Cal Bears Continue to Fill Coaching Staff With Three More Hires

New Cal Bears’ head coach Justin Wilcox continues to fill his coaching staff, adding a defensive coordinator, QB coach, and DB coach.

The Cal Bears continue to fill in the gaps on their coaching staff, adding three more coaches over the past couple days. One of Cal’s priorities was to fill their staff with coaches familiar to the west coast, and they have certainly done that.

The complete overhaul of the coaching staff is almost done, with most of the high-profile jobs filled. There are still position coach jobs to be filled, including special teams, tight ends, running backs, linebackers, and defensive line. There is also a void for running game coordinator, but that could be filled by running backs coach as well.

Let’s meet the three newest Cal coaches:

Tim DeRuyter, Defensive Coordinator

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New defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter has west coast ties, being a native of Long Beach, California and playing his high school ball at powerhouse St. John Bosco High School. He played outside linebacker collegiately at Air Force, and began his coaching career there as an assistant in 1989.

DeRuyter has spent time as a defensive coordinator with Ohio, Navy, Nevada, Air Force, and Texas A&M over the past 20-plus years. He was head coach at Fresno State for the last five seasons, leading them to a 30-30 record. Fresno State began his tenure with a 20-6 record in 2012 and 2013, but limped to a 10-24 record over the past three years. He was fired during the 2016 season, when Fresno State was 1-7.

DeRuyter has a history of leading good defenses, and namely turning bad defenses into, at least, respectable defenses. He will have his work cut out for him, after Cal’s defense ranked 127th in scoring (out of 128 teams), and 125th in yardage.

Gerald Alexander, Defensive Backs Coach

The Bears’ new defensive backs coach is from Rancho Cucamonga, California and played collegiately at Boise State. He was named an All-WAC First-Team selection an astounding four times during his times with the Broncos. Cal’s new head coach Justin Wilcox was a graduate assistant with Boise State in 2002, which was Alexander’s redshirt freshman season.

Alexander was drafted in the second round of the 2007 NFL draft by the Detriot Lions and played five years in the league. He recorded four interceptions, three forced fumbles, and two sacks. After his playing career ended, he returned to Rancho Cucamonga High as an assistant coach in 2012.

From there, he became a graduate assistant with Arkansas State in 2013 before moving to the same position with Washington in 2014. He became secondary coach for Indiana State the next year before taking the same job with Montana State the next season.

Marques Tuiasosopo, Quarterbacks Coach/Passing Game Coordinator

Mar 3, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans tight ends coach Marques Tuiasosopo at spring practice at Cromwell Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Tuiasosopo, Cal’s newest quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, has spent just about his entire career on the west coast. Also a Long Beach native, he played his college ball up at Washington. As a senior in 2000, he led the Huskies to an 11-1 record, a Pac-10 title, and Rose Bowl victory while finishing eighth in Heisman voting.

He was picked by the Oakland Raiders in the second-round of the 2001 draft. He was mainly the backup quarterback there for six years before signing with the New York Jets in 2007. Tuiasosopo returned to Oakland in 2008, which would be his final year in the NFL. He played in only 13 games over his eight years in the league.

His coaching career began in 2009, when he returned to his alma mater and served as assistant strength coach for two years. He became a graduate assistant at UCLA in 2011, and moved to coaching tight ends for the Bruins in 2012. He returned to Washington again in 2013 as their QB coach, and served as interim head coach after Steve Sarkisian accepted the head coaching gig at USC. Tuiasosopo coached in the Fight Hunger Bowl, leading Washington to a 31-16 victory over BYU.

After that, he joined Sarkisian at USC as tight end coach and associate head coach. He spent two seasons with the Trojans before he returned to UCLA as QB coach and passing game coordinator. Since being drafted in 2001, Tuiasosopo has spent 15 of his 16 years either playing or coaching on the west coast.

Tuiasosopo will be tasked with coaching a group of young, inexperienced quarterbacks. Chase Forrest is the only Cal quarterback that has thrown a pass at the collegiate level, while redshirt sophomore Ross Bowers was listed as the main backup in 2016. He also has redshirt freshman Victor Viramontes and Max Gilliam to work with in 2017.

Next: Cal Hires Baldwin as Spavital's Replacement

These three join new head coach Wilcox, offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin, offensive line coach Steve Greatwood, wide receiver coach Nicholas Edwards, and strength and conditioning coach Torre Becton.

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