"He can build a winner from next to nothing": Popular CFB analyst Joel Klatt makes a bold claim for new Big Ten HC Jedd Fisch for the 2024 season

The hire of Jedd Fisch to be the next Washington Huskies' football coach impressed college football pundit Joel Klatt. UW announced on Sunday that Fisch will replace Kalen DeBoer, who departed the program to replace Alabama Crimson Tide legend Nick Saban.

“He did an unbelievable job at Arizona," Klatt said on "The Joel Klatt Show." "Nobody really talked about it because it was never a team threatening for the playoff. This is one of the great stories in college football that didn't get covered. (16:00)

"... This guy is a very good coach and it doesn't matter how many guys walk out the door because he's proven that he can build a winner from next to nothing."

Jedd Fisch at Arizona

Joel Klatt had reasons to praise the work of Jedd Fisch while at Arizona.

Arizona was the first team that Fisch was a permanent head coach of. He had spent his time as an assistant coach in the NFL and a range of college football programs. His only experience as a head coach was for two games as the interim head coach of the UCLA Bruins.

Fisch was hired by the Wildcats after Kevin Sumlin was fired after Arizona did not win a game in 2020.

In his first year, like his predecessor, Fisch struggled, going 1-11.

In 2022, his second year with the program, the Wildcats improved to 5-7. This was also the first year the Wildcats had quarterback Noah Fifita in their ranks, someone who would lead this team's improvement.

This season, Jedd Fisch and his Arizona Wildcats showed the college football world that they were not the same team that had struggled to win a game a couple of years ago.

For their final season in the Pac-12, Fisch led the Wildcats to a 10-3 record, a third-place finish in the conference and their first Bowl game since 2017. After beating the Oklahoma Sooners in the Alamo Bowl, they finished ranked No. 11, their best ranking since 1998.

Fisch turned this team around, and his reward was taking charge of the team that made the national championship game. Can he work his magic with the Huskies?

Can Fisch lead the Huskies to another national championship game?

Fisch has experience in turning a struggling team into a strong-performing team.

But unlike the Wildcats, the Huskies are already a strong team. They had their turnaround under Kalen DeBoer, who took them from strugglers to the national title game.

The challenge for Fisch is to maintain the strong performances that the Huskies have had in the past two years. From what was seen with his time at Arizona, he can do this, but this time, the eyes of the nation will be on him, something that did not happen with the Wildcats.

WATCH: Dejected Arizona players walk out of stadium after Jedd Fisch's 3-minute farewell interaction with team