So you think Jedd Fisch, rookie head coach, faces an overwhelming, almost unimaginable rebuilding task?
Tell that to Oregon’s Rich Brooks and Cal’s Jeff Tedford. The Pac-12 has seen more problematic coaching situations than Fisch inherited at Arizona.
Tedford, a career assistant, took charge of an 0-11 Cal program in 2001, one that hadn’t had a winning conference season in 10 years. In his third season, Tedford went 10-2 as the Bears rose to No 4 in the AP Poll.
It can be done.
Fisch’s situation doesn’t compare to what Brooks faced when he was hired without any head coaching experience in the spring of 1977. The Oregon Ducks had gone 15-40 the previous five seasons. Two coaches had been fired in five years.
The Ducks were dead last in Pac-8 football attendance. Nike’s Phil Knight hadn’t made yet enough money to contribute a dime to his alma mater. And it’s not like Oregon fans were allied behind Brooks. He was, after all, a former standout linebacker at hated rival Oregon State.
Much like Fisch, Brooks had no head coaching experience. Much like Fisch, his résumé was sprinkled with NFL work, for the Rams and 49ers.
Brooks went 2-9 and 2-9 to start. Apathy reigned. After 10 years the Ducks had gone 39-66-4. His most famous game? A dreadful 0-0 tie against Oregon State in 1983.
Today, the playing surface at Autzen Stadium is named Rich Brooks Field.
If Fisch is able to do what Brooks ultimately did in 1994 — stick it out and coach his team to the Rose Bowl — someday the playing surface at Arizona Stadium will likely be named Jedd Fisch Field. Check back in 2035.
Fisch didn’t talk his way into Arizona’s head coaching job. Well, maybe a little. He is, after all, at the master level of self-expression. Mostly, his résumé spoke for itself. He refers to his 20-year odyssey as “my many and purposeful moves.”
He learned, he moved on and learned some more. I asked Fisch what he took from the big-name coaches who hired him. Each answer was unique to that coach, a 20-year education:
- From Steve Spurrier: “Treat every down like third down. Don’t feel like you have to wait to get a first down. He had such a strong offensive mentality. Just because you get three downs doesn’t mean you need to take all three. Gain momentum at every opportunity.”
- From Mike Shanahan: “Make sure your entire offense is married. Don’t try to run two separate offensive systems. Marry your running game to your passing game. Marry one passing scheme to one protection scheme.”
- From Sean McVay: “He’s the best communicator in the world. He’s elite. He’s able to speak to the team and connect with everybody. He is an expert at making sure the staff and the players are on the same page.”
- From Jim Harbaugh: “Attack each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. Harbaugh lives it. He absolutely lives it. If you wake up and attack the day, it’s amazing how those in the program get behind you.”
- From Pete Carroll: “Always compete. The essential theme of Pete’s programs at USC and with the Seahawks is competition. Send that message. Expect it to be fully understood.”
- Bill Belichick: “Insist on smart, tough, physical football. If you can do those three things, you will find ways to win a lot of football games.”
In two decades as an assistant coach, Fisch received an Ivy League-type football education. He’s an absorber.
“Belichick said that position coaches should be experts,” Fisch recalls.
“Your coordinators should be experts. Let them do their work and don’t upstage them. That’s why I filled our staff with coaches who have been at the highest level. Empower them.
“I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel that we were able to get Brennan Carroll to be our offensive coordinator and Don Brown to be our defensive coordinator. They are experts at their craft.”
Part of the reason Rich Brooks worked out at Oregon is that former UO athletic director Bill Byrne — yes, Greg Byrne’s father — understood what rebuilding a low-level football franchise took. It took time. It took the right man.
If you believe you’ve got the right coach for the right job — if it’s not a Kevin Sumlin situation, where it’s clear there’s not enough energy in the program to jump a car battery — there are no quick fixes at football schools like Oregon of the 1980s and Arizona of the 2020s.
When Brooks left Oregon in 1995 to become head coach of the then-St. Louis Rams, the Ducks promoted from within. They hired offensive coordinator Mike Bellotti, whose only head coaching experience was at Chico State.
Building on the momentum and culture it took years for Brooks establish, Bellotti was able to take the Ducks to a once-unimaginable level. In 2001, Oregon finished No. 2 in the final AP poll.
In 2014, Bellotti was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
This isn’t to suggest that Fisch is the next Rich Brooks, or that he’ll follow Mike Bellotti’s path to the Hall of Fame. But it is to suggest this isn’t Mission Impossible.
