I doubt any Wildcat fan is surprised by Jedd’s move to Washington. Very disappointed for sure, but not shocked. We could see it coming. He’s shown enough promise to earn his invite to the big leagues. That doesn’t lessen the sting as the Wildcats are caught up in the post-Saban effects. Immediately, we wonder if there’s a fairer way for this sort of transaction to happen. Something that might make us feel that we’re not back where we were before Jedd healed so much of the long term damage in place when he arrived in Tucson.
Will any process improvements help losing school(s) better survive a forced coaching change? Fundamentally (and unfortunately), I think the answer is no. The program losing its coach is always going to end up damaged in this scenario. Nothing can prevent it. Just as Washington is viewed as the loser in the Kalen DeBoer transaction, Arizona is the guaranteed loser in the Judd Fisch transaction. But let’s reflect on the options here:
So far, we have a four tier hierarchy working, with each school emerging worse than it was before. Alabama is weakened by Saban’s retirement. Washington is similarly lessened in the DeBoer to Fisch transition, Arizona is the loser in the Fisch to Brennan change, and San Jose State will ultimately be worse after their Brennan for TBD swap.
I changed jobs a handful of times, all for the same reasons Jedd Fisch left for Washington: more money, more interesting opportunities, lessened risk, better location… Arguably, each of my employers had invested resources in my development and would incur new costs to train my replacement. But there were no buy out fees or damages calculated for my career changes. My first thought on how to reduce the damage of college coaching changes like this would be for the hiring school to compensate the losing school financially somehow, but this isn’t practical at all, is it? Coaches have every right to upgrade there circumstance and college football already has a buy out system in place with the thought that this might stop elite coach cherry picking (even though it doesn’t). Jedd Fisch’s buy-out (if any) is miniscule compared to his talent and didn’t stop Washington’s hiring process.
I graduated from the U of A in December 1983. I had one football season with Tony Mason as head coach. After he departed, Arizona hired Larry Smith from Tulane and enjoyed 7 seasons of entertaining, high quality football, before Larry upgraded his position by joining the enemy at USC. Larry was followed by Dick Tomey (a similar hire to Brent Brennan, a quality mid-level coach replacing what seemed like an irreplaceable guy). Tomey coached the Wildcats for 14 successful seasons, before fans/administrators like me thought we could do better and Arizona joined the coaching carousel, chasing hot items year after year. Strangely enough, Jedd Fisch wasn’t really a hot guy when the Wildcats selected him. He was a (rare) guy who really wanted the job after Kevin Sumlin failed mightily and left the program at rock bottom after three cringe-worthy seasons in Tucson.
So all this brings us back to the disappointment of losing a great hire (like Larry Smith). This new era of improved player rights in college football opens a 30 day transfer window for Arizona players following a coaching change. Very early information suggests the player outflow carnage may not be too bad, but let’s wait and see.
Welcome aboard, Brent Brennan! We hear exciting things about you and are glad to have you on board. Bear Down!!!