Marques Tuiasosopo is in his fourth season at Cal and his second as tight ends coach in 2020 after a successful first campaign in the role in 2019 when.the Golden Bears posted their second consecutive winning record and made a bowl appearance for the second straight season for the first time since 2008 and 2009.
A trio of Cal tight ends – Gavin Reinwald (14-146-1), Jake Tonges (13-262-1TD) and Collin Moore (2-11-1TD) – that are all slated to return to the Bears in 2020 combined for 28 receptions, 419 yards receiving and four touchdown grabs last season while also helping to pave the way for Christopher Brown Jr.'s 914 yards on the ground. Tonges' 20.2 yards per reception was a team high and he also had Cal's longest play from the line of scrimmage in 2019 on a 60-yard touchdown catch at Ole Miss. Notably, the Bears were quite secure with the football to the tune of ranking tied for third in the Pac-12 and tied for 14th nationally with a school-record-low 13 turnovers.
When Tuiasosopo came to Cal as part of head coach Justin Wilcox's first staff in 2017 there were no tight ends on the Bears' roster after the position had been eliminated in the offenses of previous head coach Sonny Dykes. But the position group has returned under Wilcox and is expected to continue to become more prominent in 2020 under the direction of first-year offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who has heavily used the position as part of his offenses during more than two decades of coaching in the NFL and collegiate ranks.Â
The former college and NFL quarterback spent his first two seasons at Cal in 2017 and 2018 coaching the team's signal-callers while serving as the team's passing game coordinator and recruiting coordinator. Tuiasosopo worked with an inherited group of young and inexperienced quarterbacks that had no starts and little experience between them upon his arrival after the departures of three-year starter Jared Goff (2013-15) and graduate transfer starter Davis Webb (2016). Ross Bowers started the first 12 games of his collegiate career as a 2017 junior and threw for 3039 yards to rank sixth on Cal's all-time single-season list while his 253.2 passing yards were fourth in the conference but after also starting the 2018 season opener fell behind current starter Chase Garbers and Brandon McIlwain on the depth chart with the trio combining for 2421 yards in the air and 16 touchdowns in the air while rushing for another 816 yards and six scores.
Prior to his arrival at Cal, Tuiasosopo spent the 2016 campaign as the passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach at UCLA in 2016 and oversaw the development of 2018 NFL Draft first-round pick Josh Rosen with the Bruins’ passing offense ranking No. 19 nationally (295.6 ypg) despite Rosen missing six of the Bruins' 12 games due to injury. Tuiasosopo first joined the UCLA staff as an intern in the football office in 2011 before being elevated to full-time quarterbacks coach for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. In 2012, he served as UCLA’s tight ends coach for a squad that finished 9-5 overall and played in the Holiday Bowl.
Tuiasosopo returned to his alma mater Washington to coach quarterbacks in 2013 and by the end of the season was the interim head coach for the Huskies’ victory over BYU in the Fight Hunger Bowl. Washington ranked 16th nationally in completion percentage (65.4%) while senior quarterback Keith Price ended his career as the Huskies’ all-time leader in several categories including completion percentage (64.0%), passing efficiency (143.2) and touchdown passes (75).
In between his two stints at UCLA, he spent two seasons as the associate head coach offense and tight ends coach at USC, where he was named the Pac-12 Recruiter of the Year by Scout.com in February of 2015 after helping the Trojans haul in the nation’s top recruiting class that year according to the organization.
The two offenses Tuiasosopo worked with at USC in 2014 and 2015 were efficient and also took excellent care of the football.
USC finished 9-4 overall including a Holiday Bowl victory over Nebraska in his first season with the Trojans in 2014, producing the nation’s top completion percentage (69.1%), ranking second in fewest turnovers lost (12) and fourth in passing efficiency (165.35), while throwing only five interceptions to tie for the sixth-lowest total in the country. An 8-6 USC team that reached the Holiday Bowl for a second consecutive season in 2015 ranked among the nation’s top 20 in fewest turnovers lost (T4th, 12), fewest fumbles lost (T9th, 5), completion percentage (11th, 66.7%), fewest passes intercepted (T11th, 7) and team passing efficiency (20th, 153.60).
Prior to his coaching career, Tuiasosopo played for eight seasons in the NFL with Oakland (2001-06, 2008) and the New York Jets (2007). He was drafted in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Raiders following a brilliant four-year playing career for the Huskies (1997-2000).
Tuiasosopo finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting as a 2000 senior while also earning Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and Rose Bowl MVP honors. The two-time UW captain (1999-2000) established the school’s career total offense record (7374) as he passed for 5879 yards and 33 touchdowns while rushing for another 1495 yards with 21 TDs. In a 1999 victory over Stanford during his 1999 junior season, he became the first NCAA Division I player to pass for at least 300 yards and rush for at least 200 yards in the same game as he combined for a school-record 509 total yards (302 pass, 207 rush). The Huskies also reached bowls in each of his first three seasons (1997 Aloha Bowl, 1998 Oahu Bowl, 1999 Holiday Bowl).
After Tuiasosopo’s playing career ended following the 2008 NFL season, he spent the 2009 and 2010 football campaigns as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at his alma mater Washington, where he earned his business degree from in 2001.
The former NFL player and collegiate standout was honored for his legendary status in the game when he was enshrined into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame in January of 2019.
Tuiasosopo was a two-sport prep standout who starred in both football and baseball at Woodinville High School. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1997 MLB Draft but chose to play collegiate football. He comes from an incredible athletic lineage with many collegiate and professional athletes in his family including Cal Athletic Hall of Famer and All-American fullback Johnny Olszewski (1950-52), who was the No. 4 overall selection by the Chicago Cardinals in the 1953 NFL Draft and spent 10 seasons in the NFL with Chicago (1953-57), Washington (1958-60), Detroit (1961) and Denver (1962). His uncle, Faasamala Tagaloa, was a two-year letterwinner as a wide receiver at Cal (1988-89) while his father, Manu Tuiasosopo, played defensive line at UCLA (1975-78) before embarking on an eight-year NFL career with Seattle (1979-83) and San Francisco (1984-86). Manu is also was enshrined into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2018.
Tuiasosopo and his wife, Lisa, a former volleyball player at North Carolina, have two sons, Brayden and Bryce, and a daughter, Kylie.
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Marques Tuiasosopo File
Birthdate:Â March 22, 1979
Hometown:Â Woodinville, WA
High School: Woodinville HS
College: Washington, 2001, Bachelor’s in Business
Family: Wife, Lisa; Sons, Brayden and Bryce; Daughter, Kylie
Pronunciation: marcus too-ee-AH-suh-SO-po
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Coaching History
*Season: Team – Position (Postseason)
2009: Washington – Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
2010: Washington – Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach (Holiday Bowl)
^2011: UCLA – Intern/Quarterbacks (Fight Hunger Bowl)
2012: UCLA – Tight Ends (Holiday Bowl)
+2013: Washington – Quarterbacks/Interim Head Coach (Fight Hunger Bowl)
2014: USC – Associate Head Coach Offense/Tight Ends (Holiday Bowl)
2015: USC – Associate Head Coach Offense/Tight Ends (Holiday Bowl)
2016: UCLA – Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2017: Cal – Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Recruiting Coordinator
2018: Cal – Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Recruiting Coordinator (Cheez-It Bowl)
2019: Cal – Tight Ends (Redbox Bowl)
2020: Cal – Tight Ends
*Season in which bowl game was played; ^Elevated to quarterbacks coach for Fight Hunger Bowl; +Elevated to interim head coach for Fight Hunger Bowl
Last Updated
August 2, 2020
