Jedd Fisch, Washington and how to protect programs like Arizona
By Ari Wasserman - Jan 15, 2024
When the college football coaching carousel hit full steam in December, Jedd Fisch’s name was connected to most of the openings. When you’re winning at a place that felt hopeless three years ago, that’s what happens.
But as jobs opened and closed with Fisch staying put in Tucson, he maintained a steadfast commitment to Arizona. He used the word “loyalty” and appeared eager to continue what was already an impressive build. Arizona, after winning 10 games in 2023, was already being mentioned as a potential favorite to win the Big 12 in its first year in the conference.
But in this sport, things change abruptly. Nick Saban unexpectedly retired last week and Alabama replaced him with Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer a few days later. The Huskies, also moving swiftly, locked in on a few candidates, including Fisch. Twenty-four hours later, Arizona’s world got rocked.
Fisch accepted the Washington job Sunday. It was a sucker punch the size of Mt. Lemmon. In the snap of a finger, Arizona’s trajectory went from “to the moon” to hoping the entire program doesn’t crash back into the desert.
If you’re an Arizona fan, you’re probably feeling a range of emotions from angry to confused to even betrayed. You may be questioning if there’s even a reason to be a fan (I’m a UA alumn and the group chat is buzzing).
What’s the point of even trying to build something if every single time we’re on the right path, another program can just come in and take what we started with little to no pushback?
That’s real. In today’s college football, a coach can leave for more money and prestige and raid the cupboards of his old job on his way out. What’s in the cupboard? Good players. In Arizona’s case, there is legitimate angst that quarterback Noah Fifita and receiver Tetairoa McMillan — two of the best players at their position in the Pac-12 in 2023 — could be on the way to Seattle, too.
This happened to Arizona, but it’s a cautionary tale for every lower-tier program trying to sustain success.
I have a solution. We’ll get to that.
But first, let’s get this out of the way:
Fisch didn’t do anything wrong. He parlayed his success at Arizona into a better, more prestigious job with more resources. We all do that in our professional lives.
Yes, sports are emotional and you may feel anger toward your former head coach. But according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, Fisch will sign a seven-year deal worth $7.75 million per season, which is more than double the $3.25 million he was making at Arizona. Also, the seven years is two years longer than the five-year max deals Arizona state law allows for government employees.
More prestige, more stability and more money. No-brainer.
We also have to acknowledge Arizona’s financial situation is bizarre at the moment. Arizona president Robert C. Robbins is dealing with a $240 million budget “miscalculation,” the effects of which led to an athletic department hiring freeze and budget reform. You can imagine how the head coach of Arizona football — who needs money for his recruiting budget and staff — would feel about that embarrassing scenario, let alone the impact it could have on his income potential.
Fisch isn’t a backstabber. He’s a coach with a family. I would have done the same thing.
It doesn’t always work out this way. Washington tried to hire Kansas head coach Lance Leipold this weekend, but Leipold — who, like Fisch, built something at a program that was once a laughingstock — is staying put in Lawrence.
When it does happen, though, coaches shouldn’t be able to take their players with them. If Fisch wants to bolt for more money and the American dream, fine. But he shouldn’t be able to take Fifita, McMillan or anyone else with him. It feels dirty. It feels wrong. It feels like a slap in the face to the employer who gave them their first opportunity. And if you aren’t comfortable with a permanent restriction, make it a one-year delay so the prospects aren’t part of the coaching deal.
I have a name for this rule: The Caleb-Lincoln Clause.
When Lincoln Riley abruptly left Oklahoma for USC a few years ago, he took star freshman quarterback Caleb Williams with him to Los Angeles. Williams won a Heisman trophy with the Trojans the following year.
No more of that.
You may wonder if that’s unfair to players, and maybe it is. Fifita’s family has been loyal to Fisch because the coach believed in the quarterback in high school when nobody else did. Fifita could, for all we know, be the starting quarterback at Ohio State — or someplace like that — heading into next fall had he bolted after his breakout redshirt freshman season. But he stayed in Tucson because of “loyalty.” Now, a month later, the coach is gone. It’s a bad break for the player, no question.
But in this new era of the sport in which players can transfer so freely — there’s a 30-day window open for everyone on Arizona’s roster to enter the portal — we have to put in some restrictions. Washington can hire the coach, but it shouldn’t also get an established quarterback and a potential first-round NFL Draft pick at receiver as part of the deal. It will always be difficult for Arizona to compete with programs with more tradition and better resources — just take a look at its history — but the Wildcats should at least have the opportunity to benefit from Fisch’s work moving forward.
That’s not to say Fifita or McMillan couldn’t transfer somewhere else now that the coach is gone. It just can’t be one program robbing the other.
The onus is now on Arizona to find another coach who can operate like Fisch. The benchmark of successful programs is the ability to remain afloat after losses. Even Alabama has to replace Saban. Coaches come and go, and competent programs with elite leadership weather those storms. Arizona can get another Fisch. It needs to.
But being a sports fan shouldn’t be hopeless.
It feels hopeless to be an Arizona fan today.
It could be even worse if the core of last year’s team — the one that was triumphantly going to lead the Wildcats to the Big 12 — is lighting up scoreboards for Washington in nine months.
