Long before Fisch took charge of the Huskies, he shared a college dorm and fraternity membership with Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman at the University of Florida. The two former Gators remain in close contact, as Fisch revealed Monday in a conversation with Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
“He’s one of my best friends, and I talk to him very, very regularly throughout the season and offseason,” Fisch said. “We never worked together—almost did a couple of times—but he’s just incredible at what he does, and he really built his career from the ground up.”
During their college years, both Fisch and Roseman had ambitions of reaching the roles they now hold. While it’s their reality today, back then, their dreams often led to good-natured teasing.
“I would always say what I was going to do,” Fisch recalled. “I’d tell him, ‘I’m going to work for (former Florida head coach) Steve Spurrier, then coach in the NFL, then become a college head coach, and eventually lead an NFL team.’ And no one mocked or laughed at me more than Howie. … We were both lucky enough to turn those dreams into reality.”
Former UW quarterback Brock Huard found Fisch’s comments particularly interesting in light of his future with the Huskies, sharing his thoughts during his Blue 88 segment on Tuesday.
Fisch’s future
When Fisch was hired last January to succeed Kalen DeBoer, there was immediate speculation about how long he would remain in the Pacific Northwest. He arrived from Arizona, where he had spent three seasons as head coach, and his coaching career had been marked by frequent moves—never staying in one place for more than four years. Since 2008, he had held coaching roles with nine different teams across both college football and the NFL.
A widely discussed theory was that Fisch would eventually leave for the head coaching job at Florida when it became available. Given the Gators’ struggles with three consecutive losing seasons before their recent turnaround, that position had seemed likely to open up as early as this offseason.
However, former UW quarterback Brock Huard doesn’t believe Fisch is likely to leave for another college job. Instead, he sees Fisch’s ultimate goal as aligning with the ambitions he once shared with Roseman in college—reaching the NFL.
“The main concern with Jedd Fisch if he succeeds—and that would be great, especially with (quarterback) Demond Williams if they become Big Ten contenders and make the playoff—isn’t another college job,” Huard said. “What he hinted at yesterday when talking about Howie Roseman is that his next step could be as an NFL head coach. I think that’s the real path for Jedd Fisch.”