The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Jedd Fisch

Followed Kalen DeBoer. Jedd Fisch inherited a Power Program I Washington and won with it.

The journeyman
32–33
2017–now · 3 stints
← all coaches

In his own words

Awaiting signal — no quotes collected from this staff yet this cycle.

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerUCLAARIZONAWASHINGTONPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelUCLA, 2017: 1-1, Power Program III2017-1.6Arizona, 2021: 1-11, Regional Program I2021Arizona, 2022: 5-7, Regional Program II2022Arizona, 2023: 10-3, National Program III2023+1.9Washington, 2024: 6-7, Power Program I2024Washington, 2025: 9-4, Power Program I2025Washington, 2026: in progress, Power Program I2026-3.9One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 1st career season — faster than 57% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #1 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Arizona, 3 seasons
+1.9
Regional Program I → National Program III.
Washington, 3 seasons (active)
−3.9
Power Program I → Power Program I.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

50%60%UCLA2017–2017– 0.0ptArizona2021–2023▲ 2.8ptWashington2024–2026▲ 5.3pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)
How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints
Arizona5.6pt#222 of 258 · less than most
Washington10.5pt#122 of 258 · a typical amount

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

2–3 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Dan Lanning.

Rivalry record
2–3
40.0% · 3 rivals
One-score games
7–7
50.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
1–1
50.0%
Buyout owed
$33,686,666
bigger than 83% of FBS buyouts
Rivalry ledger
Oregon0–20%
The toughest matchup
vs. Dan Lanning0–3
3 meetings, 2022–2025
’22 L · blew a 3-pt lead’24 L’25 L
0% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
1–1 50.0%
Power Program
5–14 26.3%
National Program
10–6 62.5%
Regional Program
7–2 77.8%

Coaching career

2024–now
Washingtoninheritor
Power Program I → Power Program I
Jedd Fisch inherited a Power Program I Washington and won with it.

6th-best Washington tenure of 18 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Outperforms his recruiting talent on offense and performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+17.7 pts
#44 of 208 · more than most
Defense vs. talent
+6.8 pts
#75 of 208 · a typical amount
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Kalen DeBoer (2022–2023).

Season202420252026Trend
Record & result
Record6–79–40–0
PostseasonL bowlW bowl
Recruiting rank#47#23#13
Style — pass rate
Pass rate49.844.555.1
Coordinators
OCBrennan CarrollJimmie Dougherty
DCStephen BelichickRyan WaltersRyan Walters
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense658411
Defense359250
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%47.546.653.2
Red-zone pass%46.144.333.3
4th-down go%opp. territory31.935.727.3
Roster construction · portal era

A portal-built roster.

Portal arrivals
59
3.1★ avg rating
Portal departures
91
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-32
#40 of 187 FBS stints
Notable portal arrivals with a modeled NIL value
Demond Williams Jr. On3 modeled · $4,000,000
On3’s modeled estimate (social reach / exposure), not money actually paid — shown per player, never totaled.
Who they bring in

Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)
6′2″, 237 lbs
across 50 of 59 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
+5.1 lbs
#95 of 255 · a typical amount
Avg. class year
Jr
#135 of 255 · a typical amount
Top states: CA (23), WA (8), AZ (3), TX (3), CO (2)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
59.8
position-weighted
Talent lost
63.3
position-weighted
Net
-3.5
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Demond Williams Jr. (QB) from Arizona
Biggest loss: Demond Williams Jr. (QB) to the portal
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
OC: Brennan Carroll → Jimmie Dougherty · 2025
65th pct84th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 47.5% → 46.6% (-0.8 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 42% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
DC: Stephen Belichick → Ryan Walters · 2025
35th pct92nd pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
Roster size, by position
Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)
Quarterback
201 lbs
6′0″ avg · #688 of 767 · less than most
Running back
217 lbs
5′10″ avg · #99 of 791 · more than most
Wide receiver
196 lbs
6′1″ avg · #248 of 791 · a typical amount
Tight end
248 lbs
6′4″ avg · #264 of 731 · a typical amount
Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters
Interior line
309 lbs
6′5″ avg · #367 of 779 · a typical amount
D-line
303 lbs
6′4″ avg · #63 of 753 · more than most
Linebacker
228 lbs
6′1″ avg · #402 of 772 · a typical amount
Cornerback
187 lbs
6′2″ avg · #556 of 771 · a typical amount
Safety
194 lbs
6′1″ avg · #232 of 346 · a typical amount
Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys P via the portal
75%
#5 of 29 stints
Postseason detail2024: Lost to Louisville 34–35 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl2025: Beat Boise State 38–10 Bucked Up LA Bowl

