Cal Sports Report

Washington Hires Jedd Fisch, Not Justin Wilcox

Cal head coach Wilcox was probably not a serious candidate despite speculation he might be considered
Jake Curtis|
Washington Hires Jedd Fisch, Not Justin Wilcox
Washington Hires Jedd Fisch, Not Justin Wilcox

Washington stayed within the Pac-12 to hire its new head coach as Arizona's Jedd Fisch reportedly has been hired as the Huskies head coach, replacing Kalen DeBoer, who left to become Alabama's head coach.

Washington has not made the announcement official, but multiple reliable media outlets reported the news Sunday.

Like DeBoer, Fisch is an offensive-minded coach, and Fisch has been lauded for turning around the Arizona program. The Arizona Wildcats went 10-3 this season. Arizona will be a member of the Big 12 next season, while Washington joins the Big Ten in 2024.

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox was mentioned by several media outlets as a person Washington might be interested in to fill its head coaching vacancy.  However, there is no indication that Washington approached Wilcox. Wilcox is a defensive-minded coach, which would be a major change for the Huskies.

The Bears are coming off their fourth consecutive losing season, finishing 6-7 after losing to Texas Tech in the Independence Bowl.

Cal wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter transferred to Washington after the bowl game, and Fisch will now be his head coach if Hunter does not opt to re-enter the transfer portal as several Washington players did after DeBoer's departure.

Now there may be speculation that Arizona might be interested in Wilcox in their hunt for a new head coach.  However, that seemed unlikely since Wilcox has no previous association with Arizona and has a losing record at Cal, where he is 36-43.

The Washington speculation regarding Wilcox was tied to the fact that Wilcox was the Huskies' defensive coordinator for two seasons (2012-2013).  Wilcox was also offered the Oregon head coaching job a few years ago, but the Ducks' interest in Wilcox was tied to the fact that he played his college football at Oregon.

Cover photo of Jedd Fisch by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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