Tosh Lupoi wasted no time making an impact as Cal’s new football coach.
Hours after being introduced at a news conference in Berkeley, he flew to Hawaii to convince star quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele to stay at Cal.
The mission was successful as the quarterback posted a picture on Saturday morning of himself and Lupoi on X with the comment, “God is Good. Mahalo to #CoachLup for coming to visit me and my family in HI. I believe in Cal and what this football program is capable of. #ComeToCal #GoBears #SmartAndTough”
ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the news.
The quarterback’s return checks one box off Lupoi’s to-do list as he aims to make good on what he said Friday, that he will attack everything about his new program.
Sagapolutele has had a superb freshman season, passing for 3,117 and 17 touchdowns with nine interceptions while leading the Bears to a 7-5 record and a berth in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve against Hawaii.
Lupoi, a former Cal player and assistant coach, took over this week from Justin Wilcox, who was fired after the Bears lost to Stanford in the Big Game last month.
Speculation that Sagapolutele would enter the transfer portal ended on Saturday.