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Fisch's Staff Reunites with Standout Arizona Linebacker in Portal


Fisch's Staff Reunites with Standout Arizona Linebacker in Portal

Arizona linebacker Jacob Manu (5) readies himself for the next play against Oklahoma in the 2023 Alamo Bowl. / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Every so often this season, Jedd Fisch would bring up Jacob Manu's name as this shining example of a noticeably overlooked player who made himself something special as a University of Arizona linebacker.

It looks like the University of Washington football coach will be talking a lot more about Manu from here on out after receiving a transfer portal commitment from him on Friday following the defensive player's Montlake campus visit earleri this week.

In 2023, Fisch and Manu formed a solid partnership while guiding Arizona to a 10-3 season capped by a 38-24 victory over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl. Manu was rewarded with a first-team All-Pac-12 selection after leading the conference in tackles while his coach got a new job in the Big Ten at Washington.

Fast forward 12 months and these two badly need each other again to succeed. Fisch will lose nearly all of his top half-dozen linebackers to graduation or the transfer portal -- with freshman sensation Khmori House surprisingly exiting his program on Monday -- and he's in a mad scramble for replacements.

Meantime, the 5-foot-11, 228-pound Manu is coming back from a knee injury suffered against Colorado and subsequent surgery in November that cost him nearly half the season, and he could use his old coach back in his ear motivating him.

Manu's rise to college football greatness stems from him coming out of Servite High School in Anaheim, California, with just three scholarship offers: Arizona, Dartmouth and Pennsylvania.

"That was kind of a mission for me playing against the Pac-12 teams I wanted to go to," he told Phoenix Sports last fall, "To make sure they kind of felt me and kind of regretted not taking a chance on me."

Over and over, Fisch likes to tell how he successfully recruited quarterback Noah Fifita, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and tight end Keyan Burnett from Servite and they wouldn't stop talking about their linebacker. So the coach went to see Manu play against Orange Lutheran back in 2021.

"He made like 10 or 11 tackles in their backfield," Fisch told Arizona Desert Swarm. "He caused a fumble, had an interception and then I just offered him. I offered him that night."

With recruiting guardrails in place, Fisch wasn't permitted to speak with the linebacker in person at the game. So he called him afterward and Manu said yes.

Once in Tucson, Manu started out on the Wildcats scout team and made sure everyone noticed him, if not were irritated by him, including then-starting quarterback Jayden de Laura.

"Jayden would say like, 'Hey, tell 59 to slow down,' " Fisch said. "Like, we're trying to get looks on our scout team and he's just making incredible plays."

Five games into the 2022 season, Manu became a starter, with one of his outings coming at Husky Stadium in a 49-39 loss to the UW. He finished with 10 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss.

Last year, Manu led the Pac-12 in tackles with 116, with 9 coming in a 31-24 loss to the Huskies in Tucson, and was named to every all-conference team.

He leaves Arizona after serving as a two-year captain, appearing in 32 games, 25 as a starter, and piling up 217 tackles, 17 TFLs, 7.5 sacks and an interception.

Manu injured his knee without anyone touching him. He just crumpled to the ground following a play against Deion Sanders' team early in the second quarter. He isn't expected to be available until summer.

"The Jacob Manu story is always a good one," Fisch told the Arizona Daily Star, "because it's almost hard to believe."

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