New Oregon DC Lupoi is best known to Pac-12 fans as a recruiter over his 14-year career as a coach. His college tenure comprises four years at Cal, two at UW, and five at Alabama, before spending the last three seasons in the NFL. In his second-to-last year with the Tide he became the co-DC, and his final season in 2018 he was the playcalling DC. I reviewed the film on that 15-game national-title winning season.
The most immediately obvious thing from the tape is that the “Mint” front defensive structure, developed around 2014 by Alabama head coach Saban and then-DC Smart (now head coach at Georgia) as a modification of the “Tite” front that’s taken over college football, was still in place in 2018 for Lupoi to call plays within.