UW Confirms 4 Assistant Coaches, Strength Coach for Fisch Staff
Assistant coaches were visible at Jedd Fisch's Tuesday news conference, clustered together prior to the University of Washington welcoming its new football leader in the coaches' offices. Chatting, laughing, not really trying to bring attention to themselves.
The men wore T-shirts and sweatshirts with random colors and markings, but they clearly hailed from Fisch's former Arizona staff and have followed him north, possibly just waiting for their employment paperwork to clear before becoming official.
One of the new Husky assistant coaches later joked how he needed to find out who to ask about getting a paycheck.
By the end of the day, four of these guys were identified by the school in simple social-media postings as confirmed hires: quarterbacks coach Jimmie Dougherty, tight-ends coach Jordan Paopao, running-backs coach Scottie Graham and defensive-line coach Jason Kaufusi, along with strength coach Tyler Owens.
Dougherty and Paopao previously served as UW assistant coaches on the Steve Sarkisian or Chris Petersen staffs, or both.
Fisch reportedly intends to bring seven members of his Arizona coaching staff to Montlake — with three choosing to stay in Tucson or taking a job elsewhere — and the unconfirmed are the heavily bearded offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll, son of now former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll; wide-receivers coach Kevin Cummings and cornerbacks coach John Richardson. They were in house during the Fisch news conference.
Interestingly enough, two members of Kalen DeBoer's UW coaching staff appeared at the Fisch news conference with co-defensive coordinator William Inge and strength coach Ron McKeefery mixing in. Inge, the only coach wearing purple Washington gear, acknowledged he is seeking work with the new staff in Montlake.
Fisch said he would be open to keeping some of DeBoer's coaches who want to stay with the Huskies.
"Yeah, for sure," he said. "I think we're just going to work through really who's coming. We've got to open up a bunch of spots and we've got to figure out exactly what we're going to do. There are some guys we're going to bring for sure and then, as we continue to figure who wants to be in Tucson or who wants to be in Seattle or who wants to go somewhere.""
While no one was admitting as much, it's possible longtime coaching relationships and friendships have been frayed some with DeBoer bolting for Alabama and not being able to take all of his UW guys to the powerhouse program in Tuscaloosa. It appears the former Husky coach might have been discouraged from bringing his defensive coordinators with him.
DeBoer so far has settled on offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, wide-receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard, offensive-line coach Scott Huff and tight-ends coach Nick Sheridan to join him in Alabama, according to news accounts.
Meantime, news reports indicate the SEC school will retain Crimson Tides running-backs coach Robert Gillespie and defensive-line coach Freddie Roach on DeBoer's staff and that a pair of college head coaches in Buffalo's Maurice Linguist and South Alabama's Kane Wommack will be hired as co-defensive coordinators.
What that means is Alabama has two coaching slots to fill while Fisch is looking for three more people to add to his UW staff, needing a defensive coordinator and any combination of linebackers, safeties and edge rusher coaches.
Out of the running at the UW and Alabama, because their roles have been filled at both schools, are DeBoer's former running-backs coach Lee Marks and defensive-line coach Inoke Breckterfield. Marks came to the UW with DeBoer from Fresno State, where he served as a bowl game interim coach when DeBoer took the Huskies job.
McKeefery, widely credited with getting the UW in better shape once DeBoer's staff came to Montlake and popular coach among the players, appears to be seeking a job elsewhere after the Huskies and Alabama both seemingly have settled on strength-coach hires.
The status of former UW co-defensive coordinator Chuck Morrell, who also coaches safeties, and cornerbacks coach Julius "Juice" Brown's similarly is uncertain. In Brown's case, both Alabama and the Huskies have corners coaches lined up.
Morrell, a former head coach for Montana Tech, was a Sioux Falls teammate for DeBoer and has coached with him at Sioux Falls, Fresno State and the UW. It's not clear if he'll join DeBoer in Alabama, but it won't be as a defensive coordinator with that job apparently filled.
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