Rivals ranked their Top 25 recruiters for the Class of 2010 this week and Cal defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi was named Recruiter of the Year. Not too shabby for a guy in his second year on the job. Here’s some of what Rivals had to say about Lupoi, a De La Salle graduate who played defensive line for parts of five injury-marred seasons for the Bears from 2001-20005:
The numbers on Lupoi’s resume from this recruiting season speak for themselves – two five-star players and four four-star players. While that matches what others on this list accomplished, what’s more impressive about Lupoi’s results is his haul came from five states…Lupoi got several national prospects to take a long look at Cal, and many of them are moving across the country to Berkeley.
So how does the youngest full-time coach in the Pac-10 do it? Is he one of the few people on the recruiting trail who knows how to use Twitter? Does he regale recruits with stories from the Insight, Holiday, and Las Vegas Bowls? Is it just hard to say no to a dude named Tosh?
Chris McCain, one of Lupoi’s big gets, described Tosh as “down to earth and cool” to SI.com. “Even though I was committed to Oregon, he stuck with me,” McCain said. “He was still close with me. He told me I always had a home there. I really respected the dude. He’s real young, too, and I can relate to him.”
Lupoi told CalBears.com that part of his success stems from knowing who to target.
“If you’re promoting a hot product you have the ability to pass others up quickly,” he said.
Poinsettia Bowl appearance — so hot right now. No, really, Tosh. How do you do it?