Tosh Lupoi confirmed that playcalling duties have been moved away from Cal offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville. The decision was apparently made at halftime of the UNLV game, with the Bears trailing 24-7 and Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele getting concussed.
Cal pass game coordinator Pat McCann took over playcalling duties and helped guide backup quarterback Jackson Brousseau and a mix of first/second/third string offensive players back to a 25-24 Cal lead, before UNLV rallied with two touchdowns to close it out.
While mostly serving as a wide recievers coach at previous spots like UC Davis, Eastern Washington, Fresno State, and Oregon State, McCann has several years of playcalling experience, dating back to his days at Stonehill College. His most notable stint at offensive coordinator was under Fresno State with Jeff Tedford.
Cal football athletic director Ron Rivera also came in later on and inferred that the decision came after there were expectations on offensive performance in the first half, and they were not met.
To be very clear, I don’t think Somerville veered off script. It’s clear that there was an edict to get better this week, or else, and he was definitely collaborating with the rest of the staff on offense more closely, particularly with former playcallers like Nick Rolovich and McCann.
I just think his inexperience and inability to adapt game after game just caught up with him. Once he left the gameplan (first planned 15 to 20 plays of the game, and first drive of halftime adjustments), he’s been very slow at figuring out how to adjust to new defensive looks in-game. It’s happened all year, leading to JKS and the Cal offense getting lost in the sauce again to fall well behind to an average UNLV squad, and prompting the change.
Which makes sense. It’s his first time calling plays at the collegiate level!
So there’s the bad part of this decision: Tosh Lupoi & Ron Rivera agreed on a rookie play-caller to lead Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele in a critical sophomore season. It backfired tremendously, to the point that they are having to ditch that decision mid-season to prevent an already depressing season from entering catastrophic territory.
There’s the good part of this decision: Although it took maybe one game too long, they owned up and pivoted to someone who has more experience under his belt. This is the most proactive Cal has ever been in-season, as it’s clear university leadership and donors were beyond frustrated at the outcomes they were seeing on the offensive side of the football. So it’s nice to see the program is not choosing to stand still when previous iterations waited for the bottom to drop out before making a move, giving the team a chance to save 2026.
And there’s the ugly part of Cal demoting their offensive coordinator after five games. You have to feel bad for Somerville, who was given an incredible opportunity so early on in his career. But unfortunately, he just looked like he wasn’t ready, and it was holding back the team, their star quarterback, and the portal transfers they brought in. The offense had careened into “worst in Power 4” level, and now they must play catch up as quickly as possible.
McCann did show promise. He came in and produced several sustained scoring drives with QB2, RB3, a touchdown for a RB4, sustained offense with a wide receiver converted to a running back, and wide receivers who looked far more comfortable with their drops. This is easily better production for a team that was getting nothing from this unit in the prior weeks. So there is hope once Sagapolutele and Adam Mohammed return from injury that the offense will at least have the potential to produce.
Cal had high expectations for 2026. Cal can only hope that McCann is ready for the weeks ahead with the season hanging in the balance.
Godspeed, Coach McCann.
It’s so funny how everybody assumed it was Rolovich who “took over”. From “Give Ron the keys,” to thinking JKS was the next coming of Jared Goff, to believing all of Lupoi’s hype about hiring his NFL buddies, it is fascinating, the idolatry shown by fans, esp. the tendency of Cal fans to think some single guru or another has our success recipe tucked neatly into his back pocket, ready to pull it out and implement it at the necessary moment. I remember how so many thought success relied on Jake Spavital (yeah, the guy who took forever to install a future Heisman winner at qb, in favor of Sam “I’ve hardly ever done this before” Jackson V and the courageous but limited Ben Finley), talking as if this guy were the next coming of Don Coryell. Anyway, I hope Pat McCann is allowed to develop this offense for the remainder of this season. Go with the hot hand, I say.