Tony Tuioti Selected As Outside Linebackers Coach
BERKELEY Cal head coach Justin Wilcox announced Saturday that Tony Tuioti has agreed to become the Golden
Bears' outside linebackers coach with the hire completing the Golden Bears' full-time coaching staff. Tuioti has worked at the
NFL, collegiate and high school levels for nearly two decades. He spent the 2016 campaign as the director of player personnel
at Michigan and was previously with the NFL's Cleveland Browns for two seasons after a six-year run in three different roles at
his alma mater Hawai'i.
"Tony has a tremendous resume that showcases his diverse skill set and abilities both on and off the field," Wilcox said.
"Not only is he an excellent coach, but the experience he has as a director of player personnel will be a tremendous benefit to
us in the structuring and organization of our recruiting operation. Finding someone with a skill set as unique and diverse as
Tony's is challenging. We are fortunate that we have found that in Tony and are looking forward to his contributions to our
program."
"Working at Cal for a coach like Justin Wilcox was an opportunity I could not pass up," Tuioti said. "I have a tremendous
feeling about the positive direction Cal is headed, and I really wanted to be a part of that and contribute all I could to a football
program with tremendous potential."
During his one season at Michigan in 2016, Tuioti filled the role of the head of the recruiting department for a team that
finished 10-3 overall and ranked No. 10 nationally. He was instrumental in hosting recruiting visits for many of the nation's top
recruits and helping to secure several commitments including each of the top six ranked in-state recruits as part of a 2017
class that ranked as high as No. 3 nationally according to Scout. He also played a critical role in developing the relationships
for a satellite camp tour in the summer of 2016 that included American Samoa, Australia and Hawaii among nearly 40
locations.
His two seasons in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns (2014-15) were spent as an assistant defense line/quality control
coach. Cleveland defensive tackle Danny Shelton, the 12th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Washington, started 15 of
16 games and posted 36 tackles under Tuioti's oversight in his second and final season with the Browns. The Browns' 2014
defense ranked second in the NFL in interceptions (21), tied fourth in takeaways (29) and ninth in points allowed (21.1 ppg).
That same defense led the league in completion percentage (57.1%), opposing quarterback passer rating (74.1) and passes
defended (99).
Prior to joining the Browns, Tuioti spent six seasons at Hawai'i as his alma mater's lead recruiter while also coaching
linebackers (2012-13) and defensive line (2010-11) after beginning the run as the director of player personnel (2008-09). He
helped coach the 2010 Rainbow Warriors to their fourth Western Athletic Conference championship in school history as they
shared the crown with Boise State and Nevada.
Hawai'i ranked among the nation's leaders in at least one defensive category in each of his four seasons as a coach
highlighted by the 2010 team that led the nation in takeaways (38) followed by a 2011 squad that was tied for 15th in per-game
sacks (2.69 spg), a 2012 club that was 11th in pass defense (182.8 ypg), and a 2013 team that was third in per-game tackles
for loss (8.3) and eighth in fumbles recovered (15). The 2010 squad also did not allow a 100-yard rusher in conference play
and tied a school record with five defensive touchdowns while ranking second in school history in total defense (357.6 ypg)
and rushing defense (135.9 ypg). In 2013, his linebackers led the team in total tackles, tackles for loss and sacks.
Before returning to Hawai'i, Tuioti was the defensive coordinator at Silverado High School in Las Vegas for one season in
2007, helping lead the team to a 10-0 regular-season record for the first time in school history, a 10-1 overall record and the
Sunrise League Southeast Division title. He also spent two seasons as the head coach at Kalaheo High School in Hawai'i from
2003-04 before moving to Las Vegas to pursue a second master's degree. Tuioti took over a Kalaheo team that had been
winless the previous season and led the Mustangs to the O'ahu Interscholastic Association playoffs in 2003 for the first time in
10 years as the youngest varsity head coach in the state.
Tuioti started his coaching career at Hawai'i by serving for two seasons (2000-01) as a graduate assistant on the
defensive side of the ball after a playing career in which he was a four-year letterwinner (1996-99), an honorable mention AllWAC
defensive lineman as a 1998 junior and part of a team as a 1999 senior that registered a turnaround that is tied for the
largest in NCAA history, going from an 0-12 record the previous season to a 9-4 mark that included a share of the WAC title
and was capped off by a victory in the Oahu Bowl. He is one of two Rainbow Warriors to win a WAC championship both as a
player in 1999 and coach in 2010. Tuioti also played in the 2000 Hula Bowl following his senior season.
Tuioti earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from Hawai'i in 2000 before adding a master's degree in education
administration from the school in 2002. Tuioti also completed work on a second master's degree in special education from
UNLV in 2007.
Tuioti is a 1995 graduate of Foothill High School in Tustin, Calif., where he played three seasons of varsity football
and was a first-team All-County and All-Section selection as a 1994 senior. He led his squad to back-to-back Century
League titles in his final two campaigns.
Tuioti and his wife, former Hawai'i women's volleyball player Keala Nihpali, have seven children: daughters Teisa,
Teiyana and Teinia, and sons Teivis, Teilor, Teitum and Teimana.
TONY TUIOTI FILE
Birthdate: February 9, 1977
Born: Samoa
Hometown: Santa Ana, CA & Laie, HI
High School: Foothill HS
College: Hawai'i, 2000, Bachelor's in sociology; Hawai'i, 2002, Master's in education administration; UNLV, 2007, Master's in
special education
Family: Wife, Keala; Daughters, Teisa, Teiyana, Teinia; Sons, Teivis, Teilor, Teitum, Teimana
Pronunciation: TOO-ee-oh-TEE
COACHING HISTORY
*Season: Team Position (Champions, Postseason)
2000: Hawai'i Graduate Assistant, Defense
2001: Hawai'i Graduate Assistant, Defense
2003: Kalaheo HS Head Coach (OIA Playoffs)
2004: Kalaheo HS Head Coach
2007: Silverado HS Defensive Coordinator (Sunrise League Southeast Division Champion, State Playoffs)
2008: Hawai'i Director of Player Personnel (Hawaii Bowl)
2009: Hawai'i Director of Player Personnel
2010: Hawai'i Defensive Line (WAC Tri-Champions, Hawaii Bowl)
2011: Hawai'i Defensive Line
2012: Hawai'i Linebackers
2013: Hawai'i Linebackers
2014: Cleveland Browns (NFL) Assistant Defensive Line/Quality Control
2015: Cleveland Browns (NFL) Assistant Defensive Line/Quality Control
2016: Michigan Director of Player Personnel (Orange Bowl)
*Season in which postseason games were played
