One of the perks of having the Seattle Seahawks right down the road from the University of Washington is that both share similar travel logistics.
Over the summer, Jedd Fisch reached out to Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald to get some tips and insight when it comes to what has allowed the first-time coach to lead the NFL organization to a 9-1 record on the road over his two seasons in Seattle.
Following an 0-7 record away from Husky Stadium in his first season at UW, Fisch listened and has already used some of the advice which — in part — is why the Huskies are 2-0 on the road to start 2025 with victories at Washington State and Maryland, the latter of which carries more weight when it comes to this Saturday’s game at Michigan.
“We adjusted our schedule when we played Maryland to make it similar to what the Seahawks do for a 4 o’clock kickoff,” Fisch said of the changes made that stemmed from his conversations with Macdonald.
Although the long-time NFL assistant coach emphasized that no matter what time UW kicks off, it doesn’t bear a true impact when it comes to the final result on the scoreboard at the end of the game.
The Huskies will face the Wolverines, who had a rough showing this past weekend in a 31-13 loss at USC, with a 12:00 p.m. Eastern start time, which would be 9 a.m. if the game were played at Husky Stadium.
Still, Fisch wants to get a win no matter where the Huskies are playing on any given Saturday.
“We adjusted our schedule this week to make it similar to what the Seahawks do for their 10:00 a.m. kickoff, which is 1:00 p.m. eastern,” Fisch said of the logistical changes ahead of the third road game of the season in Ann Arbor.
In addition to flying out a day early, Fisch noted UW chartered a bigger plane this season and moved back the schedule so the team leaves later in the day on Thursday, which is different from what the Huskies did in 2024.
While his conversation with Macdonald has returned solid information, when it comes to traveling to the state of Michigan, Fisch may be better off seeking out former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, who led Seattle to a 37-31 overtime win against Detroit Lions in the Motor City back in September 2023 while Macdonald saw the team lose 42-29 to the Lions on the road last season.