Former Browns coach taking over as Cal Bears head coach, according to reports

Not the head coaching news that some Cleveland Browns fans want to hear, but college head coaching news tied to the team’s history is the news nonetheless.

College football has been a little bit of the wild west over the last month or so. The Lane Kiffin drama with Ole Miss and LSU was the highest-profile one, following Brian Kelly’s departure from LSU and James Franklin being let go at Penn State. With Kiffin now at LSU and Franklin finding work at Virginia Tech, the musical chairs are moving fast in college.

The Nittany Lions lost their top candidate to BYU, while the Cal Bears are reportedly hiring Oregon Ducks’ DC Tosh Lupoi to take over their program. If that name sounds familiar, congratulations, you are either a very dedicated Browns fan and/or an Oregon fan.

Lupoi was the defensive line coach in Cleveland for one season under HC Freddie Kitchens after spending a decade in the college ranks, including as Alabama’s defensive coordinator in 2017 and 2018. With the Browns, Lupoi coached DE Myles Garrett after Greg Williams limited the star defender’s move set. Lupoi gave the “coach speak” answer to my question back in 2019, but talked about wanting to individualize things for each player:

Lupoi stayed at the NFL level for two more seasons before taking over as DC with the Ducks in 2022.

There are a number of former Cleveland coaches at the college level, including Kitchens (UNC) and Rob Chudzinski (Boston College). Given the difficulties involved with NIL and the transfer portal, the work of a college coach is far more encompassing and 365 days a year than ever before. It will be interesting if more coaches follow Jeff Hafley’s lead, leaving higher college positions (in Hafley’s case, HC at BC) for lower positions in the NFL (DC with the Green Bay Packers).

Once a Brown, always a Brown (sort of). DBN wishes Lupoi luck in his new position with the Cal Bears.