If UW coach Jedd Fisch wants to stop talk that he might leave, there’s a way

What bothers me most about college football’s coaching carousel is not the increasingly transient nature of its participants.

Nor is it the fact that a coach can not be taken at face value when he looks into a camera and extols the virtues of (Insert College Name Here) as the one place he most wants to be.

What bothers me most, what prompts me to grit my teeth and bark expletives, is when a coach acts put upon because people are speculating he might leave for another job.

That is exactly what Washington coach Jedd Fisch did earlier this week. After two weeks of declining to address speculation he might leave for the now-open job at Florida, his alma mater, or maybe even UCLA, Fisch finally gave in.

“The ridiculousness of just putting my name on a list, just to do it,” Fisch said to reporters on Monday. “(Not only) does that affect recruiting, it affects our team, it affects our staff and my hope is that our players, our coaches, our families understand how much we love it at Washington.”

Notice he didn’t say he was staying.

Of course, I wouldn’t trust him completely even if he did.

That is not a criticism of Fisch. It’s a recognition of how the game is played at this level.

Kalen DeBoer spent months in 2023 saying how much he liked being at Washington only to bolt for Alabama days after the Huskies played for the national title. That created the opening for Fisch, who had spent months saying how much he liked being at Arizona only to bolt for Washington.

I have an alternative to this chaotic and largely amoral system. In fact, this solution already exists at a different level of the same sport. Before I get to that, though, let’s look at why things are the way they are.

In college football, coaches sign contracts to work for a school. These contracts, however, do not bind those coaches to the schools for the length of the deal. In fact, it’s not the number of years on the deal that indicate how long a coach can be expected to remain in place, but the size and structure of the buyouts. These buyouts are the contractual provisions that allow one side to terminate the agreement by paying a specific amount of money.

A school can fire the coach, but in order to do so, it must buy him out by paying a specified amount of money. This is what LSU and Brian Kelly are currently arguing about and potentially litigating. In Fisch’s case, he would be owed $33,686,666 if he were to be fired without cause during this season.

Conversely, if a coach wants to leave for another job, too, he has to buy his way out though it’s often his next employer that winds up footing the ball. When DeBoer left Washington, Alabama paid his $12 million buyout. If Fisch were to leave for another job on or before Jan. 8, 2026, the buyout is $10 million. On Jan. 6, it drops to $6 million.

Will Fisch stay?

I think so. I’m not sure Fisch is a big enough name for Florida, and it has been at least 30 years since UCLA was considered a better job than Washington though perhaps the Bruins will come up with a Godfather offer Fisch feels he can’t refuse.

I hope Fisch stays. While Saturday’s loss in Wisconsin may be still giving off fumes, the Huskies are significantly better in Fisch’s season and if they add to the nucleus that is developing on both sides of the ball they should contend for a playoff berth next season.

However, given the ease with which players can now transfer, I’m also quite aware that Fisch could move and take a chunk of those talented players with him. There’s nothing Fisch can say—short of announcing he’s signed a new contract with Washington—that would make me certain he’s coming back.

I recognize that this puts Fisch in something of a no-win position. If he declines to speak on speculation—as he did the past two weeks—there are people who take that as an indication he’s looking to leave. When he does speak on the speculation—as he did Monday—there are people like me who refuse to take his words at face value.

What stops me from feeling any sort of sympathy is the knowledge that it doesn’t have to be this way.

After all, this doesn’t happen in the NFL.

No one is wondering if Mike Macdonald is going to leave the Seahawks after this season to take a job with a blue blood like the New York Giants or perhaps a franchise closer to where he attended college in Georgia. The Dallas Cowboys didn’t get to come sniffing around the Minnesota Vikings coach last offseason, talking about their facilities and the power of their brand.

Yet that sort of thing is standard operating procedure in college football. Some of this is due to the reality that college football has a more entrenched hierarchy than the NFL. But mostly, college football’s coaching carousel reflects the power of its coaches. They’re able to insist on contracts that allow them escape hatches to move up the pecking order if a school that is richer and/or more prestigious comes calling.

I understand this, and to a certain extent, I accept it. I refuse, however, to feel bad when a coach like Fisch points out the difficulties that come from people speculating about his potential departure.

Fisch may not have designed this system, but it’s absolutely built for his benefit. Besides, if he really wanted to eliminate speculation about his future, there’s one sure fire way to do it: Write it into his contract.

Danny O’Neil was born in Oregon, the son of a logger, but had the good sense to attend college in Washington. He’s covered Seattle sports for 20 years, writing for two newspapers, one glossy magazine and hosting a daily radio show for eight years on KIRO 710 AM. You can subscribe to his free newsletter and find his other work at dannyoneil.com.

This story was originally published November 11, 2025 at 11:10 AM.