Cal Hires Oregon Analyst Zach Tinker As Special Teams Coordinator
Tosh Lupoi is looking at up-and-coming Oregon assistants to fill his first coaching staff.
Cal announced a slew of assistant coach hiring on Saturday. Tosh Lupoi has gone back to his Oregon coaching days. All of these coaches are currently on the Oregon staff as analysts, which in modern college football are practically position coaches who are not allowed to recruit off-campus, but otherwise were serving in roles to help specific positions on the field.
Here’s one of the four hires:
Zach Tinker - Special Teams Coordinator
Unlike several of the new assistants hired yesterday, Zach Tinker is a well-seasoned veteran with decades of experience under his belt. His last few years have been spent as a special teams analyst at Oregon, where the Ducks have put together elite units, particularly in punt return coverage (2nd in the nation in 2025, with only four punts returned for four yards) and blocking kicks (the Ducks blocked a field goal and a punt in their Playoff win against James Madison). Kicker Atticus Sappington has made 30 of 35 field goals in his last two seasons, and the Ducks were an above-average unit in kickoffs as well.
Tinker was in charge of special teams quality control in 2023, when the Bears were a top-25 punting unit behind Lachlan Wilson Most of Tinker's time coaching since 2003 has been spent in the Northwest and Rocky Mountains, with stints in Western Washington (his alma mater), Southern Oregon, Eastern Oregon, Central Washington, and South Dakota Mines.
Welcome back to Berkeley Coach Tinker!
Here’s a current look at the announced 2026 Cal football coaching staff that has been hired to this point:
Tosh Lupoi, head coach (Oregon defensive coordinator)
Jordan Somerville, offensive coordinator (Buccaneers assistant QB coach)
Nick Rolovich, quarterbacks coach (returning)
Keith Bhonapha, running backs coach (Michigan State RB/ST coach)
Steve Haunga, tight ends coach/RGC (Oregon offensive analyst)
Michael Hutchings, defensive coordinator (Vikings safeties coach)
Da’Von Brown, defensive backs/co-DC (Western Kentucky, same roles)
Darrion Daniels, defensive line coach (Oregon defensive analyst)
Connor Boyd, safeties coach (Oregon defensive analyst)
Zach Tinker, special teams coach (Oregon special teams analyst)
Finally a competent Head Coach who understands the importance of Special Teams and makes an effort to address it rather than having multiple DB coaches.
Exciting to see the new coaching staff coming together. I'm hoping that we'll retain Famika Anae since Cal's O-line clearly improved since last year without the addition of top level talent. Anyone you want to keep or see gone of the staff that remains?