| Detroit Lions | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Offensive assistant | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1979-03-22)March 22, 1979 (age 46) Long Beach, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Woodinville (WA) | ||||||||||||
| College | Washington | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2001: 2nd round, 59th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Position | Quarterback, No. 8 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||
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Coaching | |||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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| Head coaching record | |||||||||||||
| Career | NCAA: 1–0 (1.000) | ||||||||||||
Marques Tavita Tuiasosopo (born March 22, 1979) is an Americancollege football coach and former player. He played as aquarterback for eight seasons in theNational Football League (NFL) with theOakland Raiders and theNew York Jets. Tuiasosopo playedcollege football for theWashington Huskies and was selected by the Raiders in the second round of the2001 NFL draft.
In 2013, he returned to his alma mater as the quarterbacks coach and later served as interim head coach for theFight Hunger Bowl. He also held the position of tight ends coach for theCalifornia Golden Bears.
Born inLong Beach, California, Tuiasosopo was raised inWoodinville, a suburb northeast ofSeattle. An excellent athlete, he was also a standout shortstop inbaseball atWoodinville High School. After his senior year, Tuiasosopo was selected in the 28th round of the1997MLB Draft by theMinnesota Twins, but chose to playcollege football instead. Although he played on both offense & defense in high school (option quarterback &safety), he was primarily recruited byDivision I football programs to play defense.
Tuiasosopo accepted a footballscholarship to the nearbyUniversity of Washington in Seattle, primarily because head coachJim Lambright was one of the few that granted him the opportunity to compete at quarterback, rather than just at safety.
As true freshman in1997, eighteen-year-old Tuiasosopo rose to second on the depth chart at quarterback. In the season's third week, he was called into action in a nationally televised home game againstNebraska, due to an injury to starterBrock Huard. Despite losing 27–14, Tuiasosopo was impressive against the sixth-ranked (and eventual national champion) Cornhuskers, throwing for 270 yards and two touchdowns.[1] Later in the year againstOregon, he became the Huskies' first true freshman to start a game at quarterback, throwing for 261 yards and rushing for 95, in a 31–28 loss. He also played considerably the following year for the oft-injured Huard, and was neverredshirted. Following his sophomore season in1998,Rick Neuheisel replaced Lambright as head coach and named Tuiasosopo as the starting quarterback to replace the graduating Huard. As a junior in October1999, Tuiasosopo became the first player inNCAAcollege football history to pass for over 300 yards and run for over 200 yards in a game, during a 35–30 victory over theStanford Cardinal atHusky Stadium. That year, he led the Huskies to a 6–2 conference record, finishing in second place to the Cardinal and earning the team a bid to theHoliday Bowl.
As a senior in2000, he led the Huskies to thePac-10 title and a 34–24Rose Bowl victory overDrew Brees and thePurdue Boilermakers, and was named theMVP of the game. The Huskies finished the season with an 11–1 record, ranked third in the national polls. The season included a victory over the #4Miami Hurricanes atHusky Stadium in September, the Hurricanes' only loss of the season. Tuiasosopo threw for 225 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 45 yards and another touchdown in the 34–29 win, earning national acclaim while finishing eighth inHeismanvoting.[2]
While at Washington, Tuiasosopo majored inbusiness administration.
Tuiasosopo was selected by the Raiders in the second round of the2001 NFL draft, the 59th overall pick and the fourth quarterback selected (behindMichael Vick,Drew Brees, andQuincy Carter).[3]
In the NFL, Tuiasosopo was primarily a reserve quarterback, the Raiders' backup toRich Gannon andKerry Collins. He was on the sidelines forSuper Bowl XXXVII at the conclusion of the2002 season, but did not appear in the game as his team lost 48–21. His first significant playing time came during aMonday Night Football game against theKansas City Chiefs during the2003 season, throwing for 224 yards, all in the second half, after Gannon exited the game with a shoulder injury; Gannon would spend the rest of the 2003 season on injured reserve.[4] Marques played well enough to earn his first career NFL start the following week, but struggled, throwing for just 65 yards along with an interception before leaving the game with an injury late in the first half. He did not start another game until late in the2005 season, where he again struggled losing 26–10. He was promptly demoted back to the sidelines the next week. The team finished just 4–12 in the 2005 season with primarily Collins as the starting quarterback, paving the way for the younger Tuiasosopo to receive more consideration for the job.
Tuiasosopo signed a one-year contract with theNew York Jets on March 23, 2007.[5]
A free agent in the2008 offseason, Tuiasosopo re-signed with the Raiders on May 22, on a one-year contract in his final NFL season.
Following his playing career, Tuiasosopo became an assistant strength coach in2009 at his alma mater, theUniversity of Washington. He moved toUCLA in2011, on the staff of Neuheisel, his former head coach.[6] He remained with UCLA under new head coachJim Mora as the tight ends coach in2012, then returned to Washington in2013 as quarterbacks coach under fifth-year head coachSteve Sarkisian. Upon Sarkisian's acceptance of theUSC head coaching job at the end of the regular season, Tuiasosopo was named interim head coach for Washington's bowl game.[7] Shortly after leading the Huskies to a win in theFight Hunger Bowl, Tuiasosopo left Washington to join Sarkisian's staff at USC as tight ends coach and was also given the title of associate head coach.
Following the2015 season at USC, Tuiasosopo returned to UCLA in January2016 as quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator under Mora.[8]
On January 23, 2017, Tuiasosopo was announced as the quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator for theUniversity of California, Berkeley under new head coachJustin Wilcox.[9]In2019, the program realigned the coaching staff and he began working with the tight ends.[10]
Tuiasosopo left California to become theoffensive coordinator atRice in2021.[11][12]
On February 18, 2025, theDetroit Lions hired Tuiasosopo to serve as an offensive assistant.[13]
Tuiasosopo is the son of former NFL defensive linemanManu Tuiasosopo, who played collegiately forUCLA, then professionally from 1979 to 1986 for theSeahawks and49ers, being a starter at nose tackle and winningSuper Bowl XIX. Marques' brother isfullback Zach Tuiasosopo, who played for thePhiladelphia Eagles until he was waived on July 11, 2007.[14] Zach and Marques were also teammates on the Raiders for part of a season. His youngest brother,Matt, played baseball for the Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves. Their sisterLeslie Gabriel, the eldest of the five siblings, playedvolleyball for Washington, trained with the U.S. national team, and as of 2024 was the Huskies head coach.[15] Marques' younger sister, Ashley, played outfield for theWashington softball team and helped lead the Huskies to a national championship in 2009.[16]
His wife, Lisa, is a former collegiate volleyball player and they have three children.[17]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Huskies(Pac-12 Conference)(2013) | |||||||||
| 2013 | Washington | 1–0[n 1] | 0–0[n 1] | (North)[n 1] | WFight Hunger Bowl | 25 | |||
| Washington: | 1–0 | 0–0 | |||||||
| Total: | 1–0 | ||||||||
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