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The gang is getting back together, but this time they are doing so on the shores of the San Francisco Bay, just east of Downtown Berkeley.
Former Husky defensive coordinator plucked the Steve Sarkisian coaching tree this morning by hiring current UCLA Bruins and former UW quarterback coach Marques Tuiasosopo to fill the same role for the California Golden Bears.
SOURCE: #UCLA QB coach/#UDUB great Marques Tuiasosopo is expected to become #Cal's new QB coach.. 1st reported by Bruin Report Online.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 21, 2017
Tui leaves UCLA after serving just one season under head coach Jim Mora and ex-offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu. Polamalu was fired after one ineffectual season in Westwood and replaced by Jedd Fisch. Fisch promptly began the makeover of his staff by firing Adrian Klemm and, apparently, by making Tui available to the open market.
Landing at Cal is a good resolution for a QB coach who has earned decidedly mixed grades at his last two stops (USC and UCLA). While with the Trojans (where he served as TE coach and associate head coach), Tui had some success in an offense led by QB Cody Kessler, but did not much of an impact on the TE position or leave 5-star phenom Max Browne in a position to succeed once handed the reigns. With the Bruins, Tui struggled to get much productivity out of his position group even before star QB Josh Rosen went down with a season-ending injury.
With the Bears, Tui will inherent a passing game that has some bright young talent in the receiving ranks with sophomore WRs Melquise Stovall and Demetrius Robertson. However, he’ll be starting from scratch within the confines of a new offense that lacks a tight end and will be unveiling a new starting QB from a less-than-certain bunch including Ross Bowers, Chase Forrest and Max Gilliam.
This assignment will be critical to Tui if he is to continue to be perceived as a future head coaching candidate. Should he have success in helping to convert the Bear Raid into something a bit more balanced but equally as explosive, he will be looking at offensive coordinator opportunities in the near future. Fail in doing so and he will have a resume that features, at best, a lack of meaningful impact in his last three stops.