Here’s what UW’s Jedd Fisch said at Big Ten media day: ‘It’s a true reboot’
INDIANAPOLIS – Jedd Fisch was less demonstrative than he was on the main stage just 75 minutes earlier. Standing in front of the southwest tunnel at Lucas Oil Stadium, Washington’s football coach wore a gray suit and a purple tie, leaning against a wall sporting the Big Ten logo.
Fisch is relatively relaxed. He and his family have been enjoying the Seattle summer’s “crystal blue skies.” His presence in Indianapolis, however, is a reminder that football season is approaching quickly.
“It’s an incredible time of year to be in Seattle,” he said. “We’re trying to soak it all in for these final three days.”
Fisch addressed the assembled media on Thursday on the final day of Big Ten media days at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, along with sixth-year defensive back Kamren Fabiculanan, fifth-year linebacker Carson Bruener and junior running back Jonah Coleman.
“This experience and this opportunity, to be the head football coach at the University of Washington, being the first year of joining the Big Ten, is an absolute privilege,” Fisch said during his opening remarks. “I don’t take it lightly. I’m extremely excited about this opportunity, and believe we have a great football team that will be able to showcase and compete for championships year in and year out.”
Fisch introduced Washington to its new conference, laying out his expectations and goals for the upcoming season on the main stage. Fisch talked about Washington’s recent successes against Oregon, Texas and USC – mentioning those three schools by name – and Washington’s record during the past two seasons.
Of course, Fisch wasn’t the coach of the Huskies when they went 25-3 from 2022-23. Those wins all belong to Kalen DeBoer, now at Alabama. Fisch addressed Washington’s turnover.
The Huskies are a massive question mark entering the 2024 season. Fisch said there are 46 new scholarship players on Washington’s roster. The coaching, training and strength staffs are completely new. Only 39 players remain from the team which played Michigan in the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 8.
“It’s a true reboot, but so is college football,” Fisch said. “It is a whole lot of new. Everything we’re doing now with revenue share and NIL, with all the changes and the roster size, we believe this is the perfect time to rebrand and reboot.”
Washington’s roster has gone through immense change even since it played its spring game at Husky Stadium on May 3. UW added 14 players during the spring transfer portal period at almost every position. Fisch said his pitch to portal players was simply that Washington was a team in transition, with opportunities for anyone who wanted that chance.”
“We’re a program that doesn’t have a two-deep,” Fisch said. “If you want to come and impact the program, you should come. If you feel like you just want to be a part of something that you don’t know anything about, and don’t know if you’ll have a chance to make it, then go somewhere else.”
Washington’s offensive line needed more attention than any other position group. The Huskies lost all five starters from the unit which won the 2023 Joe Moore Award as the best offensive line in college football. During spring practices, UW only had seven scholarship offensive lineman active as junior Gaard Memmelaar and sophomore Landen Hatchett recovered from season-ending injuries.
But Fisch said he feels good about the group entering fall camp. Washington has 14 scholarship offensive linemen, including three spring portal additions: senior center D’Angalo Titialii, a former Eastside Catholic (Sammamish, Washington) standout, from Portland State, sixth-year guard Enokk Vimahi from Ohio State and junior tackle Maximus McCree from Iowa Central Community College.
“I don’t know how many more offensive lineman we can play,” Fisch said. “Our goal is to let those guys compete. … We’ve got 10 guys that are going to be competing their tail off to be one of the five starters.”
Fisch’s expectations for the season are fairly simple amid all this change. He said he wants Washington to be competitive, the toughest team on everyone’s schedule. Fisch said the coaching staff has told their players “there is no scoreboard.”
During his first season at Arizona, Fisch endured a 1-11 debut season. He elevated them to 5-7 in 2022 before registering the Wildcats’ first 10-win season since 2014 during the 2023 season. Fisch has previously asserted Washington won’t be as big of a rebuild, although he did not name any specific targets.
“We just need to go out there and play our best games,” Fisch said, “and see what that looks like.”