Washington expected to hire Patriots coach Steve Belichick as defensive coordinator: Source

Steve Belichick, the former New England Patriots defensive play-caller, is expected to become the Washington Huskies' new defensive coordinator, a program source said. The athlete Sunday. Bill Belichick's 36-year-old son has called the Patriots' defense over the past four seasons. The younger Belichick has coached in New England since 2012 and worked with Jedd Fisch in 2020, when Washington's new coach was the Patriots' quarterbacks coach.

The recent success of former NFL assistants as college defensive coordinators makes Belichick's hiring an interesting one. In 2023, three of the top eight ranked defenses in the FBS are coordinated by DCs who came from the NFL. Michigan ranked No. 4 under former Ravens assistant Jesse Minter. Notre Dame was No. 5 under former Bengals assistant Al Golden, and UCLA was No. 8 under former Ravens assistant Danton Laine.

Much of Washington's new staff came with Fisch from Arizona, where he led the Wildcats to a 10-win season in his third year with the U of A program. The entire offensive staff — OC/O-line coach Brennan Carroll, QB coach Jimmy Dougherty, tight ends coach/ Special teams coordinator Jordan Pawpaw, running backs coach Scottie Graham and wide receivers coach Kevin Cummings followed from Tucson as did secondary coach John Richardson and defensive line coach Jason Kaufusi.

The addition of Belichick gives the Huskies the unique distinction of having the sons of Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick as UW coordinators.

The Huskies played for the national title and went 25-3 the last two years under Kalen DeBoer but now must replace all but two returning players from last year's Pac-12 champions as they move to the Big Ten.

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