Jedd Fisch opens up on realistic expectations for Arizona

Arizona Wildcats’ head football coach Jedd Fisch is one of the more underrated coaches across the college football landscape. The past two seasons, he’s gradually built the Wildcats back up, and last year his team made drastic improvements, finishing with a 5-7 overall record. Arizona featured a high-octane offensive attack that boasted several exciting weapons on the offensive side of the ball, including their dynamic dual-threat quarterback, Jayden de Laura.

It was a massive leap in year two for the Wildcats, as they finished with a 1-11 overall record during Fisch’s first season there in 2021. Heading into year three, he’s not shying away from expecting big things from his team in the 2023-2024 campaign.

“Well, I’ll tell you, it’s our best team. It’s our best team. We’re not going to shy away from that. I don’t know what that means in regards to wins, but I do know what it means in regards to the type of players we have, the quality of players we have, the talent we have,” Fisch continued.

“Our guys are going to go out there and play at a very, very high level. If they play at the level that I think we’re going to play at, I think we’re going to win a lot of games this year.”

Recently, the Wildcats’ head man took some time at Pac-12 Media Day to break down what he looks for in prospects that he brings into his program.

“It starts with where we go. We go to programs that win games. I want to bring in as many winners into our locker room as possible. If you could see some of the high school programs that we’ve recruited from recently, they’ve all been ones that have won state championships, all been ones that have competed at the highest level, that know what it takes to win games, work hard.

“I want those kids coming into our program. They have to know that we have a standard. Our standard is a 3.0 GPA or higher, for all 85 scholarship players. You can’t come in here and not expect to be held at a very high standard academically. It really doesn’t matter to me what eligibility means. It doesn’t matter to me when people talk about if he gets to this, he can get in. No, I want someone that’s committed to being a great student,” Fisch said at Pac-12 Media Day.

One of the most high-profile additions Arizona made in the offseason came via the transfer portal, where they added former five-star linebacker Justin Flowe.

Arizona will begin their 2023 campaign against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. That one will kick off on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. MST.

On3’s Grant Grubbs and Riley Gates also contributed to this article.