Report: Former Patriots assistants Steve Belichick, Vinnie Sunseri interviewing with Jedd Fisch, Washington
Jedd Fisch is looking towards some members of the New Englands Patriots as he fills his staff with the Washington Huskies.
According to ESPN’s Field Yates, Patriots OLB coach Steve Belichick and RB coach Vinnie Sunseri are interviewing for defensive jobs with the Huskies on Friday. Yates noted there’s a connection between the coaches, as Fisch previously spent 2020 with New England.
“A pair of Patriots assistant coaches — OLB coach Steve Belichick and RB coach Vinnie Sunseri — are interviewing for defensive jobs on Jedd Fisch’s staff at University of Washington today,” Yates posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Belichick called plays for the Patriots’ defense each of the past 4 seasons, while Sunseri (who played for and then coached for Nick Saban at Alabama and also played 3 seasons in the NFL) has coached on both sides of the ball.
“There’s familiarity with Fisch, who spent the 2020 season on New England’s staff as well.”
Those would be fascinating additions to Fisch’s staff. With his father Bill Belichick seemingly taking the year off, Steve Belichick could move towards the college game in 2024, while Vinnie Sunseri is no stranger to the sport.
Time will tell if Jedd Fisch is able to land the pair of New England assistants, but it would be a huge boon to the program if they’re able to do so.
Jedd Fisch on Washington: ‘We are not going to rebuild’
The landscape of college football changed after a wild couple of weeks, beginning when the Michigan Wolverines and Washington Huskies faced off for the national title.
Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer subsequently left for Alabama, and the Jedd Fisch era is officially underway for Washington, as he assumes DeBoer’s mantle as the program’s head coach.
During his introductory press conference, Fisch addressed a number of topics, including his plans and visions for the Huskies in 2024 and beyond. And according to the new Washington headman, he has no intention of tearing down what has already been built. The way Fisch sees it, there won’t be a ‘rebuild’ at Washington in 2024, but there will be ‘reconstruction.’
“I could not be more proud to be here and to build this program together,” said Fisch. “It is the most unique situation to take over a team that just finished No. 2 in the country and are 14-1. The job that was done here is fantastic and I understand that; I recognize that. We are not going to rebuild, but we are going to reconstruct.”
As Fisch continued his address, he briefly highlighted what he meant by the statement while also giving credit to the individuals present who helped build Washington up to its current stature.
“There’s a roster that has a lot of changes, there’s going to be a lot of new players, a lot of new faces, new coaches, new support staff. But this team, the team that did achieved some of the greatest accomplishments in all of college football deserves a ton of credit. And for all of you that are here, please give yourselves a hand you certainly deserve it.”
On3’s Justin Rudolph contributed to this article.