoff. Tosh Lupoi is reportedly set to return to his alma mater as the new head coach at Cal after Justin Wilcox was fired.

Lupoi, 44, played defensive line at Cal from 2000-05 and started his coaching career at Cal as the defensive line coach from 2008-11. He has held various assistant roles at the University of Washington and the University of Alabama.

During his coaching tenure at Alabama, he advanced from an analyst role in 2014 to serve as defensive coordinator in 2018 under coach Nick Saban, establishing a reputation as a skilled recruiter. Under his guidance, Oregon’s defense ranked eighth in the nation for the 2025 regular season in scoring defense, allowing 14.8 points per game.

If Lupoi finalizes the deal, he will return to Berkeley to lead a Cal team that concluded the season with a 7-5 record. Following an unsatisfactory 31-10 defeat against Stanford on November 23, general manager Ron Rivera decided to discharge Wilcox, who had a 48-55 overall record during his term.

The initial focus for Lupoi will be to retain standout freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who performed impressively during his rookie season, completing 63.6% of his passes for 3,116 yards, 17 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. This continuity could provide a solid foundation for a competitive team in the ACC, especially as Cal seeks to bolster its defense, which ranked 76th nationally by allowing 26.5 points per game.