Cal's defensive coordinator is a former USC Trojans linebacker

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The first defense that the UCLA Bruins face this season will be led by defensive coordinator Michael Hutchings, who played and began his coaching career with the USC Trojans.

Hutchings played with USC from 2013-2016, appearing in 52 games. After his playing days ended, Hutchings joined the Trojans’ coaching staff as a graduate assistant and then as a defensive quality control analyst in 2020.

Oregon then added Hutchings in 2021, with the San Francisco native spending time with Western Kentucky and then the Minnesota Vikings before being hired this offseason by Cal as their defensive coordinator. 

While Hutchings holds the defensive coordinator title, Tosh Lupoi’s show. Lupoi was Oregon’s defensive coordinator from 2022-2025. Last year, Lupoi relied primarily on five defensive back looks with the Ducks, meaning that Week 1 will be a chance for the Bruins to prove themselves on the ground.

USA TODAY writer Marcus D. Smith is a believer of the Cal defense heading into the 2026 season.

“Not only does Lupoi bring his NFL experience, but his coaching staff does, too. Lupoi knows how important a strong coaching staff is to a winning culture and program. So he surrounded his players with coaches who've been at the highest level,” Lupoi said. “Lupoi left Oregon and took four players with him: defensive back Kingston Lopa, inside linebacker Kamar Mothudi, defensive lineman Jericho Johnson and wide receiver Cooper Perry.”

Cal, like UCLA, landed an impressive transfer portal haul this offseason under their first-year head coach. Saturday marks the first of four-straight years of Cal-UCLA, meaning that Lupoi and Chesney will be seeing plenty of each other to begin their new tenures.

This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Cal's defensive coordinator is a former USC Trojans linebacker

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