According to Jack Browne of The Score on Wednesday, New England Patriots quarterback coach Jedd Fisch of Livingston, New Jersey is the new head coach of the University of Arizona Wildcats. Fisch had been an assistant coach in the NFL since 2002, and had jobs with the Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, and Patriots.
While with the Patriots, New England quarterback Cam Newton looked ok this past season. But the bottom line is the Patriots missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Fisch never really developed the kind of chemistry with Newton that was required for New England to contend with the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins in the AFC East. The Patriots missed the playoffs even though the NFL increased the number of teams that made the postseason this year from six to seven teams per conference.
This will be Fisch’s second time being the head coach at the collegiate level. He was previously the head coach of the University of California Los Angeles Bruins in 2017. During that same season, Fisch was also the Bruins quarterback coach and offensive co-ordinator.
The Wildcats fired Kevin Sumlin as their head coach on December 12. Sumlin failed to win a game with the Wildcats in 2020, as the University of Arizona went 0-5. In Arizona’s final game of the season on December 11, they were hammered 70-7 by Arizona State.
Fisch becomes the second assistant coach from the National Football League this month to leave the NFL for college football. On December 19, Brett Bielema of Prophetstown, Illinois announced he had agreed to be the new head coach of the University of Illinois Fighting Illini. Bielema had been the defensive line coach for the Patriots in 2019, and the outside linebacker coach of the New York Giants in 2020.
It is interesting that Bielema left the Giants as their assistant coach immediately, even though the Giants are in playoff contention in the NFC East. New York is at 5-9, and hold the tiebreaker against the first-place Washington Football Team at 6-8. It should also be noted that Bielema takes over from veteran NFL head coach Lovie Smith in Illinois. Smith was the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before being hired as the Fighting Illini head coach in 2016.
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