First-year Washington coach Jedd Fisch is bringing more NFL experience to his staff with the hiring of New England Patriots assistant Steve Belichick as its defensive coordinator, the school announced Tuesday. Belichick spent the last 12 seasons with the Patriots, working under his father and surefire future NFL Hall of Famer Bill Belichick. The younger Belichick spent the last five seasons in a defensive play-calling capacity, though he never held the official defensive coordinator title.
"Great to have the NFL Pipeline here at Montlake!" Fisch posted on social media Tuesday.
Still, the Patriots finished seventh in the league in total defense in 2023, allowing just 301.6 yards per game. With Belichick running the show, New England has finished outside the top 10 in total defense just once since 2019, and during that 2019 season it led the NFL in both total defense and scoring defense.
This marks the first time during his coaching career that Belichick won't be working under his father. He joined New England's staff in 2012 as a defensive assistant and was promoted to safeties coach in 2016. In 2019, his role was expanded to coaching the entire secondary with added play-calling duties. In 2020, he moved to outside linebackers coach.
In his time with the Patriots, Belichick had a hand in winning three Super Bowls, including two in three years from 2016-18.
Once official, both coordinators for the Huskies will have deep NFL ties with legendary coaching bloodlines. Just last month, Washington hired Brennan Carroll, son of longtime coach Pete Carroll, as its offensive coordinator. Though the younger Carroll followed Fisch from Arizona, he previously worked for six years on his father's staff with the Seattle Seahawks.
Washington hired Fisch from Arizona in January to replace Kalen DeBoer, who left the Huskies for Alabama after legendary coach Nick Saban retired. Fisch is fresh off of a 10-win season with Arizona -- the program's first since 2014 -- and now takes over a program coming off a College Football Playoff National Championship appearance under DeBoer into the Big Ten in 2024.
