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Washington has targeted Arizona's Jedd Fisch and is negotiating a deal with him to succeed Kalen DeBoer as the next coach of the Huskies, according to a person with knowledge of the talks.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday because the school has not commented publicly and a deal was not done. ESPN first reported that Fisch was emerging as the leading candidate for the Huskies.
Less than a week after playing for the national championship, the Huskies moved quicky to fill the vacancy created when DeBoer left for Alabama.
Washington athletic director Troy Dannen was tasked with his first big decision since taking over in October and tried to rapidly provide stability for a football program coming off its best season in more than three decades.
Fisch has received rave reviews for his work at Arizona, especially this past season when the Wildcats finished 10-3, were third in the Pac-12 standings and beat Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl. Arizona is moving to the Big 12 starting next season but is facing financial issues within its athletic department, and Fisch could see more stability at Washington.
Arizona is the first head coaching gig for Fisch, who bounced around between the college and professional game as an assistant for most of his coaching career. He is 16-21 in his three seasons with the Wildcats.
Fisch, 47, would be the fourth head coach at Washington since the 2019 season. Chris Petersen stepped away from coaching following the 2019 season. Jimmy Lake lasted nearly two seasons but was fired with two games left in 2021, leading to the hiring of DeBoer.
Landing Fisch would conclude a tumultuous week for Washington.
The Huskies were beaten by Michigan 34-13 in the national championship game last Monday, the first of a series of losses in a five-day span. A significant number of key contributors from that 14-1 team declared for the NFL draft, including a few players that were thought to be considering a return for 2024.
But the big blow came Friday when DeBoer left after two seasons and 25 victories to take over at Alabama following the retirement of Nick Saban. Washington fans thought they were getting long-term stability when DeBoer was hired, but the success over his two seasons raised his profile enough to make the short list for the Crimson Tide job when Saban stepped away.
Whoever takes over at Washington will face a first task of trying to stabilize any additional roster defections and put together a roster that’ll face bigger challenges moving into the Big Ten next season.
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AP Sports Writer Tim Booth in Seattle contributed to this report.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football