Big-Name Hires: Fisch Pairs Young Belichick and Carroll as His Husky Coordinators
When the University of Washington changed football coaches two years ago, Husky fans had to run to the Internet and look up Kalen DeBoer to see who they got.
They didn't know the guy. DeBoer wasn't a statement or so-called Hollywood hire, certainly not on the order of Lincoln Riley or Dan Lanning, who at the same time were installed as new coaches at USC and Oregon, respectively.
UW followers hadn't heard of the new guy's offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb or receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard either, two men who would become household names across Seattle.
Now comes Jedd Fisch, decidedly better known than his Husky head-coaching predecessor now at Alabama when he first stepped foot in Montlake, but someone who also has taken it upon himself to put a pair of iconic football names on his staff to grab just about everyone's attention.
On Tuesday, the UW announced the hiring of Steve Belichick as the next Husky defensive coordinator — teaming him with offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll — to turn Fisch's coaching staff into an all-star delegation in terms of name recognition in the sport.
That's Belichick and Carroll, sons of Bill and Pete. Offspring of legendary NFL coaches, with their fathers recently stepping down at season's end from highly successful careers with the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. This is the next generation of coaches emanating directly from pro football greatness.
The younger Belichick, 36, comes to the UW following a dozen years with the Patriots and his father. He's been a defensive assistant, the safeties coach and the linebackers coach. He's taking his first coaching job outside of the New England franchise.
He'll work opposite Carroll, 44, who previously was announced as the offensive coordinator shortly after Fisch was hired, coming to the UW with him from Arizona.
Very much his own man, Belichick is a little on the quirky side, heavily bearded and long-haired. He and Husky sophomore center Landen Hatchett with his extra-long mane should get along well together. Belichick appears to be a hands-on coach, often shown physically engaging with his players before kickoff.
He will introduce himself around the Husky locker room as an energetic replacement for DeBoer's co-defensive coordinators William Inge and Chuck Morrell, who shared the job for the past two seasons.
Steve Belichick spent a dozen seasons with his father, Bill, with the New England Patriots.
Daniel Powers/USA TODAY sports
Position-wise, the younger Belichick is expected to oversee the UW linebackers, a group he supervised in New England for the past four seasons. He did not play the position himself.
Prior to coaching, this Belichick primarily was a college lacrosse player for four seasons at Rutgers. Yet he also found time for one year of college football, spending the 2011 season with the Scarlett Knights as a long snapper for coach Greg Schiano.
Back at Rutgers for a second coaching stint now, Schiano will hold a reunion of sorts this coming college season. He'll send his team up against the Huskies and the younger Belichick in a Big Ten game on Sept. 28 in Piscataway, New Jersey.
While their fathers went head to head as coaches in Super Bowl XLIX nine years ago, with the Patriots winning 28-24, the sons just missed crossing paths that day. Steve Belichick was a defensive assistant for that 2014 New England team, but Brennan Carroll was still a wide-receivers coach for the University of Miami and a few months away from joining the Seahawks and his dad as an assistant offensive-line coach.
Now these men will work side by side for the Huskies, offering ample football credentials that should prove appealing to prospective recruits and a talking point for the fans. In Seattle, they'll try to make UW football highly successful and their respective fathers proud.
Fisch has himself a couple of Hollywood hires, some big names to build around. In Seattle, these second-generation assistant coaches might be more recognizable than him.
Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published. Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.
Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12
Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3
Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.
