[1][3][4] Selected late in the 1965 NFL draft, 270th overall, Fertig opted not to play pro football and began coaching in 1965 at USC.
[5] At age 33 in December 1975, Fertig was named the head coach at Oregon State University in Corvallis, with a three-year contract at $26,000 per year.
[8][9][10][11] He coached through the end of the season,[12] and lost the finale to Oregon 24–3 in the Civil War, the Beavers' fifth straight loss to the Ducks.
[2] In 2003, Fertig was hired as head coach of Estancia High School's varsity football team.
[14] Fertig died in 2008 at age 66 of kidney failure at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach on October 4.