I am a YEA!

Can never forgive. NAY

Nay. In addition to 2011 he' never been a head coach. He's only coached elite athletes at big time programs, so he hasn't proven he can develop anyone.

Some ethical concerns about Tosh and even about his ability to be a Head Coach, but I will defer to Ron Rivera and whoever will be financing the change. If they can get past his past transgressions then I certainly can, as well. Maybe he would be good.

Tosh is a DC at best

On the other side of it, if I'm this person and my choices are Cal and Oregon State, I'd choose OSU. Less money but less historical baggage and possibly less impediments to success even with a team without a real home. If I have any doubts, I just watch some press conferences during the last 3 years of Tedford or any during the Dykes or Wilcox regimes. The facial expressions will be enough to scare me away.

Hell no!

Better than Wilcox

Oregon fans would be grateful. He's not a great coach. Perhaps he'd make a good CEO. It seems like too much of a risk. He'd really have to demonstrate he has learned how to lead a program. If you're hiring a first timer he'd better be an absolute rock star, or be going somewhere with a lot of money and institutional support. That's not Lupoi and that's not CAL. You can do better.

Those who want Tosh back are the same kind of fools who will take back an ex that broke up with him for someone else. They totally lack any self-respect and are gluttons for punishment. Cal's better than that!

Ouch!

01Bear said:

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Those who want Tosh back are the same kind of fools who will take back an ex that broke up with him for someone else. They totally lack any self-respect and are gluttons for punishment. Cal's better than that!

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Does that still apply if I treated my ex like she didn't matter and she left for a smarter, wealthier, more popular guy who valued her and wanted her in his life way more than I did?

We're not getting married, we're hiring a HC. If he can turn the program around and get us 8+ wins consistently, who cares what he did a decade ago?

DaveT said:

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01Bear said:

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Those who want Tosh back are the same kind of fools who will take back an ex that broke up with him for someone else. They totally lack any self-respect and are gluttons for punishment. Cal's better than that!

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Does that still apply if I treated my ex like she didn't matter and she left for a smarter, wealthier, more popular guy who valued her and wanted her in his life way more than I did?

We're not getting married, we're hiring a HC. If he can turn the program around and get us 8+ wins consistently, who cares what he did a decade ago?

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If you have no self-respect and are a glutton for punishment, that's on you. But Cal's better than that. Cal doesn't need to take back someone who betrayed it before. After all, if he did it once before, he'll do it again.

Wilcox was literally the guy who led the recruitment of Tosh to UW at that time. Everyone seemed ok with that for the last 9 years.

Tosh acted selfishly and betrayed Cal, but Tedford and Sandy also both betrayed him with the InjuryGate incident. Its been a loooong time. Time to get over it.

Our recruiting has sucked since Tedford. Tosh will 100% change that. Get him a solid OC and DC and see what he can do as the head man.

Gotta take an aggressive swing at this point. A "safe", retread hire by a search firm retained for 7 figures cant happen.

BeggarEd said:

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Gotta take an aggressive swing at this point. A "safe", retread hire by a search firm retained for 7 figures cant happen.

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We have to keep JKS, recruit a whole set of playmakers, and we have 4-5 years left before the superleague arrives, we have to be aggressive to the point of recklessness with the next regime and if it comes to Tosh or DeSean, that's gonna be it

01Bear said:

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DaveT said:

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01Bear said:

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Those who want Tosh back are the same kind of fools who will take back an ex that broke up with him for someone else. They totally lack any self-respect and are gluttons for punishment. Cal's better than that!

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Does that still apply if I treated my ex like she didn't matter and she left for a smarter, wealthier, more popular guy who valued her and wanted her in his life way more than I did?

We're not getting married, we're hiring a HC. If he can turn the program around and get us 8+ wins consistently, who cares what he did a decade ago?

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If you have no self-respect and are a glutton for punishment, that's on you. But Cal's better than that. Cal doesn't need to take back someone who betrayed it before. After all, if he did it once before, he'll do it again.

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I guess the question is: did he betray his school due to greed, or did he do it as a big middle finger to JT who threw him under the bus. If it's the former, I'm in the never forget camp, but if it's the latter, I suppose I can understand however misguided it was.

Once upon a time, there was a well-respected Cal assistant who went on to become a well-respected defensive coordinator.

