Hansen's Notebook: 'Fisch Tales' show spending has hit another level

Subscribers can read this week's "Hansen's Notebook" in its entirety in the Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, edition of the Arizona Daily Star (Page C2) — either in print or at Tucson.com/EEdition. Or, dig into the Hansen archives at Tucson.com/Hansen.

As if you didn’t already know, the future of college football is more, more, more and me, me, me.

For example: Jedd Fisch donated $1 million of his $7.2 salary in a recent fundraising campaign that produced $50 million for the Washington athletic department.

At Arizona, Fisch was relentless in his demand for better facilities, higher salaries and for additional staff positions. More this. More that. He was allowed to pay Tedy Bruschi $175,000 a year to be a “special advisor’’, visiting Tucson once a year. Former UA athletic director Dave Heeke agreed to many of Fisch’s demands, all of which compounded the UA’s enormous debt service.

At Washington, Fisch has taken it to another level.

“I think everything needs to be refreshed," he told Seattle reporters. “I think you need to have a top-of-the-line nutrition program, a top-of-the-line hydrotherapy program, a top-of-the-line training program. You need to be able to have a team room, a locker room, meeting rooms that are all at an elite level.’’

Fisch’s demands are over the top. He said the UW football facility "needs the ability to put zero-gravity chairs in every locker, the ability to put Normatec boots in every locker, and better ventilation for helmets and shoulder pads."

Fisch even created separate locker rooms for NFL icons Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick, who infrequently visit the UW compound. Talk about excess.

Where does this excessive spending stop? Who knows. From now on, I’m calling them the Fisch Tales.