One of the most undervalued storylines of the off season in college football is at Washington, where Jedd Fisch has managed to bring Ryan Walters back for a second season calling the Huskies defense.
Last fall, in his first season calling the defense after a previous stint as the head coach at Purdue, Walters led a defensive unit that ranked among the top 15 in college football in points allowed per game, and the Washington defense also ranked 11th nationally in rush defense in year one under Walters guidance as well.
Bringing back a number of key staffers set to build on a 9-4 season a year ago, Fisch is now set to make a an impressive veteran addition on the offensive side of the ball.
Matt Cavanaugh, a veteran NFL assistant with multiple stops as a play caller in the league, is expected to join the Washington staff, per On3.
The report ads the longtime NFL assistant will serve as a senior offensive assistant, where he will work closely with Fisch.
A former standout quarterback at Pitt in the mid-to-late 70's, Cavanaugh spent over a decade in the NFL with the Patriots, 49ers, Eagles, and Giants after being picked in the 2nd round of the 1978 NFL Draft.
Immediately upon his playing career ending in 1991, Cavanaugh joined the coaching ranks at Pitt coaching the Panthers tight ends. He would spent two seasons in that role before making the jump to the NFL in 1994 as the quarterbacks coach for the Cardinals, and he's been a mainstay in the league ever since.
After a one-year stint as the quarterbacks coach for the 49ers, Cavanaugh landed his first coordinator opportunity in the league in 1997 with the Chicago Bears and that would lead to play calling opportunities with the Ravens (1999-2004) before a brief return to his alma mater and college football as the offensive coordinator at Pitt from 2005-08.
He'd return to the NFL and mentor quarterbacks with the Jets, Bears and Redskins before landing his last coordinator opportunity with the Washington Redskins from 2017-18. After a stint with the Redskins as a senior offensive assistant for a season, he would spent a season with the Jets in the same capacity, where he most recently worked back in 2021.
HIs addition on offense would pair him with Fisch, as well as Michael Switzer (OL), Jordan Paopao (TEs), Kevin Cummings (WRs), and Scottie Graham (RBs).
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