Inside The Huskies

Huskies Promote 2 Coaches From Within to Greater Responsibilities

Michael Switzer and Aaron Van Horn have moved up the ranks for Jedd Fisch.
Dan Raley|
Michael Switzer tries to help quarterback Demond Williams Jr. get back on the field at Oregon.
Michael Switzer tries to help quarterback Demond Williams Jr. get back on the field at Oregon. | Skylar Lin Visuals

With college football coaching staffs given the ability to expand, the University of Washington promoted Michael Switzer and Aaron Van Horn from within the program to assistant offensive-line coach and outside linebackers coach, respectively.

On Thursday, these moves were made shortly after coach Jedd Fisch announced he had hired Taylor Mays from USC as his new safeties coach.

Switzer and Van Horn each spent two seasons with Fisch's staff at Arizona, followed those coaches when they moved to the UW and spent this past season as a senior offensive analyst and a defensive quality control coach in Montlake.

No relation to the former Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys coach, Switzer can become more hands-on with the Husky offensive linemen while working with Brennan Carroll, the UW offensive coordinator and offensive-line coach.

Switzer was a 51-game starter for Ball State and spent time on the Buffalo Bills practice squad as a center. As a coach, he previously served as the offensive coordinator and offensive-line coach for Indiana State.

Van Horn, a Michigan graduate but apparently not a Wolverines player, will work with UW defenders who apparently will be known as outside linebackers rather than edge rushers, a slight tweak in where these players line up and how they come off the corners in deference to new defensive doordinator Ryan Walters.

While some of the coaching restraints have been taken off these coaches in terms of coaching, they still can't leave campus and recruit. Only the core of 10 coaches have that ability.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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