18 NFL Draft picks: Michael Penix Jr. (2024), Rome Odunze (2024), Troy Fautanu (2024), Ja'Lynn Polk (2024), Roger Rosengarten (2024), Bralen Trice (2024), Jalen McMillan (2024), Edefuan Ulofoshio (2024) + 10 more

15–11
2021–2023
Arizonacaretaker
National Program III → National Program III
Jedd Fisch held Arizona at National Program III for 3 seasons.

14th-best Arizona tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+2.7 pts
#97 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
-19.9 pts
#174 of 208 · less than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Kevin Sumlin (2018–2020) · succeeded by Brent Brennan (2024–2026).

Season202120222023Trend
Record & result
Record1–115–710–3
PostseasonW bowl
Recruiting rank#75#22#40
Style — pass rate
Pass rate51.056.653.8
Coordinators
OCBrennan CarrollBrennan CarrollBrennan Carroll
DCDon BrownJohnny NansenJohnny Nansen
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense66794
Defense33858
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%49.253.451.8
Red-zone pass%49.051.943.4
4th-down go%opp. territory28.342.119.4
Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals
32
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
71
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-39
#116 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.

Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.

Avg. size (raw)
6′2″, 234 lbs
across 23 of 32 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
+9.9 lbs
#19 of 255 · more than most
Avg. class year
Sr
#9 of 255 · more than most
Top states: AZ (7), CA (5), FL (3), LA (1), MI (1)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
51.9
position-weighted
Talent lost
56.5
position-weighted
Net
-4.6
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Jayden de Laura (QB) from Washington State
Biggest loss: Kevin Doyle (QB) to the portal
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
DC: Don Brown → Johnny Nansen · 2022
33rd pct8th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
Roster size, by position
Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)
Quarterback
209 lbs
6′2″ avg · #479 of 767 · a typical amount
Running back
215 lbs
5′11″ avg · #123 of 791 · more than most
Wide receiver
189 lbs
6′1″ avg · #568 of 791 · a typical amount
Tight end
246 lbs
6′5″ avg · #340 of 731 · a typical amount
Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters
Interior line
313 lbs
6′5″ avg · #217 of 779 · a typical amount
D-line
272 lbs
6′4″ avg · #629 of 753 · less than most
Linebacker
232 lbs
6′1″ avg · #218 of 772 · a typical amount
Cornerback
192 lbs
6′1″ avg · #255 of 771 · a typical amount
Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys Quarterback via the portal
67%
#16 of 206 stints
Buys ATH via the portal
14%
#32 of 146 stints
Grows Running back from high school
75%
#162 of 208 stints
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
Postseason detail2023: Beat Oklahoma 38–24 Valero Alamo Bowl

5 NFL Draft picks: Roy Lopez (2021), Gary Brightwell (2021), Jordan Morgan (2024), Jacob Cowing (2024), Tanner McLachlan (2024)

16–21
2017–2017
UCLAcaretaker
Power Program III → Power Program III
Jedd Fisch held UCLA at Power Program III for 1 season.

14th-best UCLA tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+12.7 pts
#58 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
-47.1 pts
#209 of 208 · less than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Succeeded by Chip Kelly (2018–2023).

Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
Grows Interior line from high school
100%
#198 of 224 stints
Postseason detail2017: Lost to Kansas State 17–35 Cactus Bowl

10 NFL Draft picks: Takkarist McKinley (2017), Fabian Moreau (2017), Eddie Vanderdoes (2017), Jayon Brown (2017), Conor McDermott (2017), Josh Rosen (2018), Kolton Miller (2018), Kenny Young (2018) + 2 more

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