Washington is hiring Arizona’s Fisch

Washington hired Arizona's Jedd Fisch to succeed Kalen DeBoer as the next coach of the Huskies on Sunday.

A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press that Fisch had agreed to a seven-year contract that will pay him an average of $7.75 million annually.

Less than a week after playing for the national championship, the Huskies moved quickly to fill the vacancy created when DeBoer left for Alabama on Friday.

Washington athletic director Troy Dannen was tasked with his first big decision since taking over in October and tried to rapidly provide stability for a football program coming off its best season in more than three decades and heading for the Big Ten next season.

Dannen targeted Fisch on Saturday and flew to Tucson, Arizona, on Sunday to complete the deal and bring the Huskies new head coach with him back to Seattle.

"Just can't wait to see you, meet you, meet our players. Let's go get that championship we've been talking about," Fisch said in a video message he posted on social media to Huskies Nation.

Washington scheduled a news conference to introduce Fisch for Tuesday.

He also posted a thank you note to Arizona.

Fisch has received rave reviews for his work at Arizona. He took over a program in 2021 that had sunk to the bottom of the Pac-12, and had the Wildcats competing for a conference title in 2023. The 11thranked Wildcats finished 10-3, were third in the Pac-12 standings and beat Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.

Arizona was expected to have a conference championship-contending team as it entered the Big 12 in 2024.

Now, with the transfer portal open for Wildcats players for 30 days, the question becomes who will follow Fisch to Washington?

Fisch's move comes as Arizona tries to shore up financial difficulties before its move to the Big 12 next year.

Athletic director Dave Heeke announced a plan last Thursday to help the school recover from a university-wide $240 million miscalculation of projected cash on hand.