Jedd Fisch, Steve Belichick each have coaching roots in New Jersey
Plus our weekly Big Ten picks.
Washington’s head coach and defensive coordinator each wound up in Seattle via New Jersey, albeit in distinct fashion from one another.
Jedd Fisch grew up in Livingston, N.J., less than an hour north of SHI Stadium, site of Friday’s Big Ten matchup between Washington and Rutgers. A star tennis player at Hanover Park High School, Fisch found his way to football when his mother, Deborah, was dating Bill Roca, a famed high-school coach in the area who, at the time, was coaching at Bergen Catholic.
Fisch started as a ball boy, and became so enamored with the game that he chose to attend the University of Florida primarily so he could try to work for coach Steve Spurrier — which he eventually did, after much persistence.
His mom still lives in New Jersey, and Fisch estimates maybe 50 family members and friends will be in attendance Friday. When he steps off the team bus, he’ll be wearing custom sneakers — part of a weekly project in partnership with Adidas and former UW safety Sean Vergara — that highlight his New Jersey roots, including a tribute to his older brother, Jordan, who died in March after battling cancer. Fisch also wears his brother’s initials — “JAF,” for Jordan Adam Fisch — on the right side of his visor.
“I’d go back a lot to see him, and see my mom,” Fisch said. “That’s my only sibling, so now it’s just my mom. All my friends are there. We always go back in the summer and the holiday season and whatnot.”