Feb. 25, 2026 at 6:31 pm
By Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Washington is not planning on hiring a new offensive coordinator to replace Jimmie Dougherty, coach Jedd Fisch said Wednesday.
“I’ve run the offense the last six years,” Fisch said Wednesday during an interview with On3’s “Andy & Ari” podcast, hosted by Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman. “I’ll continue to do that. I’ll continue to call the plays.”
Instead of hiring a new coordinator, Fisch said the Huskies are instead searching for a senior offensive assistant who can help with game planning. The UW coach said he has not settled on the right person to fit that role yet, but wants to bring in an outside voice with fresh perspectives and ideas.
Longtime NFL coach Matt Cavanaugh, who spent spells as an offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens and Washington Commanders, was reportedly in consideration for the senior assistant job according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz. Cavanaugh was the offensive coordinator on Brian Billick’s Baltimore staff when the Ravens won the 2000 Super Bowl against the New York Giants, 34-7.
Cavanaugh hasn’t coached college since 2008, when he was the offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh. His most recent football job was with the New York Jets as a senior offensive assistant in 2021.
“Play calling’s not going to change,” Fisch said. “Game planning’s not going to change.”
Dougherty, who spent the past five seasons as Fisch’s quarterbacks coach at Arizona ant Washington, was promoted to offensive coordinator in February, 2025, after Fisch’s longtime offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll departed to join his father Pete Carroll’s staff with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. Dougherty announced he was parting ways with the Huskies on Feb. 17, 2026.
Fisch also confirmed J.P. Losman, who spent the 2025 season as an offensive quality control coach at Washington, has been promoted to quarterbacks coach. He will be one of the 10 assistants with off-campus recruiting privileges.
Losman, the former first-round NFL quarterback who played for Fisch with the Seahawks in 2010, previously spent stints as a senior offensive assistant at Clemson and as an assistant director of player personnel at Oklahoma before joining Washington’s staff a year ago. Fisch praised Losman’s recruiting ability and his connection with junior quarterback Demond Williams Jr.
“All of last year, he was able to build a really strong relationship with Demond and the rest of the quarterbacks,” Fisch said.
The UW coach also reiterated he has no intentions to give up calling plays for the offense, though he said if he ever feels like it’s necessary he’ll make that decision when the time comes.
Fisch said balancing head coach duties and play calling is difficult, but credited his support staff — particularly defensive coordinator Ryan Walters, senior director of player personnel Matt Doherty and senior director of football operations Matthew Hayes — for helping him run the program while also calling the offense.
“In terms of calling the game, that’s what I love to do,” Fisch said. “That’s what we’ve been trained to do is coach football. And I don’t want to give that up. I’m really proud of what our offense did from one year to the rest.”
Andy Yamashita
By Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Washington is not planning on hiring a new offensive coordinator to replace Jimmie Dougherty, coach Jedd Fisch said Wednesday.
“I’ve run the offense the last six years,” Fisch said Wednesday during an interview with On3’s “Andy & Ari” podcast, hosted by Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman. “I’ll continue to do that. I’ll continue to call the plays.”
Instead of hiring a new coordinator, Fisch said the Huskies are instead searching for a senior offensive assistant who can help with game planning. The UW coach said he has not settled on the right person to fit that role yet, but wants to bring in an outside voice with fresh perspectives and ideas.
Longtime NFL coach Matt Cavanaugh, who spent spells as an offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens and Washington Commanders, was reportedly in consideration for the senior assistant job according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz. Cavanaugh was the offensive coordinator on Brian Billick’s Baltimore staff when the Ravens won the 2000 Super Bowl against the New York Giants, 34-7.
Cavanaugh hasn’t coached college since 2008, when he was the offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh. His most recent football job was with the New York Jets as a senior offensive assistant in 2021.
“Play calling’s not going to change,” Fisch said. “Game planning’s not going to change.”
Dougherty, who spent the past five seasons as Fisch’s quarterbacks coach at Arizona ant Washington, was promoted to offensive coordinator in February, 2025, after Fisch’s longtime offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll departed to join his father Pete Carroll’s staff with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. Dougherty announced he was parting ways with the Huskies on Feb. 17, 2026.
Fisch also confirmed J.P. Losman, who spent the 2025 season as an offensive quality control coach at Washington, has been promoted to quarterbacks coach. He will be one of the 10 assistants with off-campus recruiting privileges.
Losman, the former first-round NFL quarterback who played for Fisch with the Seahawks in 2010, previously spent stints as a senior offensive assistant at Clemson and as an assistant director of player personnel at Oklahoma before joining Washington’s staff a year ago. Fisch praised Losman’s recruiting ability and his connection with junior quarterback Demond Williams Jr.
“All of last year, he was able to build a really strong relationship with Demond and the rest of the quarterbacks,” Fisch said.
The UW coach also reiterated he has no intentions to give up calling plays for the offense, though he said if he ever feels like it’s necessary he’ll make that decision when the time comes.
Fisch said balancing head coach duties and play calling is difficult, but credited his support staff — particularly defensive coordinator Ryan Walters, senior director of player personnel Matt Doherty and senior director of football operations Matthew Hayes — for helping him run the program while also calling the offense.
“In terms of calling the game, that’s what I love to do,” Fisch said. “That’s what we’ve been trained to do is coach football. And I don’t want to give that up. I’m really proud of what our offense did from one year to the rest.”
Andy Yamashita
