Arizona’s Jedd Fisch should be Pac-12 coach of the year
TEMPE, Ariz. — Washington coach Kalen DeBoer has the Huskies unbeaten and on the front porch of the College Football Playoff. Oregon’s Dan Lanning has the Ducks in a similar position. Both have done tremendous jobs in the Pac-12’s final season.
But Jedd Fisch should be conference coach of the year.
These awards usually go in one of two directions. To the coach who leads his team to regular-season dominance. Or the coach who exceeds expectations.
To leapfrog the first, the second must do something extraordinary.
Fisch has.
No. 15 Arizona on Saturday overpowered rival Arizona State 59-23, a rivalry exclamation point that puts the Wildcats at 9-3 entering bowl season. They went 7-2 in the Pac-12, staying in the hunt for the conference championship game all the way to this final weekend.
As the final seconds ticked at Mountain America Stadium, Arizona players gave Fisch a Gatorade shower — “Yeah, I wasn’t ready for it, they just got me,” he said — his second in as many seasons. (The Wildcats also doused Fisch after last season’s win over the Sun Devils.) Perhaps the worst Power 5 program a couple of years ago, Arizona has a chance to reach 10 wins for only the fourth time in program history.
“I want to say I believed it from the jump,” running back Michael Wiley said, adding that it took a while for him to understand the key quality needed for such a turnaround. “It’s about confidence.”
Asked about Fisch’s influence, safety Gunner Maldonado struggled to find the right words. He settled on belief and consistency.
“He’s been preaching the same stuff since day one,” he said.
Every revival needs a starting point. Arizona’s came in 2020. The Wildcats didn’t win a game during that abbreviated season, losing 70-7 to Arizona State on their home field. That disaster cost Kevin Sumlin his job. A coaching nomad with NFL and college experience, Fisch took over two weeks later, a hire that was not universally embraced.
In his first season, the Wildcats lost their first eight, extending the longest losing streak in conference history to 20 games. They finished 1-11. The next year, Arizona recruited better and went 5-7, beating No. 12 UCLA. Entering this season, the Wildcats were expected to make a bowl game. Fisch focused his preseason conversation on two words: “Earn it.” Earn the conversation.
Instead, the Wildcats played even better, securing their best season since 2014, finishing the regular season with six consecutive wins, four over ranked teams, their longest winning streak since 1998. Because of the transfer portal, quick reversals are not uncommon in this sport. But Arizona is a difficult job. It lives in the shadow of Lute Olson and its basketball program. It doesn’t have much of a tradition. That makes this season all the more remarkable.
After Saturday’s win, Fisch said this with basically a shoulder shrug. He said when Arizona president Robert Robbins and athletic director Dave Heeke interviewed him for the job, he didn’t say he wanted to win four or five games. He had a vision. “If I didn’t think we could win nine games, I wouldn’t have moved my family here,” Fisch said. “That’s what we wanted to do — we wanted to win.”
A strong culture sets the foundation, but success isn’t possible without talent. That’s where Arizona has made the most strides. The offensive line is strong. The defense is much improved. But against Arizona State, the Wildcats had the two best players on the field, and it wasn’t close. Redshirt freshman quarterback
Noah Fifita, the Bob Moran Player of the Game, completed 30 of 41 passes for a school-record 527 yards with five touchdowns and one interception.
Receiver
Tetairoa McMillan, the quarterback’s best friend, was also brilliant. He made contested grabs and plays on the run. He was mostly unguardable, finishing with 11 catches for 266 yards and a touchdown.
In August, before the start of practice, Arizona receivers coach Kevin Cummings was asked about McMillan, who was about to enter his second college season. The conversation went like this:
Reporter: What is T-Mac’s growth potential?
Cummings: Best receiver in the country.
Reporter: It’s that high?
Cummings, emphatically: T-Mac has the ability to be the best receiver in the country.
Reporter: Does he understand that?
Cummings: He does. And if he doesn’t, we’re going to let him know every day.
The Arizona staff has done a solid job with its messaging. McMillan is not yet the best receiver in the country, but he might be on that path. He finished the regular season with 80 catches for 1,242 yards. Fifita and McMillan should provide a great foundation as the program shifts to the Big 12 next season.
Same goes for Fisch.
The job he has done has not gone unnoticed. National media already have attached his name to the Texas A&M opening. During Saturday’s win, a USA Today columnist suggested on X, formerly Twitter, that Fisch would make a good hire at UCLA should the Bruins move on from Chip Kelly. A year ago, Arizona extended Fisch’s contract through the 2027 season. It might have to do so again.
“That’s up to Dave,” Fisch said, referring to his athletic director when asked about the possibility. “But it sounds good to me. I’m certainly all for it.”
