Tosh Lupoi ruins Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele in disastrous year at Cal - College Sports Wire
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele came to Berkeley as a highly-touted recruit and a big prize for the California Golden Bears. He played well enough in his freshman season to be seen as a player Cal had to hang onto for 2026. General manager Ron Rivera and new coach Tosh Lupoi were able to retain him. Everything seemed to be in place for a big year - if not for the team, surely for the signal-caller with obvious arm talent and NFL potential. Yet, here we are, one month into the season, and Sagapolutele is a mess. Cal's offense scored only three points (the defense scored the Bears' only touchdown) in a 24-10 home loss to a not-very-good Clemson team. This is an absolute disaster, and it could have been prevented.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele didn't have a spectacular 2025 season at Cal, but he was solid and certainly showed that as an underclassman, there was plenty of room for him to grow into an even better and more special quarterback in Berkeley. Cal beat SMU 38-35 to knock the Mustangs out of the ACC Championship Game. Cal scored 34 on the road at Virginia Tech, 29 on the road in a win at Louisville, 28 in a road win at Boston College, and 31 in the Hawaii Bowl. Sagapolutele, with another year of seasoning, figured to be able to build on those performances and - at worst - maintain that level of scoring production.
Cal's defense scored a touchdown for an early 7-0 Golden Bear lead over Clemson on Friday night in Berkeley. It would be the only touchdown Cal scored all night long. Clemson quarterback Tait Reynolds isn't anywhere near as talented as Sagapolutele, and yet Clemson walked away with the win because Sagapolutele couldn't do anything. He threw for 119 yards, his lowest total in 17 career starts, and tossed two interceptions. This was and is an embarrassment for Cal and head coach Tosh Lupoi.
The extra sad part of all this is that Cal's defense was very, very good against Clemson. Reynolds threw for only 108 yards and committed two turnovers, one of them being the play (a fumble return) on which Cal scored its defensive touchdown. Clemson's offense scored only one touchdown in the game's first 57 minutes, the other one being a punt return. Clemson's second offensive touchdown wasn't scored until there were just three minutes left in regulation. Cal has no business losing home games in which its defense plays above-average football, and yet here we are.
Cal, it turns out, stepped into a pothole with its offensive coordinator hire. Lupoi, a first-year head coach, obviously should have brought aboard someone with extensive college football play-calling experience, but he didn't. He chose Jordan Somerville, a 30-year-old with QB coaching experience in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as Sagapolutele's play-caller. Lupoi obviously saw potential there, but Lupoi failed to realize the importance of having a proven play-caller and a steady hand to protect his (and Rivera's) investment in Sagapolutele. It is hard to understand why Cal didn't and couldn't get an experienced play-caller with a gleaming track record, and now the Bears are paying a steep price. So is Sagapolutele.
The former NFL head coach who is now Cal's general manager is the man who hired Tosh Lupoi as head coach. Surely there had to be a discussion between Ron Rivera and Lupoi about the offensive coordinator hire. Rivera never should have green-lit the Jordan Somerville hire and should have instead insisted on an established, respected play-caller. Rivera not showing leadership here is as big a problem as Lupoi's own misguided decision at the offensive coordinator spot.
It is mind-blowing to sit here and realize how important Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was to Cal football. This was a major investment, a foundational centerpiece player in the program, someone who needed to be put in the absolute best position to succeed. JKS is the kind of player who needs to be invested in at a level which makes sure he has everything he requires to thrive. Yet, the general manager and head coach at Cal both made incredibly shortsighted moves which have left Sagapolutele's college career in tatters. How can well-compensated professionals - in the front office and on the coaching staff - not have any clue about what they are doing with an obviously talented quarterback prospect? It has to make everyone in Berkeley who cares about football absolutely furious.
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