The Jedd Fisch era at the University of Arizona is over after three seasons. The Wildcats football coach and leader of Arizonaβs turnaround as a program told players Sunday afternoon he is leaving to become the next head coach at the University of Washington.
Fisch will be signing a 7-year contract worth $7.75 million a year, a source close to the negotiations told the Star Sunday.
That number more than doubles Fischβs current average annual salary. The UA offered him a five-year contract extension worth $5.1 million a year, the Star has learned.
Fischβs buyout at Arizona is $5.5 million.
In Seattle, Fisch replaces Kalen DeBoer, who left the UW program this week to succeed seven-time national championship-winning coach Nick Saban at Alabama. DeBoer led the Huskies to the College Football Playoff and national runner-up finish this past season, while Fisch piloted the UA to its first 10-win season in a decade and a convincing Valero Alamo Bowl victory barely two weeks ago.
βWhen I first arrived at the U of A, I knew we could create something truly special, because of the people at this university and in this community,β Fisch said in a statement. βToday, I am broken-hearted to leave not just Arizona, but the people who have given us so much and who believed so deeply in the magic we created.
βI absolutely have loved my time as a Wildcat and never thought my family and I would ever leave. Unfortunately, that day has come. It was a gut-wrenching and agonizing decision. But I am proud to leave everything in a better place than when I came. My goal was to return pride and to make winning personal here. And we did.β
Later added Fisch: βI will always carry this time close to my heart. My familyβs time in Tucson has been life-changing for us all. ... I may be leaving U of A, but the friendships and love for this university and community will stay with me forever.β
Washington athletic director Troy Dannen posted a video on X (Twitter) early Sunday evening of his arrival at what appeared to be Fischβs house in Tucson β a home with an Arizona Wildcat logo next to the front door. The video then shows Fisch signing a document on University of Washington letterhead at the kitchen counter as Dannen looked on.
βThis will be great. I look forward to it and Iβll give you everything I have,β Fisch told Dannen as the two shook hands.
As many players arrived on the UA campus for an impromptu meeting with Fisch, a number helping with a youth camp in the shadows of Arizona Stadium appeared upset as they entered the UAβs Lowell-Stevens Football Facility.
Before that, several current players and recruits posted their reactions on social media in the wake of Fisch leaving for Washington. Jacob Manu, an All-Pac-12 linebacker, posted on X (Twitter), βIβm sick,β before deleting his post.
Fisch is the first Arizona coach to leave the UA without getting fired since Larry Smith following the 1986 season; Smith left Tucson to take over at USC.
In three seasons at the helm in Tucson, Fisch posted a 16-21 overall record, taking Arizona from an 0-5 record in the COVID-shortened 2020 season the year prior to his arrival to a 1-11 mark in Year 1. The next year, Arizona improved to 5-7 before breaking through in 2023 with a 10-3 overall mark, the Alamo Bowl win over national power Oklahoma, and a No. 11 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 poll to end the year.
Fisch was hired by the UA in December 2020 after spending a season as quarterbacks coach of the NFLβs New England Patriots. His hiring came not long after the Wildcatsβ 63-point loss to rival Arizona State, which signaled the end of former UA coach Kevin Sumlinβs three-year tenure.
Arizona became Fischβs first full-time head coaching job β he was an interim head coach at UCLA for two games β after the journeyman spent two decades as an assistant in the NFL and college. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater Florida under the legendary Steve Spurrier. In the NFL, Fisch worked under notable NFL coaches, including Bill Belichick, Brian Billick, Pete Carroll, Mike Shanahan and Sean McVay.
In Fischβs first season, the Wildcats ended their 20-game losing skid, but in finishing 1-11, they ended with the most losses in a single season in program history. Fisch and his staff of coaches with West Coast ties and NFL backgrounds assembled one of the best recruiting classes in school history in 2022, signing notable standouts such as wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, quarterback Noah Fifita, Manu, offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea, running back Jonah Coleman, cornerbacks Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis, left guard Wendell Moe and key transfers in wide receiver Jacob Cowing, quarterback Jayden de Laura and tight end Tanner McLachlan.
