Arizona Football: How Jedd Fisch Changed the Optics in Tucson

After drawing plenty of criticism following his hiring, Arizona Football head coach Jedd Fisch is quickly changing the optics of the program. 

Flashback to December 23rd, when Jedd Fisch was named the Head Football Coach for Arizona Football. Initially, it was a universally panned decision, leading to calls from fans and alumni for Dave Heeke and Dr. Robert Robbins to step down.

Then Coach Fisch stepped to the podium and the rest, well, as they say, is history. He won over the press conference in spades, even winning over the most ardent of Arizona Football followers with relative ease.

Arizona Wildcats

He won over alumni by setting up calls to keep them abreast of what was and will continue to be going on within the program.

Fisch appeased the fans and alumni by bringing in Arizona Football legends Chuck Cecil and Ricky Hunley to the staff. He then brought in defensive mastermind Don Brown, who along with Cecil and Hunley will bring a level of toughness to the defense that Arizona has been longing for.

In offense came Brennan Carroll from the Seattle Seahawks as the Offensive Coordinator, he poached Jimmie Dougherty from Pac-12 South foe UCLA to mentor the QB’s and direct the passing game, and best of all he went up to Tempe and converted Scottie Graham to the good side in the Territorial Cup rivalry.

He then proceeded to get one of the best up and coming strength and conditioning coaches in the country out of Tuscaloosa in Tyler Owens and made him the Wildcats Director of Strength and Conditioning.

Lastly, Fisch opted to build out more of an operations department for the football program, mirroring more of a professional setup. He brought in another Wildcat favorite in Brandon Sanders as Coordinator of Football Alumni and High School Relations.

While the process of hiring Fisch may still be criticized by fans, however, there is growing confidence in the head coach for having a plan for the maligned football program. It is also amazing how we all wanted something so badly, despised the decision to hire Fisch initially, only to be completely wrong but pleasantly surprised in the process.

As we have all seen thus far, Coach Fisch has quickly changed the opinions of everyone, and is becoming an Alumni and fan favorite, all while changing the optics of Arizona Football.

Then it happened… the greatest Arizona Football player of All-Time came home.

As if Fisch needed any more proof that he was committed to developing a championship-caliber program at Arizona, he delivered Tedy Bruschi. Tedy was brought home to Tucson to be Senior Advisor to the Head Football Coach, which will allow for him to be an asset to all within the program, as well as likely become a big boon for fundraising for the program.

By bringing Bruschi home, all while allowing him to continue to serve as the best studio analyst that ESPN has for football, Fisch easily won over the fanbase, and likely bought himself the time needed to develop the Wildcats into the team he’s imagining.

The hype doesn’t stop with football…

One thing that has become prevalent about Coach Fisch, is that he truly cares about the school despite being part of the University of Arizona since Christmas.

He regularly uses his platform on social media to hype Adia Barnes and the Top 10 Women’s Basketball program. He also gave deserved props to Dave Rubio and the Women’s Volleyball team after sweeping the defending National Champions in Stanford over the weekend, even shouting out Jessica Castles’ 9.9 performance in gymnastics.

Coach Fisch has continually preached that “It’s Personal”, and well no one believes you unless you act on it yourself, and well coach, you’ve made a true believer out of me as your actions and dedication have shown why you were ALWAYS the right choice to be the Head Football Coach at the University of Arizona! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!