Fisch excited for ‘true reboot’ with Washington

• Heather Dinich, ESPN

  • Senior WriterJul 25, 2024, 01:42 PM ET Close College football
  • press reporter Signed up with ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of Indiana University

INDIANAPOLIS– First-year Washington coach Jedd Fisch will lead the Huskies into their inaugural season in the Big Ten with what he said is a “brand-new team” from the one that advanced to the College Football Playoff last season before losing to Michigan in the national championship game.Fisch said Washington, which has won 25 of its previous 28 games, has 46 brand-new scholarship players; has an entirely brand-new coaching staff, training personnel, strength personnel and nutrition staff; and will have 21 of 22 brand-new starters when the Huskies’season starts versus Weber State on Aug. 31.”That has never ever been done before,”stated Fisch, who spoke to the media Thursday on the last day of Big 10 media days at Lucas Oil Stadium.” And we’re thrilled about that difficulty. We have 4 players on our team that taped one start. We are now beginning over and it’s a real reboot, however so is college football. It’s a lot of new.” Fisch, who replaced Kalen DeBoer, said he brought 12 players and 21 staff members with him from Arizona, where he led the Wildcats to one of the most impressive turn-arounds in the sport throughout his three-year period there. Arizona was 1-11 in 2021 however ended up last season 10-3 and ranked No. 14 in the College Football Playoff choice committee’s final survey and No. 11 in the Associated Press survey. Fisch said his current offending assistants have actually coached together for 4 years and have actually been together for every game with Fisch as a head coach.Editor’s Picks

“So happy those guys were a part of 1-11 to 10-3 transition where we ended up finishing 11th in the nation,” he said. “… This group came here at the University of Washington because we believe in Husky football. We believe we have a chance at an opportunity to win champions like we have in the past. This is a program that has actually won 2 championship games. This is a program that’s won 18 championship game. And this is a program that our company believe will continue on that track.”

The concern is whether the Huskies can preserve that track after such sweeping turnover. According to ESPN’s Expense Connelly, Washington returns simply 36% of its production from last season. That includes 19% of its offensive production, which is the most affordable of all 134 FBS teams. The Huskies will have experience at quarterback, as Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers began 40 games over four seasons. The pass receiver corps, though, is among the most diminished in the country, as 10 of the leading 11 pass catchers from a year back are gone. Giles Jackson is the lone returner, with 106 yards.Asked what realistic expectations are for this season, Fisch stated they wish to be”the hardest challenger that everybody plays. “”I want our opponents to seem like they left that game and they played 2 games in a row,”he stated.”Our expectation is that we’re going to be the toughest group that they play each week, and after that from there, we’ll let the score look after itself. We’re not going to count wins and losses right now and try to find out what that appears like. We inform our group there is no scoreboard. We just require to head out there and play our finest games and see what that appears like.”