Arizona officially hired Keith Dudzinski on Friday, completing the Wildcatsβ on-field coaching staff under Jedd Fisch.
Dudzinski has a longstanding relationship with UA defensive coordinator Don Brown. Dudzinski was introduced as Arizonaβs linebackers coach and special-teams coordinator. He is expected to share those responsibilities with Brown (linebackers) and tight ends coach Jordan Paopao (special teams). Dudzinski will coach the outside linebackers and punt-coverage unit, Fisch announced.
"Throughout the years, coaching in the Northeast, I have witnessed some of the great defenses Keith has coached,β Fisch said in a news release. βCollectively and collaboratively, Don Brown and Keith Dudzinski have put out some of the top statistical defenses in the country. The opportunity to unite them ... is great for our program.β
In a tweet earlier in the week, Fisch playfully alluded to Dudzinski as the Robin to Brownβs Batman. Brown and another UA assistant referenced Dudzinski by name during media interviews Thursday.
Dudzinski, 52, served as a defensive analyst under Brown at Michigan last season. Dudzinski previously served as Brownβs defensive coordinator at UMass (2004-08) and Northeastern (2003) when Brown was the head coach at those schools.
Before his stint at Michigan, Dudzinski spent two seasons (2018-19) as the associate head coach/defensive coordinator at Albany. He also spent five seasons at Maryland as the inside linebackers coach (2011-14) and defensive coordinator (2015).
"My family and I are extremely grateful to Coach Fisch for this wonderful opportunity, and we are honored to be a part of the University of Arizona football family," Dudzinski said. "I look forward to working with Coach Fisch and his tremendous staff as we work tirelessly to develop our student-athletes for success on and off the field.β
Dudzinski is originally from Bridgeport, Connecticut, and is a 1991 graduate of the University of New Haven, where he was a linebacker and team captain.
