Arizona hires Patriots’ QB coach as its head coach
Arizona hired Jedd Fisch as its head coach Wednesday, hoping the New England Patriots’ quarterbacks coach can turn around a program that fell into disarray in three years under Kevin Sumlin.
“I first met Jedd Fisch three years ago and I was immediately struck by his desire and his drive,” said Robert C. Robbins, Arizona’s school president. “His story of rising in the football coaching world without having played a down of football was certainly unique, but also told me something about his determination and drive.”
Fisch, 44, didn’t play football in high school or college, but he landed a job as a graduate assistant at Florida with a note-leaving campaign on former head coach Steve Spurrier’s car.
The ploy sent Fisch on a journey across college football and the NFL.
He was hired as New England’s quarterbacks coach under Bill Belichick this year after two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams as senior offensive assistant and assistant offensive coordinator. He previously served as offensive coordinator at Jacksonville and served as an assistant with Seattle, Denver, Baltimore and Houston.
Fisch spent the 2017 season as UCLA’s offensive coordinator and served as interim coach the final two games after Jim Mora was fired. Fisch also was the passing-game coordinator and quarterbacks/wide receivers coach under Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and had offensive-coordinator stints with Miami and Minnesota.
• Former Auburn head coach Terry Bowden has been hired by Louisiana-Monroe to rebuild a program that went 0-10 this season.
Bowden, 64, was 47-17 at Auburn from 1993 through ’98. He has been an assistant at Clemson the past two years.
• Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins has won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy honoring the nation’s best defensive player,...