Cal announces four new coach additions from Oregon for Tosh Lupoi's staff
Tosh Lupoi continues to fill out his first staff at Cal while he finishes his final season at Oregon. Whenever the Ducks’ College Football Playoff run comes to an end, a few more staff members will be moving to the Bay Area from Eugene. The Bears announced four new additions to the staff with all four coaches coming to Cal from Oregon.
Lupoi has tapped into his pipeline to add to Cal’s staff as he takes over as head coach heading into 2026. The latest group has worked closely with Lupoi over the last few years with a couple of them having connections back to the Bears.
Oregon analyst Zach Tinker joining Bears as special teams coordinator
Announced earlier in the day Saturday, Zach Tinker will take over as Cal’s special teams coordinator. The Oregon special teams analyst has a long history of coaching in the Pacific Northwest. He heads to Cal with head coaching experience after serving as head coach at Division II South Dakota Mines.
Tinker has worked at several smaller schools throughout the region, but most recently has spent time at the Power Four level. That included a brief stop at Cal as a quality control assistant during the 2023 season. He helped aid with the Bears’ special teams unit during that season.
He had two separate stints at Oregon including first working as a quality control coach with the Ducks in 2022. Most recently he was an analyst for the special teams unit in Eugene. A Western Washington alum, Tinker has been a coach for 27 seasons.
During his last stop at Cal, the new special teams coordinator worked with punter Lachlan Wilson when he finished No. 23 in the nation in punting average.
Darrion Daniels to coach Cal defensive line
The defensive line will be a focus under Lupoi as he takes over the Bears. He will bring in a trusted coach to lead that group with Darrion Daniels being tabbed Cal’s new defensive line coach and pass rush specialist on Saturday night.
Daniels, a Texas native, has spent the last two seasons as a defensive analyst with the Ducks. The former Nebraska and Oklahoma State defensive lineman is still young in his coaching career but has quickly made his way through the ranks.
Steve Haunga to coach Cal tight ends
Like Tinker, Steve Haunga will be returning to Cal after time away. He was most recently an offensive analyst at Oregon for four seasons beginning in 2022. He will also be in charge of the run game with the Bears working under offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville. Haunga has been well traveled throughout his coaching career.
He previously worked his way up from being a high school coach in Idaho and strength staff intern at both Boise State and Cal to a full-time position coach now with the Bears. He made the transition from being a strength coach to on-field assistant at Tulsa before moving on to Auburn and North Texas.
He worked closely with several top tight ends during his time with the Ducks including all-conference player Terrance Ferguson. This season Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq was named the Big Ten Tight End of the Year. He played at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita and Arkansas State.
Connor Boyd to coach Cal safeties
Like the others on the list, new Cal safeties coach Connor Boyd has taken a unique path to the Bears. He was a student assistant at Alabama before moving on to Jacksonville State where he as a graduate assistant. He has been on staff at Power Four programs prior to his time at Oregon.
Boyd served as a graduate assistant at Colorado in 2021 and was a volunteer assistant at Tennessee in 2020 where he worked with outside linebackers. His time alongside Lupoi at Oregon began in 2022 when Dan Lanning arrived.
He will aid new defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator Da’Von Brown with the Cal secondary in his new role. All four moves announced Saturday continue a youth movement in Berkeley under Lupoi. Most of the new members of the staff that have been announced are stepping into their first full-time coaching positions with the Bears.
Lupoi has now announced eight of his assistants at Cal with the latest four additions. That includes defensive coordinator Michael Hutchings plus Somerville (OC), Brown (co-DC/DBs) and Keith Bhonapha (RBs).
