Washington’s head coach and defensive coordinator each came to Seattle via New Jersey, although in different ways.

Jedd Fisch grew up in Livingston, New Jersey, less than an hour north of SHI Stadium, where Friday’s Big Ten matchup between Washington and Rutgers took place. A star tennis player at Hanover Park High School, Fisch found his way into football when his mother, Deborah, was dating Bill Roca, a famous high school coach in the area who was coaching at Bergen Catholic at the time.

Starting out as a ball boy, Fisch was so passionate about the game that he decided to attend the University of Florida, primarily to try to work for coach Steve Spurrier – which he eventually did a lot of endurance.

His mother still lives in New Jersey and Fisch estimates perhaps 50 family members and friends will be in attendance Friday. When he gets off the team bus, he wears custom-made sneakers – Part of a weekly project in collaboration with Adidas and former UW safety Sean Vergara – that highlights his New Jersey rootsincluding a tribute to his older brother Jordan, who died in March after battling cancer. Fisch also wears his brother’s initials – “JAF” for Jordan Adam Fisch – on the right side of his visor.

“I went back there often to visit him and my mother,” Fisch said. “That’s my only sibling, so now it’s just my mom. All my friends are there. We always come in the summer and during the holiday season and so on.”