While the University of Arizona and Jedd Fisch are nearing the goal line on a restructured contract and pay boosts for the third-year football coach and his staff, Fisch's name has surfaced as a possibility for two high-profile head coaching vacancies, the Star has learned.
With Kalen DeBoer leaving national runner-up Washington to replace retired coaching icon Nick Saban at Alabama, the Big Ten-bound Huskies are in search of a head coach and Fisch is among those UW is considering, a source familiar with the search told the Star.
The Star has also learned that Fisch, a 14-year assistant in the NFL, has received interest from the Tennessee Titans. The Titans fired their most recent head coach, Mike Vrabel, after the regular season.
It's unclear where Fisch ranks in either search process. Former Arizona Wildcat linebacker Antonio Pierce, who spent the latter part of this season as the interim head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, interviewed for the Titans' job Saturday, the team announced. And in the Pacific Northwest, Mike Vorel of the Seattle Times shared on X (Twitter) that "UW expects to announce its next head football coach in the next 48 hours," and "very likely" Sunday.
Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke told reporters following Arizona's Territorial Cup win in Tempe that the UA will "do everything we can" to revise Fisch's contract. Fisch led the Wildcats to a 10-3 record and a win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl this season.
Then-Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer, left, talks with then-Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch before a September game in Tucson. DeBoer is now the Alabama coach and Fisch replaced DeBoer in Seattle.
“We want him here for a long time,” Heeke said. “We’ve told him that.”
The two sides have an agreement in principle, sources familiar with the negotiations told the Star. But approval from the Arizona Board of Regents is still required to officially offer the deal.
In previous situations, the UA has announced a new coach being hired or having a contract extended prior to it being officially approved at a regents meeting. However, there’s currently concern about the optics of giving Fisch and his staff a raise and an overall air of caution — even though most of that money is coming from private donations.
The next regularly scheduled ABOR meeting is Feb. 21, but the UA administration — led by President Robert Robbins and Heeke — is pushing for a special session to be held earlier than that, with Jan. 25 as the target date.
Although the funds primarily are coming from private sources, Fisch is still a state employee. Therefore, the process still must follow state laws and procedures.
The offer on the table has been described as “lucrative,” with the average salary likely to land north of $4.5 million.
The UA is in the midst of what Robbins has called a “financial crisis.” Remedies for the "ongoing budget deficit" includes a hiring and pay freeze through June, 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 “draconian cuts,” adding “everything is on the table in terms of dealing with athletics" in the wake of the university’s 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 a $55 million internal loan provided by central administration during the COVID-19 pandemic.
UA football coach Jedd Fisch, pictured during the Wildcats' win over No. 20 UCLA on Nov. 4, piloted Arizona to seven consecutive wins to close out the 2023 season, including a 5-0 mark over that span against ranked opponents.
In his "Wildcat Wednesday" newsletter this week, Heeke alluded to the likelihood of ticket price increases, adding that the university will continue to invest in “marquee programs that generate substantial revenue" — meaning football and men’s basketball. He also said the university had no "immediate plans" to eliminate any sports.
Fisch already is the highest-paid football coach in UA history. This deal will make his salary more competitive with his peers in the Big 12 Conference, which Arizona is joining later this year.
In contract terms provided to the Star by the UA athletic department, Fisch’s current five-year contract, which expires after the 2027 season, is worth $18.3 million. The Arizona coach is set to earn $3.4 million in 2024, $3.6 million in ’25 (along with a one-time $400,000 retention bonus), $3.65 million in ’26 and $4 million in his final season in ’27. As things currently stand, Fisch would be the second-lowest-paid head coach in the Big 12 in 2024; UCF’s Gus Malzahn will earn $2.3 million. (Salary information isn’t available for BYU and TCU, which are private schools.)
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita and head coach Jedd Fisch talk over the plan for a 2-point conversion in the third quarter of the Alamo Bowl. Just 17 days after that Alamo Bowl win, Fisch agreed to leave UA for Washington, which is headed to the Big Ten next year.
If Washington, the Titans or another school/franchise were to offer Fisch significantly more money — and he wanted to pursue one of those opportunities — the UA would be unable to match beyond the aforementioned agreement in principle, the Star has learned.
More jobs in the NFL or college football are likely to open up in the near future. One such possibility is Michigan if head coach Jim Harbaugh, who Fisch coached under for two seasons at UM, bolts for an NFL job.
Two things can be true in the latest developments with Fisch: He wants to remain in Tucson and see the operation he started all the way through, and Arizona's remarkable ascension under his direction generates interest from other programs and franchises looking to replace head coaches. Regarding the possibility of taking another job, Fisch told Rick Neuheisel on SiriusXM during the season: "I couldn't do that to my wife, Amber. She has made 12 moves with me."
"I am committed to the kids here like they have committed to me," he added. "I want to see this come to fruition and watch it play out.''
In comparison to Washington, which is expected to return two starters in 2024, Arizona returns the majority of its starters for the program's debut season in the Big 12. After finishing No. 11 in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll, the highest season-ending ranking for the program since 1998, the Wildcats are expected to have a Top 15 or Top 10 team entering the ’24 season — and most likely be included in the 12-team College Football Playoff conversation.
In a recent appearance on “The Jim Rome Show,” Fisch said: “We’re working through semantics to get this deal done” at Arizona.
“I think we’re very, very close. We want to be done here very soon, and we want to be a part of this program for a long time," Fisch said. "I’ve 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.
“I have a lot of interest in seeing if we can get to that CFP. There’s 12 teams in it next year, and I would love to have our team be a part of it.”
VIDEO: Alamo Bowl: Arizona football coach Jedd Fisch shares his desire to let the Wildcats’ bowl win be a true conclusion to the 2023 season for his team, rather than a jumpstart so quickly to what might come to be in 2024. Fisch shared his remarks after the No. 14 Wildcats’ 38-24 win over No. 12 Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023, in San Antonio, Texas. (Courtesy Valero Alamo Bowl)
