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Sources: Marques Tuiasosopo leaving Cal to become Rice offensive coordinator

With offensive coordinator Jerry Mack leaving to join Josh Heupel's staff in Knoxville, Mike Bloomgren has moved quickly to fill his offensive coordinator role.

Sources tell FootballScoop that Cal tight ends coach Marques Tuiasosopo is leaving Justin Wilcox's staff to become the new offensive coordinator at Rice.

Before moving to tight ends at Cal heading into the 2019 season, Tuiasosopo served as the passing game coordinator / quarterbacks coach / recruiting coordinator for the program in 2017 and 2018. At UCLA in 2016, just prior to joining the Cal staff, he also held the passing game coordinator title and worked with the quarterbacks as well.

In 2014, he joined the staff of Steve Sarkisian at USC as associate head coach / tight ends coach. He followed Sark from Washington where he served on staff as quarterbacks coach before being elevated to interim head coach for the bowl game after Sark was announced as the new head coach of the Trojans.

Tuiasosopo played his college ball at Washington, and was a second round pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. He went on to play a handful of seasons in the league with the Raiders and Jets before starting his coaching career in the strength department at his alma mater in 2009.

His appointment at Rice will mark the first venture outside of the PAC-12 as a coach, but he will be united with Mike Bloomgren, who has strong ties to the league from his time at Stanford where the two faced off a number of times on opposite sidelines.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.