Jedd Fisch slams ‘ridiculousness’ of coaching carousel rumors

There are still three weeks left in college football’s regular season, with conference championship games, bowl season and a 12-team College Football Playoff still to come after that. But with nine Power 4 head coaching jobs already open — including high-profile vacancies at Penn State, LSU, Florida and Auburn — the coaching carousel rumor mill has begun, with some rumblings involving Washington’s Jedd Fisch.

Over the course of the last few weeks, the Huskies head coach has been floated as a candidate for his alma mater, Florida, where he previously served as a graduate assistant. He’s also been linked to the vacancy at UCLA, where he worked as the Bruins’ offensive coordinator (and interim head coach) in 2017.

But while some coaches might be flattered by their inclusion on coaching hot boards, the entire ordeal has proven nothing short of frustrating for Fisch. In addition to publicly reaffirming his commitment to Washington, the 49-year-old took aim at such speculation and the hurdles it helps create.

“I would say those lists are made by people that have no idea what’s going on, honestly,” he said. “They don’t know what’s happening in our program. They have no idea how excited I am about the youth in our program. They have no idea how excited I am about the fact that we’re playing six or seven true freshmen. No idea how excited I am about the fact that Demond Williams, I believe, has a chance, over the next year or two years after this, to be one of the all-time best quarterbacks that have come through this area.

“I don’t think they would know how I enjoy coaching here. That we’ve spent a ton of money into building this program the way we want to build it. That I had a great hand in all the facilities. I was a big part of making the decisions on how we wanted to recreate this space to give our players an unbelievable opportunity to have a recovery room that they never had, working on making sure that they have the best nutrition they can possibly have, give them great new meeting rooms, new office spaces for our coaches. I think unfortunately, what happens it they just want to tie coaches to lists. And then we have to sit here and defend it.”

#Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch said “those lists are made by people who have no idea what’s going on” in regard to being a candidate at UCLA and Florida. Also opened up about speculation that his family doesn’t like Seattle. pic.twitter.com/tVJm8PHM0c

— Aaron Coe (@Coe_Aaron) November 10, 2025

Fisch proceeded to admit that being tied to job rumors doesn’t just affect the program’s recruiting efforts, but also its current players and staff. He also took especial exception to those who have noted that his family has remained in Arizona in the two years since he left the Wildcats to become the Huskies head coach.

“The ridiculousness of people that want to claim that because my wife and daughters are living in Arizona, because I have a 16-year-old who’s been in five different schools in the last eight years to finish her high school, has anything to do with my decision. Or the ridiculousness of just putting my name on a list just to do it. Only that doesn’t [just] affect recruiting. It affects our team. It affects our staff. My hope is that, our players, our coaches, our families understand how much we love it at Washington.”

On the one hand, Fisch’s frustration is certainly understandable, especially when it comes to the real-life ramifications. On the other, those rumors are merely a reality of a job that pays him nearly $8 million per year.

Ultimately, Fisch isn’t the first head coach to have his name attached to coaching hot boards, nor will he be the last. And it’s also worth noting that his name was included on such lists two years ago when he left Arizona for the Washington job.