Fresh off an Alamo Bowl victory and the fourth 10-win season in program history, the Jedd Fisch era at the University of Arizona has come to an end. After three seasons in Tucson, Fisch has accepted an offer to become the next head coach at the University of Washington.
He is set to replace Kalen DeBoer, who after leading Washington to the College Football Playoff and a national championship game appearance, left Seattle to become the head coach at Alabama, following the retirement of Nick Saban. Sources, including Bruce Feldman of the Athletic, are reporting that Fisch has signed a seven-year contract, with a $7.75 million average annual salary to lead the Huskies.
The news comes 10 days after Jedd Fisch appeared on the Jim Rome Show, stating “we want to be a part of this program for a very long time…I have no interest in going anywhere. I have a lot of interest in seeing if we can get to that CFP.”
In a statement released earlier by Fisch, he wrote, “Today, I am broken hearted to leave not just Arizona, but the people who have given us so much and who believed so deeply in the magic we created.”
“I absolutely have loved my time as a Wildcat and never thought my family and I would ever leave. Unfortunately, that day has come. It was a gut-wrenching and agonizing decision”, said Fisch. “But, I am proud to leave everything in a better place than when I came. My goal was to return the pride and to make winning personal here. And, we did.”
Fisch concluded his statement, “I will always carry this time close to my heart. My family’s time in Tucson has been life changing for us all…I may be leaving U of A, but the friendships and love for this university and community will stay with me forever.”
Washington’s athletic director, Troy Dannen, posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) of his arrival at what appeared to be Fisch’s home in Tucson, adorned with a sign reading “Go Wildcats” on the front porch. The video then shows Jedd Fisch signing a document, presumably his contract, on University of Washington letterhead. In the video, Fisch can be heard saying, “Oh man, this’ll be great. I look forward to it, and I’ll give you everything I have.”
In three seasons at Arizona, Jedd Fisch finished with a 16-21 overall record. In his first season in Tucson, Fisch led Arizona to a 1-11 finish. He followed it up with a four-win improvement in 2022 to finish 5-7, and a five-win improvement on top of that in 2023, leading Arizona to a 10-3 season – the fourth 10-win season in program history – and an Alamo Bowl victory over Oklahoma on December 28, the UA’s first bowl game appearance since 2017.
Fisch is also responsible for putting together Arizona’s 2022 recruiting class, arguably one of the top recruiting classes in program history. The class featured four-star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, the highest-ranked recruit in program history, reigning Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year quarterback Noah Fifita, First-Team All-Pac-12 linebacker Jacob Manu, and many others including running back Jonah Coleman and defensive backs Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis, as well as impact transfers wide receiver Jacob Cowing and tight end Tanner McLachlan.
With the change in leadership, Arizona’s players will now have 30 days to explore and enter the transfer portal. Several players, including defensive stars linebacker Jacob Manu and defensive tackle Bill Norton, have taken to Twitter with the hashtag #HireNansen, indicating their support for former defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen, who left Arizona a week ago to become the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Texas.
If Arizona wants to promote internally, the Cats could look at offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Brennan Carroll. Other names include San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan, who was a graduate assistant at Arizona under Dick Tomey in 2000, and led the Spartans to a regular season Mountain West co-championship in 2023, as well as Washington State head coach Jake Dickert.