The Wildcats ascended to 5-7 in Fischβs second season before posting a 10-3 record this past season, which was capped with the programβs first postseason win since 2015. The 2023 Wildcats were one of four teams in program history to post at least 10 wins, and the nine-game improvement in two seasons is the best in program history.
With a majority of Arizonaβs starters slated to return for the 2024 season β the programβs debut as a member of the Big 12, the Wildcats have been projected as a Top 15 team. Theyβve been considered among the favorites to win the Big 12 championship and secure a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
But at least one current UA player indicated to the Star on Sunday that he now intends to enter college footballβs transfer portal, and its too early to be seen how Fischβs departure will impact Arizonaβs roster and national standing as the UA begins its own search for Fischβs successor. The next head coach will be the programβs seventh since 2000.
As a result of the programβs rise under Fisch, the UA prioritized a contract extension to give the Arizona head coach and his assistants a pay raise long before attention this week from both Washington and other possible suitors became known.
Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke told reporters following Arizonaβs Territorial Cup win in Tempe that the UA will βdo everything we canβ to revise Fischβs contract.
While the Star reported Saturday that the UA and Fisch had reached an agreement in principle on a new deal that would see Fisch and his staff receive pay boosts, approval from the Arizona Board of Regents was still required to officially offer the deal.
The board of regents doesnβt have a scheduled session until Feb. 21, although a source confirmed to the Star that UA administrators were pushing for a special session to happen sooner, with Jan. 25 as the target date.
Fischβs existing five-year contract at Arizona, which was reconstructed after last season, expires after the 2027 season and is worth $18.3 million. The Arizona coach was set to earn $3.4 million in 2024, $3.6 million in β25 (along with a one-time $400,000 retention bonus), $3.65 million in β26 and $4 million in his final season in β27. Fisch wouldβve been the second-lowest-paid head coach in the Big 12 in 2024; UCFβs Gus Malzahn will earn $2.3 million. (Salary information isnβt available for BYU and TCU, which are private schools.)
If Fisch and the UA could have formally agreed to the new $5.1 million-per-year deal, his buyout would have risen from $5.5 million to $10 million a year, the Star has learned.
UWβs eventual offer and resources in Seattle proved tough to match for the UA, especially considering the UA is in the midst of what Robbins has called a βfinancial crisis.β
The βongoing budget deficitβ includes a university-wide hiring and pay freeze through June, although itβs believed athletic department coaching contracts and hiring could be an exception to that. The UA also has placed a freeze on procurement, international travel restrictions for senior administrators, deferment of nonessential capital projects, and elimination of the tuition guarantee for all new students starting in fall 2025.
Robbins said during a November faculty meeting that he expects university-wide βdraconian cuts,β addingΒ βeverything is on the table in terms of dealing with athleticsβ in the wake of the universityβs financial situation. In addition to a $240 million miscalculation of projected cash on hand for the university as a whole, Robbins told the Star after an Arizona Board of Regents meeting in November that the UA athletic department has yet to repay aΒ $55 million internal loanΒ provided by central administration during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fisch was vocal about his plans to stay at Arizona, saying on numerous occasions locally and to national outlets that he wanted to build the program up for long-term success.
Speaking with former UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel on SiriusXM during the season, Fisch said of entertaining another job this year: βI couldnβt do that to my wife, Amber. She has made 12 moves with me.
βI am committed to the kids here like they have committed to me,β he added. βI want to see this come to fruition and watch it play out.ββ
On the βJim Rome Showβ on Jan. 4, Fisch said he was close to an extension to stay in Tucson, adding: βWe want to be done here very soon, and we want to be a part of this program for a long time.
βIβve moved a lot in this business to be able to be here today, to become a head coach of a Power Five program, to win 10 games, to be a Top 15 team, hopefully Top 10. ... I have no interest in going anywhere,β he said. βI have a lot of interest in seeing if we can get to that CFP. Thereβs 12 teams in it next year, and I would love to have our team be a part of it.β
β The Starβs Michael Lev contributed to this report.