Lorenzo Alexander Returns To Cal To Help Coach Edges
Tosh Lupoi is potentially building a nice Cal alum coaching tree.
The California Golden Bears have an expanded coaching staff, and it means Tosh Lupoi can get a little creative. This means he could get a few more Cal legends into the Memorial Stadium offices.
This will be Lupoiโs second coaching hire that he played with at Cal, joining assistant wide receivers coach Geoff McArthur. Alexander was one of the defensive captains of the 2004 California Golden Bears that went 10-2 and finished top ten in the nation. Alexander was one of the Cal players publicly lobbying for Lupoi to be the next head coach in Berkeley.
After his time with Cal, Alexander enjoyed a 15-year career in the NFL, playing on six NFL teams, racking up 472 tackles and 33 sacks. He earned two Pro Bowl honors and second-team All-Pro awards. In the totality of his NFL career, he didnโt just play defensive line, but also saw action at special teams, tight end, linebacker, fullback, and offensive guard, earning him his #onemangang moniker.
Since his career ended in 2019, Alexander earned his Masters from Grand Canyon University. He has worked on linebacker/defensive line skill development camps the last few years at the Apply Pressure Football Academy.
Itโll be exciting for Lupoi to hopefully build out a Cal coaching tree in the coming years. Weโre starting from the ground up in Berkeley.
Tosh Lupoi, head coach (Oregon defensive coordinator)
Jordan Somerville, offensive coordinator (Buccaneers assistant QB coach)
Nick Rolovich, quarterbacks coach (returning)
Jeff McDaniels, assistant quarterbacks (returning)
Keith Bhonapha, running backs coach (Michigan State RB/ST coach)
Pat McCann, pass game coordinator (Oregon State WR coach)
Ike Hilliard, wide receivers coach (long-time NFL WR coach)
Geoff McArthur, assistant wide receivers coach (Cal legend)
Steve Haunga, tight ends coach, run game coordinator (Oregon offensive analyst)
Mike Saffell, assistant tight ends (returning)
Famika Anae, offensive line coach (returning)
Viane Talamaivao, offensive tackles coach/RGC (Stanford assistant OL coach)
Michael Hutchings, defensive coordinator (Vikings safeties coach)
DaโVon Brown, defensive backs/co-DC (Western Kentucky, same roles)
Keith Heyward, defensive pass game coordinator (returning)
Darrion Daniels, defensive line coach (Oregon defensive analyst)
Ed McGilvra, assistant defensive line coach (Sacramento State defensive line)
Bryan Barraza, edges coach (Oregon staff)
Lorenzo Alexander, assistant edges coach (Cal legend, DE/LB skill camps)
Ryan Berry, defensive assistant (Syracuse quality control)
Bob Gregory, inside linebackers coach (returning)
Sione Taโufoโou, assistant inside linebackers (returning)
Connor Boyd, safeties coach (Oregon defensive analyst)
Duke DaRe, assistant defensive backs coach (Baylor quality control)
Zach Tinker, special teams coach (Oregon special teams analyst)
Jason Novak, head athletic performance coach (returning)
He was very popular during his time in DC. Nominated for man of the year a number of times and at least once he wore a Cal cycling jersey during the charity bike ride he organized annually. A good guy to lead our young men.
Thatโs 25 coaches. If all the players missed practice, they could scrimmage.