Coach Jedd Fisch UofWA Football

[Applause] y so just a reminder the silent auction items are still open uh it'll be it'll be closing at 700 so make your way over there when you can um uh okay so next you may know him as your DriveTime KJR KJR Sports radio host or as a longtime voice of our Seattle Storm we know him as one of our celebrated husky band alumni l ladies and gentlemen our Master of Ceremonies dick Fain thanks leis good to be back good to be back we're going have a lot of fun tonight and it just continues right now because our next presenter comes to Mont Lake after leading the Arizona Wildcats to an incredible turnaround in his three seasons in Tucson taking over a winless program in 2020 he culminated The Rebound with a 10 and3 finish last season a win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl and the 11th ranked finish in the AP poll his offense one of the best in the nation averaging over 36 points per game and nearly 450 yards per game prior to his stay in Tucson he coached for seven different NFL teams including the Seahawks and five other collegiate teams including powerhouses Michigan Florida and Miami in seven short months since he has been here he has completely rebuilt the Husky roster with the 11th ranked transfer class in 2024 the 19th ranked incoming Freshman Class of 2025 I texted Pat Chun the other day I said I'm going to introduce this guy what do you have to say about this guy and Pat said this quote he has attacked the reboot of the udub football program with meaningful results in just a few short months building a 2024 team recruiting a 2025 class that is climbing in the rankings and laying down the foundation that will take our program to the highest levels of college football once again end quote ladies and gentlemen the new head coach the dogs jetfish thank you thank you guys thank you all I appreciate that thank you for that introduction and um always a pleasure to be around band members band supporters because they're the best fans no question about it uh I've done this now for this is my fourth year of being a head coach and being able to uh speak at different events that have to do with the band and by far best energy best crowds best fans and uh best spirit so I appreciate all of you for that you know I was in pro football for 14 years and uh most of my friends uh are still in pro football and uh when I left the the Patriots to come here or to go to Arizona prior to coming here um a lot of my friends asked me you know why would you do that why would you leave the NFL and uh why do you want to get back into college and my answer is always a very simple one word pageantry the pageantry of college sports the pageantry of of college football the energy and the excitement of a Saturday is unmatched uh you you can't you can't even come close to it uh in pro football and it's because of the band it's because of the cheerleaders it's because of the spirit squads it's because of the student section that's really in my mind what has made college football the greatest sport in America uh and it's because of this group that allows the success of those groups so I thank you for that and appreciate all of you um I also would say this that uh we are really excited about all of the transition that has occurred here in the past um seven months uh we love the fact that we're here we we are thrilled that we got this opportunity okay and we're very grateful um that Troy chose my myself my family and the 23 staff members that I was able to bring with me from Tucson um and their families you know when you count it all up we moved about 94 people from Tucson to Seattle and that's um and that's seven players um then it's 87 family members and then it's an additional we probably would say another 11 or 12 committed players that we had at Tucson that flipped over to us so when it's all said and done it was about 106 and um we're so grateful that Washington chose us uh we think that this is the greatest place on Earth to coach uh we believe that uh the greatest setting is real we believe that we've got some work to do to match the success of last year the year before um that was the oldest team in college football that team had 13 players in the NFL currently uh that team you know was recruited by three head coaches ago to to build and create uh something ex extremely special but in the end in the end what what it's all about is can we can we do that can we build it back up to where it was and then can we sustain it for a long period of time uh and that's the one thing that has been missing here is that sustained success coach to coach to coach to coach and uh that's going to be our goal our goal goal is to to have that type of run to have that type of uh success and to win championships uh I've said this you know I really do believe we're going to win a National Championship um in the near future uh to do that you're going to have to and everybody's going to have to commit more do more do things different than they've ever been done before because college football has changed um but the one thing that hasn't changed is at on Saturday if you went to school at the University of Washington at any point in your life you are going to be tuned in and you're going to be excited about the game of football and that's what we love that we have thousands upon thousands upon thousands of alumni that can't wait to see the score and can't wait to participate in water cooler talks about their team and we are so proud that we could represent all of you uh we appreciate the band and we appreciate you allowing the band to travel with us as often as they can we don't want to play games without the band we certainly don't want to play bowl games without the band we certainly don't want to play Conference Championship games without the band and I know that it's all of your support that allows us to do that so together will'll win championships and together we'll form an incredible partnership where um we will sing that fight song at the end of every game loud and proud after a lot of wins so thank you all very much and uh I'll take whatever questions y'all might have here sure so if anyone has any questions we'll take some questions uh before I have to head back to meetings I got one okay right here Rob welcome welcome welcome um of all the places you've coached what's different about the University of Washington so far that you've experienced um I've all I've coached at you know five six colleges I think uh I'll take pro football out of the equation because it's just such a different world but you know I believe that there's a belief system here of a championship culture and that there's a belief that we are expected uh to play at the highest level it's certainly the most comparable to Michigan of anywhere that I've coached and with that there has to be that same standard and expectation of everybody in the community to be Michigan um and then to beat Michigan but um academically you're talking about two of the best academic schools in the entire Big 10 athletically all the sports you're talking about two of the best All Sports in all the Big 10 and you know for my dollar the best band in all the Big 10 coach yes welcome ready for Curt wall sure sorry dick but I listen to a lot of Serious XM and Childers and new heis will tell this crazy story about you and spring break and a certain trial I want to know if it's true and if you'd share it with everybody well anyone that's listen to Serious radio has heard neis will tell the story at least twice a year for at least four years so we're at least that story has been told eight times um I did make it out to the OJ Simpson case when I was in college I did sneak my way into the courtroom I did spend time um behind both the defense table and the prosecutor's table depending on who noticed me last and um it was quite a uh a moment in history when uh I was a sophomore in college at the University of Florida and um called my dad up and said hey Dad I'm flying La I know no one there and uh I'm going there so I can sneak into the OJ Tri [Applause] all right coach you got time for one more question uh it's coming from our drum major Bridget Burke hi uh my name is bridg I'm one of the drum majors in the Husky marching band uh longtime fan firsttime caller um the band would love to know what is your favorite instrument what is my favorite instrument Choose [Music] Wisely well I the only way I can answer that question is I play one instrument for 6 months in fourth grade and it was the [Applause] trumpet I appreciate all of you and thanks so much for all of your support thank you very much coach and before you go [Music]