Report: Cal hires Wiscy DC Justin Wilcox*
- Thread starter Obliviax
- Start date
Hole left by Dykes filled by Wilcox?Dykes out. Wilcox, Justin.
Will be interesting to see if Tosh Lupoi returns to Cal to join Wilcox. The Toshgate fiasco was a real disaster for Cal.
What is "Toshgate," you ask? Well...
Tosh Lupoi is a former Cal football player (DL) who started his coaching career in roughly 2008 as a Cal GA, then became a Cal assistant coach (DL), and turned into a highly effective recruiter under Jeff Tedford.
Lupoi was named the National Recruiter of the Year in 2010, and had lined up a recruiting class in 2011 that was at least No. 5 and might have been the No. 1 class in the entire country. But he was making $164,000 per year at the time (Cal has a history of grossly underpaying its assistant football coaches). Also, after a Cal-Oregon football game that year, Tedford made Tosh the fall guy for a player faking injury against Oregon so that Cal could substitute players during an Oregon offensive possession. Tosh thought he had been thrown under the bus.
About a month before National Signing Day in 2011, Tosh got a call from Justin Wilcox, who is now the new Cal head coach but who was at that time the linebackers coach at UW. Wilcox and Steve Sarkisian (then UW head coach) wanted to hire Tosh away from Cal, hoping to get a prized recruiter. They offered him around $250,000. Tosh took that offer back to Cal and asked for more money. Cal matched the Oregon offer, only after Tedford extracted Tosh's promise that he would not shop it thereafter, and that the process was over. LOL. Tosh took the offer back to UW, and extracted a new offer at roughly $350,000, PLUS a small boat. (The boat is the subject of much derision on the Cal boards.)
About two weeks later (now just two weeks prior to National Signing Day), Lupoi was supposed to meet Tedford to take a flight to go close a couple of high level recruits. Tosh left Tedford standing on the airport tarmac, and never showed. Instead, he called up all the recruits he had been recruiting for Cal and, while still on the Cal payroll (admittedly his last day), tried to recruit all of them to UW.
Lupoi ended up persuading Shaq Thompson (a 5 star safety) to go to UW, even though Shaq had committed to Cal and his older brother (Sydquan Thompson) had played for Cal. But that was not enough for Tosh. He also told recruits that if they didn't want to go to UW, "at least don't go to Cal." We lost Arik Armstead (a 5 star DL who was scheduled to enroll in classes that very day in Berkeley) to Oregon, and a 5 star offensive lineman named Ellis McCarthy (I believe that was his name) to UCLA. We also lost a few four star players. It was a frickin' disaster.
When Sarkisian left UW for USC, the Trojans wanted no part of Tosh. Saban ultimately hired him to Alabama, and he has been an effective recruiter there. He just pulled Najee Harris (the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2017) to Bama.
A whole lot of Cal fans (myself included) are still pissed at Tosh for napalming his bridges with Cal. But Tedford underpaid him and, more importantly for many Cal alums, the continued poor performance of the Cal football team outweighs their distaste for Tosh and Wilcox. They want to win, and are willing to swallow their anger and take Wilcox (who helped make Toshgate happen) back. (Wilcox coached at Cal for three years before leaving for UW.)
I believe they may even be willing to do the same for Tosh. We will know pretty soon.
Tosh Lupoi is a former Cal football player (DL) who started his coaching career in roughly 2008 as a Cal GA, then became a Cal assistant coach (DL), and turned into a highly effective recruiter under Jeff Tedford.
Lupoi was named the National Recruiter of the Year in 2010, and had lined up a recruiting class in 2011 that was at least No. 5 and might have been the No. 1 class in the entire country. But he was making $164,000 per year at the time (Cal has a history of grossly underpaying its assistant football coaches). Also, after a Cal-Oregon football game that year, Tedford made Tosh the fall guy for a player faking injury against Oregon so that Cal could substitute players during an Oregon offensive possession. Tosh thought he had been thrown under the bus.
About a month before National Signing Day in 2011, Tosh got a call from Justin Wilcox, who is now the new Cal head coach but who was at that time the linebackers coach at UW. Wilcox and Steve Sarkisian (then UW head coach) wanted to hire Tosh away from Cal, hoping to get a prized recruiter. They offered him around $250,000. Tosh took that offer back to Cal and asked for more money. Cal matched the Oregon offer, only after Tedford extracted Tosh's promise that he would not shop it thereafter, and that the process was over. LOL. Tosh took the offer back to UW, and extracted a new offer at roughly $350,000, PLUS a small boat. (The boat is the subject of much derision on the Cal boards.)
About two weeks later (now just two weeks prior to National Signing Day), Lupoi was supposed to meet Tedford to take a flight to go close a couple of high level recruits. Tosh left Tedford standing on the airport tarmac, and never showed. Instead, he called up all the recruits he had been recruiting for Cal and, while still on the Cal payroll (admittedly his last day), tried to recruit all of them to UW.
Lupoi ended up persuading Shaq Thompson (a 5 star safety) to go to UW, even though Shaq had committed to Cal and his older brother (Sydquan Thompson) had played for Cal. But that was not enough for Tosh. He also told recruits that if they didn't want to go to UW, "at least don't go to Cal." We lost Arik Armstead (a 5 star DL who was scheduled to enroll in classes that very day in Berkeley) to Oregon, and a 5 star offensive lineman named Ellis McCarthy (I believe that was his name) to UCLA. We also lost a few four star players. It was a frickin' disaster.
When Sarkisian left UW for USC, the Trojans wanted no part of Tosh. Saban ultimately hired him to Alabama, and he has been an effective recruiter there. He just pulled Najee Harris (the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2017) to Bama.
A whole lot of Cal fans (myself included) are still pissed at Tosh for napalming his bridges with Cal. But Tedford underpaid him and, more importantly for many Cal alums, the continued poor performance of the Cal football team outweighs their distaste for Tosh and Wilcox. They want to win, and are willing to swallow their anger and take Wilcox (who helped make Toshgate happen) back. (Wilcox coached at Cal for three years before leaving for UW.)
I believe they may even be willing to do the same for Tosh. We will know pretty soon.
