Jedd Fisch -- Deny Today, Depart Tomorrow?

Reading this it struck me one of the fundamental problems that this program has and Fisch as its face gets the brunt of …

Too many people are still overly bruised at DeBoer leaving what could have been a fruitfully long long-term relationship and traded that in for the risk/reward that a job like Alabama can offer. The consensus behind it was that UW lowballed DeBoer (some truth in that but we're also fooling ourselves if we think we're spending at the top of college sports) and therefore its easy to blame the Administration and underlying infrastructure …

Enter Fisch and while the hire was likely the best possible given the circumstances you have an East Coast lawyer coming into Seattle and a skitterish community that has never trusted what they perceive to be outsiders that don't embrace their value system … which is what also really hurt with DeBoer because his Dakota sensibilities were such a match

Whether Fisch is or isn't the guy the bigger issue at the heart of anything tied to UW is what the infrastructure looks like and if it is ready to play in today's college football …

• Is Coug Chun a cold blooded AD willing to put $$$ before feelings or is he the try hard AD that could that has a demonstrated track record of operating without means and finds ways to do more with less?
• Does the infrastructure of the AD that revolted against the last guy who was busy trying to change things behind the scenes and drove the hiring of Coug Chun due to his strong relationship with their idol Jen Cohen who left UW for an "easier" gig that also allowed her to be a Coug on the Prowl (allegedly)
• A new University President who has signaled that he's ok not being on the same level as Oregon when it comes to B10 payments (as part of the Private Equity deal) without any real pushback on how he'd solve those gaps OR what the lowering of the UW brand would mean to both the Athletic and Academic reputations of UW
• An Athletic Department that has been asleep at the wheel for a long period of time and is struggling to secure new donors to be "revenue sources" … from what I've heard this is particularly an issue among the younger alumni
• A donor base that historically has been skeptical at providing blind money to the Athletic Department and has a desire for positive ROIs versus just donating money because they have "fuck you" money like a lot of programs at the top

So it's fine to throw shade at Jedd Fisch and talk about all of the reasons that he's going to leave eventually (and by default whenever he leaves you'll be FIRST and RIGHT) or the things that you don't like about how he's handled the first 2 years at Washington …

But the unfortunate reality is that the questions that I posed in those bullets are all far more critical issues as it pertains to UW and UW Football than whether Jedd Fisch is the Head Coach or not. The unfortunate reality is that regardless of who the next Head Coach is after Fisch it's almost assuredly not addressing those issues.

If you want UW to be at the top end of the Big10 (and thus at the top ends of College Football) … start with those questions and get them solved. You're just allowing yourself to get distracted by focusing on Fisch and thinking that all that needs to be done is find the unicorn coach and UW will be at the top. Even if that was the answer and possible … as DeBoer showed, there's no guarantee that that coach will stay at UW long-term unless the infrastructure is in place and the money is there to sustain.

But continue to blame Fisch for everything …