Saturday afternoon could be the last time Jedd Fisch coaches a home game at Husky Stadium if you believe Pro Football Focus’ Max Chadwick.
Fisch has turned the Washington Huskies around in less than 18 months after the program was decimated following the 2023 national championship run, which saw 20 of 22 starters depart the team either through the transfer portal or the 2024 NFL draft, largely through a significant youth movement he built at Arizona, coupled with several transfers on both sides of the ball.
According to PFF’s Max Chadwick, the second-year Huskies coach will be the choice to take over as the next Florida Gators coach, after projecting Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin will choose LSU over the Gators.
Fisch, who has guided UW to an 8-3 overall record this season, after going 6-7 in his first year taking over for former coach Kalen DeBoer, was speculated as a potential candidate for the UCLA job, but after defeating the Bruins 48-14 this past Saturday in Pasadena coupled with the financial hurdles the school would have to go through put it untenable to foresee the former offensive coordinator return to Westwood.
Prior to the Huskies’ 49-13 victory over Purdue two weeks ago, Fisch responded to rumors about his name being on several lists for current college football coaching openings, though as he’s stated previously he is more than aware of making definitive statements given he emphatically said he would not leave Tucson days before he ultimately left to take the UW job in January 2024.
“Those lists are made by people that have no idea what’s going on, honestly,” Fisch said during his weekly Monday press conference when it comes to speculating about his status in Seattle.
“They don’t know what’s happening in our program. They have no idea how excited I am about the youth in our program. They have no idea how excited I am about the fact that we’re playing six or seven true freshmen. No idea how excited I am about the fact that Demond Williams, I believe, has a chance over the next year or two years after this to be one of the all-time best quarterbacks that have come through this area.”
While the notion of a young roster emerging in Seattle this season does help the thought that Fisch will spur interest from other schools, his track record for moving from job-to-job over his two decades coaching at the college and NFL level combined with no reports of an extension or new contract at Washington within the last month don’t offer much counter to the idea leaving a grey area until the Gators or any other school he’s been linked to hire their next coach that isn’t Fisch.
The speculation coincides with UW ending its 2025 regular season this Saturday with the team hosting No. 5-ranked Oregon, which has been a thorn in Fisch’s side since he became a head coach. The Ducks are undefeated in the three games the 49-year-old has faced the school. Fisch lost two games to Oregon—41-19 in 2021 and 49-22 in 2022—at Arizona, with last season’s 49-21 defeat in Eugene as the Huskies’ coach being his third loss to the Ducks.
However, this year’s game offers the best chance Fisch has had yet to take down the Ducks with a much-improved roster around quarterback Demond Williams Jr.
Washington and Oregon will kick off at 12:30 p.m. Pacific on CBS on Saturday to conclude their Big Ten Conference schedule with the Huskies expected to learn their bowl destination in the coming weeks.
