A New Way of Doing Things in Tucson

You don’t know if you don’t try,” is a mantra Arizona Wildcat fans know all too well from the Kevin Sumlin era.

Sumlin came in with a great recruiting background and as a coach who put players into the NFL.

No matter what happened at Texas A and M, that did not happen at Arizona

When the coaches of local powerhouse Salpointe Catholic grumble that they rarely saw Coach Sumlin or his staff it’s fair to say he didn’t put in the effort.

Fast forward to the beginning of the Jedd Fisch tenure and his opening remarks about how his staff might not get every priority recruit, especially in state, but it wouldn’t be for a lack of effort.

And the results have been almost immediate from bringing in Noah Fefita, the starting quarterback at Servite High School to flipping 4 star tight end Keyan Burnett from USC to Arizona.

But there is one example that perfectly encapsulates the difference in the Fisch regime.

4 star Colorado defensive end transfer Jason Harris didn’t sign with Arizona out of high school in 2020. This was a problem as his brother Jalen was already on the team and his father, Sean, was one of the best players to ever come through Tucson and the University of Arizona

But that changed with Fisch.

“He just had a great vibe about him,” said Sean. “He let us know he’s going to pour everything into his job to get the best players and the best coaches he could. And that’s what he’s done.”

To be sure, this isn’t going to be an immediate overhaul as can be easily observed, and while it remains to be seen exactly what kind of coach Fisch is there probably won’t be a lack of talent a few years from now.

“I’ve been through the game and I want both of my sons to have fun and be on good teams. Jedd knows what he’s doing. It might take a little bit of time but Arizona is going to get there.”