Tony Tuioti was spending some post-National Signing Day downtime with his wife, Keala, last month when the phone rang.
The voice on the other end of the line wondered if he might have any interest in coaching the defensive line at Nebraska.
Life comes at you fast when you’re a college football assistant coach.
Less than a month later, the 42-year-old is sitting in his new office on a cold Saturday morning, already headlong into getting to know his new players and a similar-but-still-new playbook, preparing for spring ball and about to go out on a house-hunting adventure with his wife, explaining to a reporter how he found himself back in Big Ten country on a coaching staff full of guys he’s never worked with directly before.
“In this profession — college football and pro football — everybody’s worked with somebody who’s worked with somebody,†he said.
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In this case, the somebodies are Husker defensive coordinator Erik Chinander and UCLA defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro.
Azzinaro and Chinander worked together at Oregon for three years — Azzinaro as the defensive line coach and Chinander as an intern (2010) and a graduate assistant (2011-12) — then moved together to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013. Their paths separated after a year there, but they’ve kept in touch. When Azzinaro became the defensive line coach at Cal in 2017, he formed a tight bond with Tuioti, who was coaching outside linebackers.
“He’s a great man and he’s been a mentor to me since we’ve been together at Cal,†Tuioti said of the veteran coach. “Just hearing from him and what he says about Erik and the type of character that he has — and also Coach Frost because they’ve been together — I felt that when I had a chance to talk to them. It’s not to say that I didn’t feel that at Cal, because (Bears head coach) Justin Wilcox is an awesome guy, but whenever you’re looking at a new program and working with a new group of guys, those are some of the things that you look for.â€
So Tuioti came to Lincoln and interviewed on Feb. 23, a Friday. He returned to California, promptly got a weekend call from Frost and returned Monday. By Tuesday morning, it was official. Wednesday, he was back in town for good. Spring ball starts Monday.
“I’m just trying to close the gap,†he said. “All these guys have been together, they know what the practice schedule is like, the flow is like. I don’t. I’ve got a general idea of what that’s like, similar things to what we did at Cal. It’s like the first day of school, everybody knows the program and I’m just trying to catch up and keep up with everybody.â€
Tuioti describes Wilcox’s 3-4 system and Chinander’s as “very similar,†so that should be a natural learning process. He’s focused on getting to know his new players.
“As I watch the Davis brothers, those guys have made a lot of plays for them last season,†he said. “Ben Stille is a good player. He was able to affect the quarterback and get some sacks. (Damion) Daniels, he’s strong now. Big wide body. Does a good job of knocking people back. I think just watching them on the tape they run to the football hard.
“When I talked to them, I said that’s the brand that we have to have. We have to have the brand that when people put on the tape, they’re going to see whatever guys are on the field run hard to the football for 60 straight minutes. When people come play us, they know they have their work cut out for them for 60 minutes, and if we go to overtime, we’ve got more in the tank than they do.â€
Tuioti said his seven kids — aged 8 to 18 — have been Googling the Husker defensive linemen and getting to know them. That’s just how the family is wired. The oldest, Teisa, plays volleyball at Hawaii-Hilo. The rest are coming to Lincoln where they, like Tony, will be part of one big Husker defensive line family.
“Those (players) know that they’re part of my family and we’re all trying to work for a common goal,†Tuioti said. “That’s what I told these boys here. I met with them here and I told them I’m very grateful for the opportunity to work with them. I really believe that, in life, just in my beliefs, that God puts is in cross-paths with each other.
“And that for the time we’re together, let’s try to do the best we can with each other.â€