But that well-respected defensive coordinator never made the leap to head coach for some reason, despite defensive coordinating for famous teams in the SEC and the Big Ten.

This is the story of Justin Wilcox in 2016, of Tosh Lupoi in 2025 (so far).

01Bear said:

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Those who want Tosh back are the same kind of fools who will take back an ex that broke up with him for someone else. They totally lack any self-respect and are gluttons for punishment. Cal's better than that!

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That metaphor about Tosh would be correct if that ex didn't just cheat on you, but was also really not a catch to start with. Tosh sucks as a DC, head coach. I like him at Oregon because I don't like Oregon.

okaydo said:

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Once upon a time, there was a well-respected Cal assistant who went on to become a well-respected defensive coordinator.

But that well-respected defensive coordinator never made the leap to head coach for some reason, despite defensive coordinating for famous teams in the SEC and the Big Ten.

This is the story of Justin Wilcox in 2016, of Tosh Lupoi in 2025 (so far).

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Wilcox is a better DC than Lupoi. Lupoi couldn't even hold an assistant coaching position in the NFL for more than one season. Wilcox can coach DBs in the NFL, or perform as DC at a decent P4 program, he would be an upgrade over Tosh at Oregon. Lupoi is a much better recruiter, that's it.

• Alabama (2018)
  Defensive coordinator & outside linebackers coach

• Cleveland Browns (2019)
  Defensive line coach
• Atlanta Falcons (2020)
  Defensive line coach & run game coordinator
• Jacksonville Jaguars (2021)
  Defensive line coach
• Oregon (2022present)

H@lls to the no!

If you don't want Tosh that I presume you want to keep Wilcox, otherwise suggest a candidate

No. We have 9 years of watching a coordinator learn on the job at a place like cal. It isnt the way he left....it os that he needs a g5 job to learn.

BeggarEd said:

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Wilcox was literally the guy who led the recruitment of Tosh to UW at that time. Everyone seemed ok with that for the last 9 years.

Tosh acted selfishly and betrayed Cal, but Tedford and Sandy also both betrayed him with the InjuryGate incident. Its been a loooong time. Time to get over it.

Our recruiting has sucked since Tedford. Tosh will 100% change that. Get him a solid OC and DC and see what he can do as the head man.

Gotta take an aggressive swing at this point. A "safe", retread hire by a search firm retained for 7 figures cant happen.

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As I understand it, your argument is that Wilcox was responsible for Tosh'a betrayal. If Cal can forget and forgive Wilcox, it should do the same for Tosh. Never mind that Tosh was the one who was getting paid by Cal and never mind that Tosh took Cal's limited recruiting trip to tell a Cal recruit not to go to Cal. Totally ignore that Tosh was an adult and fully capable of making decisions and being held accountable for them.

Even setting aside Tosh's betrayal of Cal, Tosh has not shown himself to be any good as a DC. Neither has he proven to be any good at the Xs and Os or at coaching up players. Instead, Tosh's best defenses as a DC have all been while he served under defensive-minded head coaches (who likely held the reins in defense and hired Tosh to be a recruiter). In short, no one can point to anything that suggests Tosh should be promoted to HC, let alone at a P4 school that needs to hit a HR to avoid relegation in the next round of the realignment hunger games.

At best, Tosh's supporters point to his vaunted ability to recruit. Yet, at the same time, this forum is inundated with posters reminding us all that recruiting is all about getting NIL money, now. Somehow, not one of Tosh's supporters has pointed to any example of Tosh's ability to bring in NIL money.

Frankly, it seems Tosh's admirers are just looking at his Cal degree and forgetting everything else that matters in hiring a head coach. Instead, they want to talk about how he was an ace recruiter over a decade ago (though we're now in an era where NIL is more important in recruiting). Then they want to blame his utter lack of loyalty and morals on others.

All in all, the Tosh supporters seem more like immature gushing fan girls obsessed with the latest pop star du jour than rational adults.

You make excellent points. I am now not a firm yea on Tosh.

Cal88 said:

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01Bear said:

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Those who want Tosh back are the same kind of fools who will take back an ex that broke up with him for someone else. They totally lack any self-respect and are gluttons for punishment. Cal's better than that!

