Arizona hires Pats assistant Fisch as coach
Jedd Fisch was a law student wanting a chance to witness history when he followed O.J. Simpson’s lawyers into the courthouse elevator. After being confronted, he made a good enough case to earn a seat for the trial of the century. When Fisch wanted to serve as a graduate assistant under Steve Spurrier, he left notes on the windshield of the Florida coach’s car for 450 straight days. He got the job.
That type of ingenuity and tenacity helped Fisch earn high-level jobs across the NFL and college football, working for Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan and Pete Carroll.
Now Fisch gets a chance to run his own team. Not bad for a coach who never even played the game in high school.
Arizona hired Fisch on Wednesday, hoping the former Patriots quarterbacks coach can turn around a program that fell into disarray during three years under Kevin Sumlin.
Arizona ended the 2019 season on a seven-game losing streak and went 0-5 this year, capped by allowing the most points in the 121-year history of the Territorial Cup in a 70-7 loss to rival Arizona State. Sumlin was fired the next day after going 9-20 in three seasons.
Terry Bowden hired by La.-Monroe
MONROE,LA.» Former Auburn coach Terry Bowden has been hired by Louisiana-Monroe to rebuild a program that went 0-10 this season. Bowden, the son of former Florida State coaching great Bobby Bowden, has
been serving as a graduate assistant at Clemson the last two years.
Terry Bowden, 64, had a successful stint as Auburn’s head coach from 1993-98, going 47-17. That came to a tumultuous end with a midseason firing.
After a long run in broadcasting as a television and as a radio analyst, he returned to coaching in 2009 with Division II North Alabama. Bowden was back in Division I with Akron, leading the Zips from 2012-18 and going 35-52 with two bowl appearances.
Tulsa’s Collins wins Nagurski
Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins has won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy honoring the nation’s best defensive player.
The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Collins totaled
54 tackles and 11.5 tackles for loss and four interceptions. The junior had three sacks against Oklahoma State. Two of his interceptions were game-clinchers — a late one against SMU and a 96-yard return for a touchdown against Tulane in overtime. GEORGIA SOUTHERN 38, LOUISIANA TECH 3» Shai Werts had three touchdown runs and threw a 65-yard scoring pass to help Georgia Southern (8-5) beat Louisiana Tech (5
5) in the New Orleans Bowl.