For two years, Jedd Fisch’s decision to walk away from Arizona has lingered as a sore spot for the Wildcat faithful, and now, one of the program’s biggest legends is ready to confront him about it. As Washington heads into bowl week, Rob Gronkowski made it clear he still hasn’t let Fisch off the hook for leaving his alma mater behind.

While previewing the Huskies’ LA Bowl matchup, Gronk didn’t hold back, openly questioning why Fisch chose to leave Arizona after engineering one of the most impactful turnarounds in program history. And with Fisch now leading Washington into a Gronk-hosted bowl game, the timing only made the moment louder.

It’s also the kind of setup that only works because this isn’t some random media beef. Gronk is literally tied to this bowl week, and Fisch is walking straight into his orbit. So yeah, it’s personal, but it’s also perfectly timed.

Rob Gronkowski, on the Dec. 11 episode of Bucked Up LA Bowl, demanded an answer from Jedd Fisch on why he left Arizona after creating the biggest impact the program had seen in years.

“Jedd Fisch is the head coach of the Washington Huskies,” said Rob Gronkowski. “I’m gonna have a word with him because he was the head coach for the University of Arizona, my alma mater, for three years, and turned the program around. And then he took the job over with the Washington Huskies, so I gotta have a word with him that he should’ve stayed as the head coach of the University of Arizona. But that’s okay because the University of Arizona went nine and three this year.”

Washington now has to face Boise State at SoFi Stadium on Dec. 13, and Fisch basically walked into a “Gronk wants answers” segment as part of the build-up.

While Gronk is still demanding an explanation, Fisch has already shared his reason for taking the $7.5M-ish Big Ten jump over Arizona, the kind of paycheck-and-platform combo most coaches don’t even pretend they’d ignore.

“I was fully committed to it. Then an opportunity came to join the Big Ten and coach for the national championship runner-up,” said Fisch in an interview with The Athletic, after accepting Washington’s offer. “It was an opportunity I had to say yes to. And I wanted to say yes, I want to be clear on that. I wanted to say yes when Washington called. If they didn’t call, then we would be sitting here talking about what a great spring we’d be having in Arizona.”

Fisch served as Arizona’s HC from 2021 to 2023, lifting the school from a 1-11 record to 10-3, finishing third in the Pac-12 conference. He was the first coach to help Arizona reach a 10-win season since 2014, finishing 11th in the final AP poll rankings and winning the Alamo Bowl. 

For Arizona fans, that’s the part that still stings: he didn’t just make them decent, he made them nationally relevant again, and then dipped right when it felt like the runway was finally built.

Two years have passed, and let’s take a look at where the two schools are now.

Arizona and Washington’s 2025 season and what it says now

After Jedd Fisch left Arizona, Brent Brennan was hired as the head coach. The Wildcats under Brennan had initial struggles, finishing the first season 4-8, losing bowl game eligibility. However, Brennan’s Wildcats bounced back, finishing the 2025 regular season with a 9-3 record, finishing 4th in the Big 12 conference. They’ll now play the Holiday Bowl against SMU on Jan. 2 in San Diego, a legit stage to cap the bounce-back season and a way louder ending than where they were a year ago.

On the other hand, Jedd Fisch’s Washington finished the 2025 regular season 8–4 (5–4 Big Ten) and will play Boise State in the LA Bowl on Dec. 13, 2025, at SoFi Stadium. And Boise State isn’t just showing up for vibes; they’re the kind of team that turns these bowls into a stress test if you come in sloppy.

Call it what it is: Arizona landed the cleaner bowl headline, Washington landed the Gronk-branded spotlight. Either way, it’s still a checkpoint. Fisch is in his second straight bowl with the Huskies, while Brennan is getting his first real “prove-it” stage at Arizona. Across the last two seasons combined, Arizona is 13–11, and Washington is 14–11. And just to make this whole thing even louder, Fisch’s name has already started floating around in early Michigan coaching chatter.

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