Jedd Fisch On Michigan Departure: ‘Tough Because You’re Leaving Something So Special’


UCLA offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch opened up on the difficult decision to leave his post on the Michigan Wolverines coaching staff for the Bruins.


Less than two weeks after being let go by the Jacksonville Jaguars as the team’s offensive coordinator, Jedd Fisch was snapped up by new Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh. Himself an NFL outcast (who ironically was announced as the program’s new head man on the same day, December 30, 2014, that Fisch was fired from Jacksonville), Harbaugh had a quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for a team coming off a year in which the offense ranked No. 111 nationally in points, 115th in yards per game and 85th in passing yards per game.

Under Fisch’s tutelage, Michigan was able to shuttle in new quarterbacks in successive seasons and climb the Wolverines’ ppg to 11th nationally. The results were enough to generate significant interest in Fisch, and ultimately led to him accepting a job this past offseason as offensive coordinator for the UCLA Bruins.

Despite now holding residency on the Left Coast, Fisch holds his tenure in Ann Arbor in high esteem.

“It was obviously an incredible experience here and I loved every minute of it,” Fisch told Detroit News. “The way we divided up the responsibilities and the opportunity to coach the quarterbacks here was great.”

Ultimately, though, the lure of running his own offense was too much to turn down.

“But the fact I get to do the whole offense again, it was a special opportunity to take. It was hard, though, because how much I loved it here.”

Having left one tradition-laden program for another, UCLA’s new offensive coordinator respects what kind of opportunity he has with the Bruins. Especially since it allows him to further his career in that he gets to learn from another former NFL head coach.

“When you take a job you’re not just taking the current job you’re taking everything that goes along with the program, which also makes Michigan so tough to leave because you know you’re leaving something so special,” Fisch said. “Obviously, there’s the John Wooden factor, his success with the basketball program has had, will always have, the idea of playing in the Rose Bowl for all your home games (were draws).”

“There’s only three programs in all of college football that have an NFL head coach that’s a college head coach. UCLA is one of three (Jim Mora), Michigan is one of the three and Alabama is the third. The opportunity to be a part of that is something special, as well. It’s another head coach to learn from.”

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