Jedd Fisch admits he hoped he could face Jim Harbaugh in first year at Washington

Jedd Fisch wanted to face Jim Harbaugh during his first year at Washington, going head-to-head with his former mentor.

Fisch’s relationship with Harbaugh goes back a bit, having coached under him while at Michigan in 2015 and ‘16 as the QBs coach. Fisch and Harbaugh, along with their families, built a close relationship.

He’s on Harbaugh winning, and winning big, with the Los Angeles Chargers during his second stint in the NFL. But he wanted that college matchup.

“I hope nobody shows any pictures of how I was dressed for the national championship game and holds it against me in Seattle,” Fisch said at Big Ten Media Days. “We were Harbaugh guys. You know my wife and I are very close with Jim and Sarah. I talked to him the day of the game. I talked to him the morning after, I didn’t have any expectation of coaching in Washington.

“(At Michigan, I coached) there for year one and year two, we won 20 games, we were a bad spot away from being in the Big Ten championship game. So I get it, you know, and I think that being with Coach Harbaugh was phenomenal.”

Fisch was in attendance following the conclusion of Arizona’s season in 2023. Of course, he rooted for his old boss.

“I was kind of hoping that he was going to be here for one more year so I could have the privilege of saying that I got to coach against him,” Fisch said. “I coached against him one time as an offensive coordinator. We lost 42 to 10, so that wasn’t very good. But I’m just so happy for him and his family that they’re now with the Chargers. He’s going to do an amazing job. I believe wholeheartedly he’s going to be one of the five guys that have won a national championship and Super Bowl.”

The stars aligned for the two to match up against one another with Fisch taking the Washington gig and the Huskies moving to the Big Ten.

Heck, the Huskies and Fisch host Michigan October 5th this season in an anticipated national championship rematch. Here’s the interesting part of that though.

While Fisch will coach against one of his former stops, Harbaugh could be in attendance. Now this is pure speculation, but that first weekend of October is a bye week for the Chargers.

Why not honor the national champion winning coach on campus that week? Maybe Fisch will get his “matchup” so to speak, after all.