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Inside The Huskies

In Picking Utah and Not UW, Las Vegas LB Wanted Coaching Stability

Christian Thatcher had the Huskies among his six final choices.
Dan Raley|
Linebacker Christian Thatcher chose Utah from 6 schools, among them the UW.
Linebacker Christian Thatcher chose Utah from 6 schools, among them the UW. | Twitter

Linebacker Christian Thatcher chose Utah on Sunday as his college football destination, picking the Utes from an impressive array of options that also included USC, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Washington.

In making up his mind, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound 4-star recruit from Arbor View High School in Las Vegas canceled official visits to the UW and Kansas.

In explaining his decision to 247Sports, Thatcher hit on something that is bound to cost the Huskies more recruits along the way -- long-term coaching stability.

Whereas Kyle Whittingham is entering his 20th season as the Utah head coach, the Huskies are on their fourth football leader in six seasons, with no ready assurances that Jedd Fisch will spend more than a couple of seasons in Montlake, especially if he attains immediate success such as Kalen DeBoer did before moving to Alabama.

"I did so much research because we want to make the right choice and find the right fit for the next four years," Thatcher told 247Sports. "College football is very transient right now for coaches and players and one thing that stands out about Utah and makes them very different from other programs is the consistency in the coaching staff. I can confidently commit there and feel like I will have these coaches for my college career."

Fisch, in fact, was asked that very question when he took over as the UW football coach in mid-January -- would he be in Seattle long? -- and he artfully dodged it by making no such promises, especially after suggesting he would have a long run at Arizona, his previous stop.

"That's always a problem, right?" Fisch said. "You can't be right, you can't be wrong, whatever you say. That comment is always going to be made: 'Is it a destination job?' I would answer it this way: The Big 10 and the SEC right now is who's leading the college pathways. The college football landscape is about getting to the CFP. There are 12 teams that are going to compete every year starting next year in the college football playoffs. If you look at which teams traditionally compete, iI's about the same 12 or 14 teams. The University of Washington is one of those 12 or 14 teams."

Fisch has a coaching career that involves more than a dozen years in the NFL and his reputation is on an upswing as a college head coach, one of the reasons he's now at the UW. Immediate success with the Huskies likely would present him with plenty of more opportunities, maybe even lure him back to pro football.

"The idea of staying is why you come," Fisch said of the UW. "The idea of being here is to win championships. That's all I can promise."

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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