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That metaphor about Tosh would be correct if that ex didn't just cheat on you, but was also really not a catch to start with. Tosh sucks as a DC, head coach. I like him at Oregon because I don't like Oregon.

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That's how little the Tosh lovers think of Cal. They've come to accept Cal as a loser who should be thankful that the undesirable girl who cheated on him would be willing to take him back.

No. I want an offensive guy as head coach, not another defensive joker like Wilcox.

Strykur said:

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Better than Wilcox

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That's a low bar.

Golden One said:

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No. I want an offensive guy as head coach, not another defensive joker like Wilcox.

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That's the thing. If we get a defensive guy, then his offensive guy will either be bad or decent or stellar. If it's the latter two, then somebody will hire him away.

100% Yes.

In today's climate you need a salesman/recruiter. Say what you want about Tosh, but he connects with players. Additionally, he's well traveled (football wise) with experience in multiple conferences as well as the NFL. I'm fairly certain that he's built up many relationships that could help build a staff and program. I hate the way he destroyed Cals program at the time - but he was a very young and ambitious coach who helped build a program that could stand toe-to-toe with any program in America. Love him or hate him he was a major part of the most successful stretch of Cal football in the last 65 years.

It's a gamble worth taking.

MathTeacherMike said:

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It's a gamble worth taking.

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We have no time left to do a slow build with a safe hire, so it has to happen

whom-so-ever Ron & Stephanie chooses is fiine by me..
https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/who-ron-rivera-s-wife-stephanie-commanders-hc-s-personal-life-explored
https://fanbuzz.com/nfl/ron-rivera-wife
> Ron Rivera met his wife Stephanie Tamoya while attending the University of California. Ron was an All-American linebacker for the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears college football team while Stephanie was the starting point guard on the Cal women's basketball team.

MathTeacherMike said:

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100% Yes.

In today's climate you need a salesman/recruiter. Say what you want about Tosh, but he connects with players. Additionally, he's well traveled (football wise) with experience in multiple conferences as well as the NFL. I'm fairly certain that he's built up many relationships that could help build a staff and program. I hate the way he destroyed Cals program at the time - but he was a very young and ambitious coach who helped build a program that could stand toe-to-toe with any program in America. Love him or hate him he was a major part of the most successful stretch of Cal football in the last 65 years.

It's a gamble worth taking.

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Except connecting with players has become a less important skill than connecting with people able to write 8 figure checks for essentially a hobby.

BeggarEd said:

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Wilcox was literally the guy who led the recruitment of Tosh to UW at that time. Everyone seemed ok with that for the last 9 years.

Tosh acted selfishly and betrayed Cal, but Tedford and Sandy also both betrayed him with the InjuryGate incident. Its been a loooong time. Time to get over it.

Our recruiting has sucked since Tedford. Tosh will 100% change that. Get him a solid OC and DC and see what he can do as the head man.

Gotta take an aggressive swing at this point. A "safe", retread hire by a search firm retained for 7 figures cant happen.

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I was not OK with hiring Wilcox, extending Wilcox or his performance over the last 9 years, but at least he had extensive experience as a DC under offensive minded HCs where it was clear he did the hiring and organizing of the defense.

We need a HC that can rally the donors and excite the fanbase. Tosh, Rolovich and Harsin are all divisive choices. Some people would be happy but many others would withhold support.

Also, if Rivera is GM he really needs an offensive minded guy as HC who can score TDs. That is not Tosh. If we are looking at Cal guys with no head coaching experience how about Davis Webb? At least as OC? Maybe with Rivera as HC until he is ready to take over?

okaydo said:

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Golden One said:

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No. I want an offensive guy as head coach, not another defensive joker like Wilcox.

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That's the thing. If we get a defensive guy, then his offensive guy will either be bad or decent or stellar. If it's the latter two, then somebody will hire him away.

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Exactly. At a level like Cal you need an offensive minded head coach and one that you really believe has affinity for your school and location and is not using you as a stepping stone. If a defensive guy like Rivera is HC he is going to have to allocate a lot of money for an OC or hire someone like Davis Webb at OC who is an alum and will be the candidate to take over.

To a degree, I understand the obsession with Tosh. But there are plenty of good candidates out there without the baggage. That pool of candidates will steadily dry up, of course.