Justin Wilcox heading to USC; Tosh Lupoi off Washington’s staff

One of two key defensive assistants on Steve Sarkisian’s staff at Washington will be joining the head coach at USC.

Multiple reports have said that Justin Wilcox is expected to be announced as USC’s next defensive coordinator. Wilcox served as defensive coordinator for the Huskies the past two seasons following stints as the defensive coordinator at Tennessee and Boise State. Wilcox has long been expected to join Sark at USC; his expensive buyout was the obstacle keeping him from leaving Seattle for LA.

The Seattle Times’ Adam Jude says Wilcox signed a “mutual termination agreement” with Washington and that no money changed hands between UW and USC.

The situation with Tosh Lupoi is an interesting one. Lupoi was a defensive line coach at Washington and considered to be one of the best recruiters in the country. He was expected to join Sark at USC, but that plan was abandoned after Lupoi was implicated in a recruiting scandal.

Jude reports that Lupoi has “been reassigned to other duties within the athletic dept.” Jude says the amount of money Washington would have to pay Lupoi for terminating him without cause is $700,000, but that figures cuts in half if he is let go between Jan. 14, 2014-Feb 2015.

We imagine Lupoi will be punished by the NCAA, which would probably keep him out of top coaching jobs for a year or two. Still, between Wilcox, Marques Tuiasosopo and more, Sarkisian has done a good job of keeping his staff together.