Cal’s football coaching search appears to be nearing its end, with a familiar face set to lead the program.
The Bears are expected to hire Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi, barring any last-minute snags in negotiations, multiple sources with knowledge of the discussions confirmed to the Wilner Hotline on Tuesday afternoon.
The school has not announced any hire as of late Tuesday afternoon.
Lupoi, a Walnut Creek native and former De La Salle standout, was a defensive lineman in Berkeley from 2000-2005 and coached the Bears line from 2008-11. He has never been a head coach before but led the Ducks defense the last three seasons under head coach Dan Lanning.
Oregon ranks third nationally in yards allowed per game and eighth in scoring this season.
Prior to his arrival in Eugene, Lupoi spent two seasons as a defensive line coach for Washington, then five years at Alabama, helping the Crimson Tide reach four national title games and rising to become the defensive coordinator in Tuscaloosa.
He then moved on to the NFL, where he coached defensive line for the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars from 2019-21.
Lupoi, 44, is earning $2 million this season with the Ducks. His offensive counterpart at Oregon, Will Stein, was named Kentucky’s new coach earlier this week.
Cal fired former coach Justin Wilcox just over a week ago, ending his nine-year tenure overseeing the program after a 31-10 loss at Stanford, its first Big Game loss in five years.
General manager Ron Rivera said he had at least 14 names on his list, including interim coach Nick Rolovich, who joined the Bears as an offensive assistant last offseason and coached them to a 38-35 win over No. 21 SMU in the regular-season finale last weekend.
Cal went 7-5 this season and will be invited to a bowl game this weekend. It is unclear who will coach the Bears in that game. Oregon appears set for a berth in the College Football Playoff, which starts Dec. 19 and runs through mid-January. College football’s early signing period opens Wednesday, and the transfer portal opens Jan. 2.
One of the major questions facing the next Cal coach is how to retain star quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. The true freshman flipped between Cal and Oregon in his recruitment, enrolling at Oregon briefly last winter before transferring to Cal.
Jon Wilner contributed to this story.