By John “Gator” McHenry
It’s no secret.
There has already been an extraordinary number of head coaching positions open up this season and there will be more once the season ends.
Depending on how one looks at the reactions by university athletic directors with successful coaches, they are either panicking or responding with needed swiftness. Three of the top candidates at winning programs, Indiana, SMU, and Nebraska have already signed their coaches up with new contracts, hopefully securing them for another season. Washington and Athletic Director, Pat Chun, is not one of those schools. Why?
I am nervous. We have seen this before and it didn’t turn out well.
For personal reasons that we will not speculate on, there are some who believe Washington Coach Jedd Fisch might be willing to look at a couple of those positions. He is also an alum of one of those schools, University of Florida.
There is nothing that coach Fisch or the athletic department has said that points to coach Fisch leaving. Unfortunately, there has been no public comment about his commitment to the University of Washington. Until that happens, there will be speculation.
In every Athletic Director’s file cabinet sits a list of potential coaches that will be called upon should a major change happen in their program. Let me suggest one name that should be on Pat Chun’s list.
Jimmy Dougherty.
He has a rather impressive assistant resume. Coach Dougherty has been in the business for over 20 years. He has had statistical success everywhere he has been.
In his most recent Washington experience, coach D served as the Passing Game Coordinator and 2025 offensive coordinator. He took Demond Williams and helped him to an 82-for-105 freshman season in 2024 where he broke the single-season Husky records for completion percentage (.781) and pass efficiency rating (176.9). In 2025, Demond has been the single most important piece of Washington’s winning season.
At Arizona in 2021-23 he served as Passing Game Coordinator & Quarterbacks, coaching redshirt-freshman quarterback Noah Fifita, the FWAA Offensive Freshman of the Year and the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year. Fifita, who began the year as the backup, but started nine games, led the ‘Cats to a seven-game winning streak. For the season, he completed 241-of-333 (.724) passes for 2,869 yards, 25 touchdowns and six interceptions. As a team, Arizona QBs completed 71.6 percent of their passes for 4,008 yards. Fifita was eighth in the nation in passing efficiency and fifth in completion percentage while the Arizona passing offense ranked No. 8 in FBS.
Coaching trees matter. We learn the X’s and O’s as assistants. We learn how to organize a program from our bosses – other successful coaches. It is his relationship to his mentors that make me want to think that Jimmie Dougherty may be ready. In 2016, Daughtery was an Offensive Analyst at Michigan, learning under Jim Harbaugh. In 2009-12, he was serving his first stint here at Washington diagramming plays on the board as the Passing Game Coordinator & Wide Receivers coach under Steve Sarkesian.
Personally, I have never really been an advocate for promoting an assistant at a school such as Washington. I have always said, “find me a guy that can win with limited resources at smaller schools. Let’s see the success, I would hire him. . . and, no retreads” such as Sumlin at Arizona or… sorry. . . Tyrone Willingham.
However, this weekend, Nick Saban listed a handful of coaches that won national championships after taking over with no head coaching experience – and when EF Hutton speaks… (I know, before your time).
In today’s game, recruiting is everything. Jimmie has been very involved with Washington’s very complex recruiting process. He has been successful in helping organizing the recent recruiting successes. Recruiting is as much as a process as it is personality. Jimmie seems to get it.
When coaches leave, fans are disheartened. So, it’s understandable when there are calls to hire former Huskies. “Guys that care” about the program. Jimmie is not that, but he is a coach that has spent a lot of time in Seattle. He was here once. He came back for a second appearance. He understands the rain, the fickle fans, the ins-and-outs of the current NIL situation. He is not a Husky, but he is as close as one can get.
I don’t know if coach Fisch will leave for his Alma Mater, University of Florida, or not. I don’t know if he has any desire to leave. But, it is going to be an interesting season of coaching dominoes. I hope this has been a complete waste of time.
Pat Chun needs his list, just in case. If he should look at coordinators as an option, I think Jimmie Dougherty should be on that list.
