The Tosh Lupoi era has gotten off to a rocky start in California, the latest example coming with the removal of a play-caller in the middle of a game.
Lupoi told reporters he took away the play-calling duties of offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville in the middle of the Golden Bears' loss to UNLV in Week 5. The change happened at halftime, as he delegated the power to passing game coordinator Pat McCann for the remainder of the second half.
"I just changed it up," Lupoi said on Tuesday, Oct. 6 to reporters. "I thought it was time."
The decision came as the offense struggled against the Rebels, trailing 24-7 at halftime of the game in Las Vegas. When
McCann stepped in, Cal was able to score, even with quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele getting taken out for a concussion, but UNLV held on for a 39-31 victory.
"Drawing up things on the sideline, getting on the iPad, maniac energy of trying to put things in, put a receiver in the backfield, run a play that we did not practice a single time for an explosive touchdown, Pat McCann dressed all that up," Lupoi said.
Cal dropped to 2-3 with the loss, as the main issue for the rough start in Lupoi's first season has been the offensive struggles, which was supposed to grow with Sagapolutele still at the helm. The quarterback has had flashes of brilliance, but doesn't looked like he has taken the next step in his evoluation as he also has thrown five interceptions so far.
Against FBS opponents, the Golden Bears are averaging 21.5 points per game, which would ranked among the worst in the country. The running game averages just 95 yard per game, sixth-worst in FBS (133rd).
A lot of the blame for the shortcomings has gone to Somerville, primairly because this is his first coordinator position of his coaching career. He joined the Golden Bears after spending three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the assistant quarterbacks coach, and before that, was an offensive analyst at Oregon.
General manager Ron Rivera backed Lupoi's decision, noting he's done it during his coaching career to make a point.
"We talk about how we want to do things. How we're going to do things, and then we didn't do them, so we most certainly had to change," Rivera said. "It just shows that you know he's looking for answers, which is great. He's trying to be aggressive in terms of finding those answers, and really just trying to show the players that he's willing to do what he needs to do to give ourselves a chance to win.
"Our initial play caller is a young play-caller, guy who's got a lot to learn still. Very good football coach. He understands the game, but he's got some things to learn."
Lupoi did not confirm if Somerville would return to calling plays for Cal, or if McCann will retain the duties. The Golden Bears face Virginia Tech at home in Week 6.
While it seems strange for a team to take away a coordinator's duties in the middle of the game, it wasn't the first instance of it happening in Week 5. Colorado State coach Jim Mora made a coaching personnel change in the loss to Oregon State, relieving defensive coordinator Ty Summers of his play-calling duties and giving it to defensive line coach Kenny McClendon. Mora said after the game, Summers left the field and he was "no longer with the program."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Cal took play-calling duties from Jordan Somerville at halftime of loss to UNLV
