The focus of the UW Huskies’ search for a new head coach is reportedly set on Arizona’s Jedd Fisch, with ESPN college football senior writer Pete Thamel sharing on social media Sunday afternoon that Fisch has “emerged as Washington’s top target.”
Tumultuous week leaves UW Huskies football trying to rebuild
The 47-year-old Fisch has been a popular name for the UW vacancy ever since Kalen DeBoer left Friday to become Alabama’s head coach just four days after coaching the Huskies in a College Football Playoff National Championship loss to Michigan. Fisch led the Wildcats to a 10-3 record in 2023, his third year as Arizona head coach.
Thamel added that Fisch is “the only candidate Washington officials have engaged with after their initial phone calls.”
Jason Scheer of 247Sports’ WildcatAuthority.com also reported Sunday that Fisch is “likely headed to Washington” after first interviewing with the school on Saturday afternoon.
Matt Zenitz, national college football reporter for 247Sports, has reported that Fisch is “telling people at Arizona that he’s accepting the head coaching job at Washington,” and that Arizona has both a staff meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. and a team meeting set for a half-hour later.
Scheer posted on social media that it is expected Fisch will inform players at the team meeting that he is leaving for UW.
The other side: Arizona Sports on Fisch to UW rumors
Though Fisch is just 17-22 since arriving at Arizona in 2021, he has completely turned around a program that went 0-5 in 2020 and was on a 12-game losing streak at the time of his hire. The Wildcats finished as the No. 11 team in the final Associated Press poll for the 2023 season after capping their campaign with a 38-24 win over then-No. 12 Oklahoma on Dec. 28 in the Alamo Bowl.
Arizona finished third in the Pac-12 with a 7-2 conference record in 2023. It won 10 games overall for just the fourth time in program history and first time since 2014, and it ended the season on a seven-game winning streak, the Wildcats’ longest since 1998. The No. 11 ranking in the AP poll was also their highest finish in the same time period.
U of A will join the Big 12 this year, while Washington is headed to the Big Ten.
Fisch may be familiar to die-hard Seattle football fans, having spent the 2010 season as Seahawks quarterbacks coach under Pete Carroll. His offensive coordinator at Arizona is Brennan Carroll, Pete Carroll’s son.
Attention on Fisch intensified after Kansas head coach Lance Leipold, another name rumored to be of interest for UW, indicated Sunday that he is staying with the Jayhawks.
Ryan Grubb, Washington’s offensive coordinator the past two years under DeBoer and another name many expected to be up for the Huskies’ job, shared on social media Saturday that he would not be the new UW head coach even though he “wanted to be.” Grubb is expected to be DeBoer’s OC at Alabama.
A big question that would follow if UW hires Fisch will be about the Huskies’ quarterback situation. Heisman Trophy runner-up Michael Penix Jr. is headed to the NFL Draft, and both recent Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers and former four-star recruit Austin Mack, who enrolled at UW last spring, stated their intentions to enter the transfer portal following DeBoer’s departure. Jayden de Laura, Fisch’s QB at Arizona and the former starter at WSU, could become a transfer target for Huskies.
Fisch, who comes from an offensive background, has a decorated résumé. He was offensive coordinator and had a brief stint as interim coach at UCLA in 2017, then spent three years in the NFL – first as senior offensive assistant and assistant coordinator/offense with the Los Angeles Rams (2018-19), then as QBs coach for Bill Belichick in New England (2020). He was also at the University of Michigan from 2015-16 under the titles of QB coach, wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator.
Insiders weigh in on Jedd Fisch and UW Huskies
Brock Huard, a former UW Huskies quarterback who is now co-host of Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk as well as a FOX college football analyst, shared his thoughts on both Fisch and the departure of DeBoer on social media after Thamel’s report.
“No one coach was gonna follow Nick Saban at Bama and fill his shoes. In DeBoer they knew they’d get his staff and whole operation,” Huard wrote. “For UW, this late in the game, they likewise need more than just an individual head coach. If it’s Fisch, I’d bet staff and many players come with him too.”
Bruce Feldman, college football insider for The Athletic, spoke to Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Friday about Fisch as a potential target for UW following DeBoer’s departure.
“I think Jedd Fisch would be a really strong candidate,” Feldman said of the UW Huskies’ vacancy. “He has done an amazing job at Arizona. They were horrific when he got there and this year just won 10 games. That’s something to do there, and they’re going to be really good next year if he stays because almost everybody is back.
“He is a guy who makes some sense on a lot of levels. He’s obviously done well on the West Coast, he’s worked in Seattle from his time under Pete Carroll, he’s coached in the Big Ten, where obviously (Washington is) going to, because he was on Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Michigan. Now, I know that Arizona has offered him a new contract and they want him there, but nothing has been finalized or finished on that front from what I’m told.”
On Saturday, it was reported that Fisch and Arizona had agreed in principle on a restructured contract, though that did not quiet the rumors that he could land in Seattle.
Kalen DeBoer emotional about leaving UW Huskies at Bama intro
