Alabama Crimson Tide

REPORT: Former Arizona football Coach Jedd Fisch ‘We were 100% commited’

Published

5 months ago

February 15, 2024

Former Arizona football coach Jedd Fisch discussed his contentious exit from the Wildcats in a podcast episode, giving his reasons for quitting to take a job in Washington after three seasons in charge.

In an interview with Ari Wasserman of The Athletic for the “Until Saturday” podcast, which was published on Tuesday, Fisch stated that UW became more interested after former Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer—who guided Washington to the College Football Playoffs the previous season—accepted the same position at Alabama to succeed legendary coach Nick Saban.

On January 13, Fisch, who guided the Wildcats to an Alamo Bowl victory and a 10-3 record this past season, was contacted by Troy Dannen, the athletic director of Washington, regarding the “intriguing job.”

“Talking about their plans entering into the Big Ten, coming off of a national championship game (appearance), the resources they were referring to regarding assistant coaches and player welfare and what they wanted to do with the players was all pretty intriguing,” Fisch told the Athletic. “Obviously, their commitment to the head coach was very intriguing, as well.

“Altogether, it just seemed like one of those opportunities you had to listen to. So we did that,” he said. “And then I got a call that night from Washington, and they offered me the head coaching job. Sunday morning, they sent over the documents, and it was one of those situations that it was one of those opportunities it was impossible to say no to.”

A little over a day later, on January 14, Dannen and other UW employees traveled to Tucson and signed Fisch to a seven-year contract worth $7.75 million annually; Arizona was ready to offer Fisch a five-year contract worth an average of $5.1 million annually, provided the Arizona Board of Regents gave its approval.

Two days later, Arizona hired Brent Brennan, the former head coach of San Jose State.

After sharing a video of themselves signing the deal in Fisch’s Tucson home on the team’s social media sites, Fisch and Washington came under fire.

“So what happens is you have a very irate fan base because they don’t understand necessarily why you would do it. Why would you sign a contract in your home? Or why would you have a three-minute (team) meeting? Well, there was no other place to sign the contract,” Fisch said. “I wasn’t going to have a team meeting and let the team know that I was leaving without signing something that says, ‘You have a job and you’re leaving to go take a job.’ Now, you know, the University of Washington has a responsibility to their fan base as well. And they have a responsibility to their recruiting class as well.”

Prior to signing a contract with Washington, Fisch stated on “The Jim Rome Show” that he and the University of Arizona were “working through semantics to get this deal done” in order to keep Fisch in Tucson, guide the Wildcats through the early Big 12 years, and possibly participate in the College Football Playoff when it expands to 12 teams in 2024.

“We wanna be done here very soon and we wanna be a part of this program for a long time,” Fisch said.

Many UA supporters were turned off by Fisch’s remarks in public and his subsequent departure. Popular university pub Gentle Ben’s even put prints of Fisch sporting a UW visor into its men’s restroom urinals.

Fisch noted that the only two schools to get in touch with him with head coaching openings were Texas A&M, which sacked Jimbo Fisher and hired Mike Elko from Duke to lead its program, and Washington. According to the former UA coach, Texas A&M spoke with Fisch via Zoom in December. According to reports, Fisch was contacted by Michigan State about a vacancy in November, but he denied it to the Star. “I have absolutely zero interest in the UCLA job then or now,” Fisch told The Athletic, denying any interest in the position.

The Bruins hired DeShaun Foster on Monday.

“And there was no other job that reached out that I had any interest in or I spoke with,” he said. “And there was really no thought in my mind about going anywhere. There was nowhere to go, there was nowhere that was interesting to me that was available. We loved Arizona. We felt like we were gonna have a great team coming back, although I was concerned about some of the missing pieces from the year before, (leaving) really didn’t cross my mind.”

Added Fisch: “I just think it’s time that everyone understands our commitment at Arizona was 100 percent truthful. And we were committed to making this program great. We made our players better than they’ve ever thought they could be and we were better than anyone thought we could.”