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Alabama DC Tosh Lupoi identifies biggest challenges of becoming play-caller
By Andrew Olson
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Tosh Lupoi’s value to a coaching staff has long been established. Throughout his coaching career, Lupoi has been regarded as one of the best recruiters in the country.
Lupoi first joined Nick Saban’s staff as a defensive analyst about five years ago. It didn’t take long for him to take on more responsibilities and earn an on-field coaching spot. After the 2017 season, Saban promoted Lupoi to defensive coordinator which gives him a big new responsibility: calling the defensive plays.
At Saturday’s Alabama Media Day, Lupoi was asked about the challenges of being a first-time play-caller.
“You have to process the information quicker,” Lupoi said of being a coordinator. “You have to do it as fast as possible and react to put the guys in the best possible position.”
He explained that learning the Xs and Os of the coverage scheme has been a multi-year process.
“It’s grown on me and something I take a lot of pride in, knowing something that 5 or 10 years ago wasn’t the strength of my knowledge of the game,” Lupoi said.
If Lupoi displays a strong understanding of coverages and calling plays, climbing the next step on the coaching ladder may not be far off.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
