Andrus has a long and varied football resume that can be checked out by clicking here.
Mike Riley has been head coach of the San Diego Chargers and has also been head coach at Oregon State and Nebraska.
Todd Haley was wide receivers coach of the New York Jets, Chicago Bears, and Dallas Cowboys. He served as the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals from 2007-08, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs from 2009-11, the offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2012-17, and the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns in 2018, but he was fired in Week 8 of his first season with the team.
Finally, Kevin Sumlin was as the head football coach at the University of Houston from 2008-11, Texas A&M University from 2012-17, and at the University of Arizona from 2018-20.
One other familiar name weighed in that he has spoken with the league and there is interest on both sides.
Addressing a rumor this morning. I am honored that the new @USFL is interested in me for a HC position. We have had several discussions. Although this is a consideration, nothing has been finalized…#Facts
“We are tremendously excited to have Jedd Fisch come to Tucson to reinvigorate our football program and lead us to championships,” Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke said in a statement. “Jedd has a unique ability to teach the game of football effectively to his players and to inspire them with his passion. We conducted a comprehensive national search with an impressive array of candidates but in the end, Jedd is exactly what our program needs right now and I cannot wait to partner with him to move us forward.”
The 44-year-old Fisch has been a part of championship seasons throughout his career, including with the Los Angeles Rams as a member of head coach Sean McVay’s staff as the Rams won the NFC championship and appeared in Super Bowl LIII. Fisch’s coaching pedigree also includes working under future NFL Hall of Famers Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll, as well as college football Hall of Fame member Steve Spurrier and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh.
“I am honored and humbled to lead the University of Arizona football program,” said Fisch. “I am 100% committed to building a program that all Wildcat fans will be proud to support. We will study hard, compete hard, recruit hard and be relentless in all aspects of our program.”
Arizona went 9-20 — 6-17 in the Pac-12 — with no bowl appearances under Sumlin and lost all three games to Arizona State.
Arizona fired Kevin Sumlin after the Wildcats lost 70-7 to the Arizona State in a rivalry game
Losing rivalry games are painful. When you lose to an in-state rival by 63 points, it doesn’t bode well for a program or its coach.
A day after Arizona State slammed Arizona, 70-7, the Wildcats fired head coach Kevin Sumlin on Saturday.
The Wildcats had seven turnovers overall and gave up 70 points for the first time since 1949 to lose their record 12th straight game spanning two seasons.
“Everybody’s frustrated. disappointed, everybody’s not happy right now,” Sumlin said.
Sumlin was 9-20 as coach at Arizona and not beat the Sun Devils in three tries.
The Wildcats were 0-5 under Sumlin in 2020. They scored 87 points while allowing 199.
The only loss by less than double digits came in their opener against USC, when they allowed two Trojan touchdowns in the final minutes of the season opener.
NASHVILLE – The American Football Coaches Association’s annual convention took place Jan. 12-14 at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn.
Many coaches from across the nation and the world were present. Vols Wire was in attendance and discussed a wide range of topics with various coaches from career achievements, what lies ahead and talking concepts that included the Air Raid mesh with Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin.
The event kicked off with Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck discussing his career and how he has risen from a junior wide receiver at Northern Illinois attending the AFCA Convention and knowing he wanted to coach. He has since climbed the coaching ranks, becoming a first-time head coach at Western Michigan (2013-15). There, his ability to build a program with its culture on display was at the forefront and he has since moved on to rebuild Minnesota’s program in the same capacity.
Current and former University of Tennessee coaches were present at the annual event. UT Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer also made his presence.
The likes of former Tennessee assistant and current Duke head coach David Cutcliffe discussed his time at UT coaching under Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer.
“Coach Majors was the most organized practice guys,” Cutcliffe said.
The Duke head coach mentioned Majors made it a point for assistants to write down any mistakes they made and learn from it.
“The big thing with Phillip (Fulmer) was perseverance,” Cutcliffe continued regarding the pair of former UT head coaches. “He was the most consistent, perseverian person that I have ever been around.”
Cutlciffe also discussed with Vols Wire his openness to changing coaching tactics as the game does with rules, the transfer portal and other items such as offenses changing.
“I have learned more in the last five years than I have in the previous 15,” he said. “We all have to be prepared to do that in our line of work.”
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Recently departed Tennessee running backs coach David Johnson was also present at the AFCA Convention representing his new school, Florida State. Johnson discussed the amount of hard work he gave to Tennessee over the last two years with Vols Wire, simply saying that he worked hard during his time on Rocky Top.
Other coaches present at the Convention discussed UT’s coaching staff vacancy with Vols Wire. The common theme was that Jeremy Pruitt will take his time to fill the opening Johnson has left behind, much like he did when hiring offensive coordinator Jim Chaney last offseason. Johnson left UT on Jan. 4.
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones also took part in the 2020 AFCA Convention on its second day. Jones, who finished his second season as an analyst at Alabama in 2019, mentioned to Vols Wire that he eventually plans on getting back into a head coaching position again and is enjoying his time under Nick Saban.
One coach told Vols Wire that Jones will enhance what went well during his Tennessee tenure and will fix what could have been better when he becomes a head coach again.
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Former Tennessee defensive graduate assistant Jon Shalala arrived at UT during the summer of 2016 under Jones and defensive coordinator Bob Shoop. Shoop went to Mississippi State in the same capacity for the 2018-19 seasons.
Shalala remained at Tennessee throughout Pruitt’s first season as head coach in 2018. He then followed Shoop to Mississippi State and served as an assistant to inside linebackers throughout the 2019 season.
Mississippi State fired head coach Joe Moorhead following the Bulldogs’ bowl game and have since hired Mike Leach for his replacement. Shalala has experience handling transition when Tennessee went from Jones to Pruitt following the 2017 season. He remains currently within Mississippi State’s program under Leach and told Vols Wire that everything has been good so far during the transition.
Shalala filled in for linebackers coach Chris Marve during the Music City Bowl against Louisville. Marve left Mississippi State to join Mike Norvell’s Florida State coaching staff.
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
University of Tennessee at Martin running backs coach Sean Fisher was selected to the AFCA 2020 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute. Fisher previously discussed his coaching career on the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” with newly hired USA Academy head coach Rush Propst. The interview can be listened to below.
