Cal was one of the biggest winners during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl the weekend before last, landing verbal commitments from several top-flight recruits.
Unfortunately for the Bears, one of the men responsible for that recruiting success has taken his leave of the program. The question is, will 2012 commitments do the same?
Washington announced in a press release Monday afternoon that Tosh Lupoi has left Cal to become the Huskies’ defensive line coach and defensive run game coordinator. Lupoi had been at Cal for the past four seasons, and is widely regarded as one of the top recruiters on the West Coast.
In 2010, Lupoi was named by Rivals.com as its Recruiter of the Year after Cal signed the No. 11 class of the country. This move comes a little over two weeks before National Signing Day.
As far as this year’s class is concerned, there’s already at least one Cal verbal who is wavering on his commitment.
“I have a lot of thinking to do,” Shaq Thompson tweeted shortly after the announcement was made. Thompson, a safety from Sacramento, is the No. 7 player in the country according to Rivals and was one of the players who committed to Cal at the Army bowl game.
On the other hand, another 2012 verbal took to Twitter to reaffirm his commitment to the Bears.
“Tosh leaving has no affect on my recruitment. I’m still solid with Cal,” Bryce Treggs, a four-star player, wrote. “No disrespect to Coach Lupoi though. He was a great coach and a even better person. ...
“Cal’s ranking as the #1 public university in the world can’t leave and go to another school.”
(Photo credit: Cal athletics)