Zach Tinker

Biography

Zach Tinker is Cal's special teams coordinator, hired December 27, 2025. He worked with special teams on Oregon's staff for three of the last four seasons, serving as quality control in 2022 and analyst since 2024, with a season at Cal in 2023. Oregon teams posted a 35-5 record, won the 2024 Big Ten title, and reached the College Football Playoff twice (2024, 2025) under his tenure. Notable specialists he coached include kickers Camden Lewis and Atticus Sappington. Tinker began his 27-year coaching career with 13 seasons at four Pacific Northwest schools (1999-2011) before an eight-year stint at South Dakota Mines (2012-2019) as offensive coordinator and head coach. He returned as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Central Washington (2020-2021), where his 2021 team went 8-3 with a league title and NCAA Division II playoff appearance, averaging 44.5 points per game. His 2018 South Dakota Mines team ranked as the nation's top passing offense in Division II. As Eastern Oregon's offensive coordinator (2008-2011), he led the 2011 team to an 8-3 record, their second winning season in 82 years. Tinker began at Meridian High School (1999-2002), winning the Class 2A State Championship in 1999. He played four seasons as a defensive end at Western Washington (1995-1998), earning the team's Most Inspirational Award as a 1998 senior. Tinker holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Western Washington (1998) and a master's in teaching (2008). He and his wife Marnie