Penn State is scheduled to host Washington at Beaver Stadium Nov. 9, and Washington will be playing that game under the direction of a first-year coach.
Late last week, Kalen DeBoer who coached Washington to a national title game appearance this past season, accepted the task of succeeding the legendary Nick Saban at Alabama.
Days later, it looks like Washington has found DeBoer’s successor.
Per a report from 247Sports’ Jason Scheer, who covers Arizona for WildcatAuthority.com, Jedd Fisch is expected to leave Tucson and accept the job at another program that was once part of the old PAC-12. Scheer reported that “Fisch first interviewed with the Huskies on Saturday afternoon and there was some thought that he was not the first choice.”
Jedd Fisch is expected to accept the Washington head coaching jobhttps://t.co/KNDL1oKSbT
— Jason Scheer (@jasonscheer) January 14, 2024
“On Sunday afternoon,” Scheer wrote, “Kansas head coach Lance Leipold turned down the job and the search shifted back to Fisch. A second interview occurred sometime within the last 24 hours and financials were discussed with everything being ironed out on Sunday afternoon.”
Had Leipold accepted the Washington job, it would have added an extra layer of intrigue for Penn State fans.
Leopold’s former offensive coordinator at Kansas, Andy Kotelnicki, became Penn State’s OC in December.
But Leipold appears to be staying put at Kansas, indicating as much in a post to X (formerly Twitter) Sunday afternoon.
“The guys come back to campus tomorrow,” he wrote. “Can’t wait to get back to work with them in ‘24.!! Rock Chalk!!”
Scheer posted to X that Fisch “could be on a plane to Seattle as soon as tonight.”
Arizona went 1-11 in Fisch’s first season (2021). This season, it went 10-3, winning its last seven games capped off by an Alamo Bowl triumph over Oklahoma.
