Jedd Fisch left a lot of his former players feeling disrespected during his final team meeting at the University of Arizona. It lasted less than five minutes.
The 47-year-old college football coach claims that it was not his fault.
Jedd Fisch took over in Tucson in 2021. He won just one game during his first season and five games in year two. However, his ability to recruit and develop athletes led the Wildcats to their just their second 10-win season since 2000 during his third year at the helm.
As a result of the impressive turnaround, Fisch was offered the job at Washington when Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama. He accepted. That decision rubbed a lot of people at Arizona the wrong way.
And then, when given the chance to speak with his players before leaving for Seattle, Fisch spoke for just three minutes. Players were furious. Fans were upset. Understandably so!
Except the length of that meeting was not up to Fisch. He claimed that decision was made for him during a discussion with Ari Wasserman on the ‘Until Saturday’ podcast.
Apparently, if Fisch offered his players a reason for his departure, the NCAA could twist that explanation as recruiting and tampering.
The team meeting was not my choice. The team meeting was absolutely dictated to me from administration and really from the NCAA […]
So the three-minute team meeting, I told them that I loved them. I told them I appreciated them. I told our staff that as many of them that I could bring, I would bring.
— Jedd Fisch, via Until Saturday
It is never easy for a coach to leave his or her current program. Especially after leading that team to new heights. Criticism will always follow.
In the end, though, college football is a business. Regardless of what Fisch was or wasn’t allowed to say, his players would have held some resentment toward his decision. But he had to do what is right for him, just like they need to do what is right for them.
A three-minute speech is a bad look. Except it sounds like Fisch wasn’t presented with the opportunity to say what he was truly feeling in full. That is unfortunate!