Huskies add prime recruiter, lose QB

Steve Sarkisian’s best recruiting job this offseason won’t be on any prospective player.

Instead, it will be the job he did to persuade Tosh Lupoi to leave everything he knows to join the Washington coaching staff.

Sarkisian announced Monday that he had hired Lupoi away from Cal, Lupoi’s alma mater, to become the Huskies’ defensive line coach and defensive run-game coordinator.

“Coach Lupoi is a terrific young coach and a dynamic recruiter,” Sarkisian said in a press release. “He will have an immediate impact with our team both on the field and in recruiting.”

Meanwhile, the school released reserve quarterback Nick Montana from his scholarship agreement, and the Huskies are reportedly losing offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier.

Lupoi, 30, is a renowned recruiter. Young, energetic and with skill at using social media, Lupoi has helped build monster recruiting classes for the Bears.

This year, based on commitments, Cal has the 10th-rated recruiting class in the country, according to Rivals.com, while Scout.com rates it 12th-best.

He was Cal’s main recruiter for its top targets.

ESPN West Coast recruiting editor Greg Biggins said he thinks Lupoi’s success is two-pronged.

“Number one, he’s young and has a ton of energy,” Biggins said. “He knows how to relate to the players. He talks like them. They see him as a friend. And number two, he does a great job of getting on guys early. He’s able to build relationships for more than a year with them. Like this class, he was in on those guys well over a year ago.”

Lupoi was named Rivals.com recruiter of the year in 2010.

And with the announcement of his hiring, Twitter was buzzing that several of Cal’s top commitments were having second thoughts.

One of those commitments was Shaquille Thompson, from Sacramento’s Grant High School. The top safety prospect, he traveled to Cal and Washington a week ago, but several recruiting sites interviewed him Monday and he said his decision is not final.

“The impact this hire could have on two programs, it’s definitely huge,” Biggins said.

Lupoi played at Cal from 2000-05, then was a graduate assistant from 2006-07. When he was promoted in 2008 he became the youngest full-tine coach (26) in school history.

Sources in the UW athletic department said Lupoi was one of Sarkisian’s most coveted coaching targets.

Lupoi was earning $164,000 per year with Cal. Two recruiting sites wrote that Washington would pay Lupoi $500,000 per year.

“I think it was like Albert Pujols’ situation,” said Biggins of the recent free-agent baseball signing.

NUSSMEIER LEAVING

While Sarkisian added Lupoi, it appears he will have to add a coach on offense. Multiple reports said Nussmeier will become Alabama’s offensive coordinator.

Sarkisian confirmed last week that Nussmeier interviewed for the job. Multiple outlets reported Monday that Nussmeier was the choice to replace Jim McElwain, who become Colorado State’s coach.

Though Sarkisian calls the plays, he has said that Nussmeier’s work with quarterback Keith Price was vital in propelling the sophomore to his record-setting season.

MONTANA OUT

One of Nussmeier’s pupils is also leaving.

The school announced late Monday that redshirt freshman quarterback Montana had asked for and was granted his release from the Huskies so he can transfer to another school.

With Price firmly ensconced as the starting quarterback and heralded recruits Cyler Miles and Jeff Lindquist set to join the team, the window for playing time got very small for Montana, who was a prized recruit out of Oak Christian High School in California.

Montana, the son of Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana, played in six games, including one start at Oregon State. He threw for 226 yards on 24-for-42 passing with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

ESPN reported that Montana is looking at two junior colleges – Blinn Junior College in Texas and El Camino Community College in California.

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports