Cal hired Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi as the Bears' next head coach Thursday.
"We couldn't be more thrilled to welcome Tosh and his family back home to Berkeley as our head football coach," general manager Ron Rivera said in a statement Thursday night. "Tosh is a true Golden Bear, and he understands and embraces the challenges and privileges of being a Cal student-athlete. His strong character, tireless work ethic, coaching acumen and recruiting talents all make him the perfect fit to lead us into the next great chapter of Cal football."
Lupoi agreed to a five-year deal with the Bears, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel.
After Justin Wilcox was fired as the program's head coach following a 48-55 record over nine seasons, Lupoi quickly became the favorite to land the job. Several former high-profile players advocated publicly -- as well as privately -- to Cal general manager Ron Rivera for Lupoi to get the position.
Lupoi played at Cal from 2000 to 2005 before starting his coaching career with the Bears under head coach Jeff Tedford in 2008. Lupoi was a defensive line coach at Berkeley through 2011 and developed a reputation there as an elite recruiter. The 44-year-old is also from the Bay Area, having attended high school powerhouse De La Salle.
After a one-year stint at Washington as a defensive line coach in 2012, Lupoi spent the next five years at Alabama as an analyst, outside linebackers coach and defensive coordinator in 2018.
Lupoi then spent three years as a defensive line coach in the NFL for three separate teams before landing at Oregon in 2022 as the defensive coordinator under Dan Lanning.
In each of the past three seasons, Lupoi has led the Ducks' defense to a top-25 unit. Earlier this week, Lanning confirmed that Lupoi and offensive coordinator Will Stein, who will be Kentucky's new head coach, will remain in their coordinator roles throughout the Ducks' playoff run before officially leaving for their new jobs.
The Golden Bears have not had a winning record in conference play since Tedford was there in 2009.