The school announced Wednesday that Fisch will replace Kevin
Sumlin, who was fired earlier this month after the Wildcats finished the season
winless.
“We are tremendously excited to have Jedd Fisch come to
Tucson to reinvigorate our football program and lead us to championships,”
Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke said in a statement. “Jedd has a unique
ability to teach the game of football effectively to his players and to inspire
them with his passion. We conducted a comprehensive national search with an
impressive array of candidates but in the end, Jedd is exactly what our program
needs right now and I cannot wait to partner with him to move us forward.”
The 44-year-old arrives in the desert after bouncing between
college football and the NFL.
Fisch was hired as New England’s quarterbacks coach under
Bill Belichick earlier this year after two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams as
senior offensive assistant and assistant offensive coordinator. He previously
served as offensive coordinator at Jacksonville and served as an assistant with
Seattle, Denver, Baltimore and Houston.
Fisch spent the 2017 season as UCLA’s offensive coordinator
and served as interim coach the final two games after Jim Mora was fired. He
also served as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks/wide receivers
coach under Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh and had offensive coordinator stints
with Miami and Minnesota.
A New Jersey native, Fisch did not play football in high
school or college, but he landed a spot as a graduate assistant at Florida by
leaving notes on the windshield of coach Steve Spurrier’s car.
“I am honored and humbled to lead the University of Arizona
football program,” Fisch said. “I am 100% committed to building a program that
all Wildcat fans will be proud to support. We will study hard, compete hard,
recruit hard and be relentless in all aspects of our program.
He takes over an Arizona program in disarray.
The Wildcats never really got on track under Sumlin, winning
five games in his first season and watching the win total drop each subsequent
season.
Arizona ended the 2019 season on a seven-game losing streak
and went 0-5 this year, capped by allowing the most points in the 121-history
of the Territorial Cup in a 70-7 loss to rival Arizona State. Sumlin was fired
the next day after going 9-20 in three seasons.
The program had a rash of transfers before the 2020 season,
including four defensive starters. More players entered the transfer portal
after the season ended, including starting quarterback Grant Gunnell.
Arizona managed to sign an 18-player recruiting during the
early signing period despite Sumlin’s firing, but it was ranked 65th nationally
by the 247 Sports composite.
-AP