12/23/2020 football Edit

Patriots QB coach Jedd Fisch to be hired as Arizona's next head coach

Matt Moreno • GOAZCATS

Senior Editor

Matt Moreno is the senior editor at GOAZCATS.com. He joined the staff in August of 2011 and began as senior recruiting editor with the site before becoming senior editor in June of 2014.

Arizona has made its choice.

The next football coach will be New England Patriots quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch.

The longtime college and NFL assistant coach will get his first opportunity to become a head coach, at any level, with the Wildcats. The program is expected to make the decision official on Wednesday.

Fisch, who was among the group of finalists for the job three years ago when UA ultimately went with Kevin Sumlin, emerged as a serious candidate earlier in the week after interviewing with the program.

He has connections to UA president Robert C. Robbins and that helped put him on the program's radar.

Fisch was made several stops throughout his football coaching career with his last few years spent in the NFL with the Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. Before that he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UCLA where he guided the offense led by quarterback Josh Rosen.

His other college stops include Michigan, Miami, Minnesota and Florida.

He has also worked for seven different NFL franchises including the Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans.

Fisch was named the interim head coach while at UCLA during the 2017 season and is officially 1-1 as a head coach.

His hiring ends what was an 11-day process to find the next UA head coach after the program moved to fire Kevin Sumlin on Dec. 12 after the Wildcats' 70-7 loss to rival Arizona State.

Fisch, a 44-year-old New Jersey native who attended Florida, was among a group of candidates that included, most notably, Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo and San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan.

ESPN's Adam Schefter was first to report the news Wednesday morning.

Jedd Fisch coaching history

1999-2000 – Florida (graduate assistant)

2002-03 – Houston Texas (defensive quality control coach)

2004-07 – Baltimore Ravens (offensive assistant)

2008 – Denver Broncos (wide receivers coach)

2009 – Minnesota (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach)

2010 – Seattle Seahawks (quarterbacks coach)

2011-12 – Miami (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach)

2013-14 – Jacksonville Jaguars (offensive coordinator)

2015-16 – Michigan (pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach/wide receivers coach)

2017 – UCLA (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach/interim head coach)

2018-19 – Los Angeles Rams (offensive assistant/assistant offensive coordinator)

2020 – New England Patriots (quarterbacks coach)

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