Cal is staring down a brutal 3-6 record as they hit their Week 10 bye, and general manager Ron Rivera isn’t sugar-coating anything about first-year head coach Tosh Lupoi, saying he “has bumped his head a lot.” The Bears are riding a three-game losing streak, taking tough losses including 31-10 against an NC State program that fired its own head coach earlier in the season. With only three games left, the path to a bowl game looks incredibly steep for Cal, requiring wins against Virginia, Stanford, and Pitt, which seems pretty unlikely given how things have unfolded this season.
Rivera’s Blunt Assessment: High Expectations, Harsh Reality
Rivera, a former NFL coach now in his first year as GM at his alma mater, laid it all out Thursday on KNBR, acknowledging the high expectations that were swirling around Lupoi’s arrival. He drew a sharp contrast to No. 8 UCLA, which is cruising at 8-0 under Bob Chesney. Rivera emphasized that UCLA brought in an experienced head coach who moved with half his playoff-bound team, while Lupoi came in as a first-time head coach, even bringing in a couple of inexperienced coordinators.
“The biggest thing I can tell you guys is, again, I know the expectations were very very high. And I know there’s that comparison to UCLA,” Rivera stated. “But the thing everybody’s got to understand is UCLA brought in a current head coach that came and brought probably half of the team that he had that went to the playoffs to begin with. Tosh came in as a first time head coach. He did bring a couple of inexperienced coordinators with him. Things didn’t work out the way we needed them to work out on offense. He has bumped his head a lot. We’ve talked a lot, tried to give him a lot of advice, point him in the right direction and, you know, some of it he’s been very receptive and other portions of it he hasn’t.”
Offensive Woes and Quarterback Carousel
The struggles on offense have been a major storyline for the Bears this season. In early October, the play-calling duties shifted, with pass game coordinator Pat McCann taking over from offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville. The quarterback situation has also been a mess. Lupoi initially worked hard to keep Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele with the Bears after being hired, but then briefly benched him. Jackson Brousseau started the loss to Wake Forest over Sagapolutele, and an ESPN report during that game even suggested a “quarterback competition moving forward.” Sagapolutele has since reclaimed the starting job, playing in Cal’s last two games.
For context, Lupoi came to Cal after serving four years as Oregon’s defensive coordinator, having spent his entire college football coaching career as an assistant. Cal hired him after a 7-6 season in 2025, which saw coach Justin Wilcox fired with one game left. Meanwhile, UCLA’s Chesney, hired from James Madison after they made the 2025 playoffs, boasted a 21-6 record there and a 44-21 record at Holy Cross, leading them to four straight FCS playoff appearances.
Looking ahead, Rivera made it clear that a turnaround is crucial. “Now it’s time. These last three games, hopefully four [with a bowl game], the trajectory has to be going north,” he urged. “We have to show that we are growing, there has been some growth and development of our players, our team, and the culture is getting stronger. Those are all things that you have to have going forward.” Cal’s next three games against Virginia, Stanford, and Pitt will reveal if they can show that vital growth and finish the season on a high note.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply