What Went Wrong with Nick Rolovich and Washington State
The former Cougars HC finds himself without a job and in the mist of a lawsuit with his former employer due to his refusal to follow the State of Washington’s COVID Vaccine mandate for all of it’s state employees. Not only did Rolovich lose his job, he also lost his 3 million dollar a year salary due to his stance. However the vaccine mandate was the final wheel on a derailed wagon, unraveling from his first day in Pullman. Here’s what happened.
The former Nevada and Hawaii OC was admired across the nation for his play design and play calling skills, once on the verge of being hired by then Temple HC Matt Rhule, Rolovich found his first HC job at his alma mater, the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In his four years at Hawaii, he turned around a program that had 10 wins in total from 2012-2015 to a program that had a 10 win season in 2019 alone. He went to three Hawaii Bowls, winning two and a Mountain West division title, accolades which made Washington State acquire his services.
The program was in need of a HC when Mike Leach took his pass happy, air raid offense to Mississippi State. Rolovich who runs the pass happy Run N’ Shoot, returned the offense to it’s origins in the Pacific Northwest, taking over a program well suited for the controversial offensive scheme. Already with standout running back Max Borghi, Rolovich brought in some island flair by getting St. Louis (HI) High School quarterback Jayden De Laura to commit the the Cougars. An alumnus of the Vinny Passas passing academy titled “Get Better,” Passas helped mold NFL talents and Top 5 NFL Draft selections Marcus Mariota and Tua Tagovailoa as well as CFB superstars Timmy Chang, McKenzie Milton, Jordan Ta’amu, Dillon Gabriel and former Washington State QB and Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, Jason Gesser. With De Laura and Borghi as his one-two combo, Rolovich had standout WR Calvin Jackson Jr as a top target and star RT Abraham Lucas as captain. Rolovich began molding Washington State into a top program.
However there were many unpreventable and preventable roadblocks. Less then three months after his hiring, the world shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting and prohibiting football involvement, recruiting and development. Then the murder of George Floyd sparked nationwide unrest across the country, leading some of college football’s top figures to speak out against the injustice. At Washington State, WR Kassidy Woods reported that Rolovich kicked him out of team chats, threatened his scholarship and removed items from his locker due to both Woods’ uncertainty if he would play through the pandemic due to his personal health issues and Woods’ social justice stance/ participation in the WeAreUnited social movement. Woods then released audio of a conversation between him and Rolovich in which Rolovich criticized the unity group. The situation got so bad, Washington State officials had to step in and release an official statement clarifying Rolovich’s viewpoints. Woods then transferred to the University of Northern Colorado.
Rolovich began his Washington State tenure with a win over Oregon State before taking on Oregon in Pullman. Despite three Oregon turnovers and a prolific offensive performance by the Cougars, Washington State couldn’t capitalize on opportunities and led 16-7 with twenty seconds left. Oregon then hit a deep bomb and then ran it in to make the halftime score 16-14. Oregon would dominate the second half on their way to a 43-29 victory. Due to COVID positive tests around the Pac-12, Washington State would only play 2 more times in 2020, losing both matchups to USC and Utah. Both losses were by double digits.
In 2021, incumbent QB Jayden De Laura was set to light CFB on fire. Rolovich however decided to recruit Jarrett Guarantano from Tennessee to challenge De Laura for the top job. I am unsure why Rolovich did this, it could possibly stem from De Laura’s February 2021 arrest for DUI (He was found not guilty in July) but it did cause some controversy in the QB room. Regardless, Rolovich coached 7 games before being fired for the vaccine issue. However Washington State wasn’t impressive in those matchups. 1-3 in their first four games with their only win being against FCS Portland State, an inability to score over 24 points until week 6 despite their defense holding opponents to 24.4 points per game and despite Rolovich winning his last 3 games, out of those opponents, only Oregon State finished the season with a winning record at 7-6.
Rolovich was fired for COVID before he got a chance to be fired for job performance. The team wasn’t up to par, he had a disconnect with his staff and players, evident by new Washington State HC Jake Dickert bringing in a new staff and top FCS QB Cam Ward, leading to De Laura’s transfer to Arizona, the Run N’ Shoot was highly ineffective at the Power 5 conference level and despite having top running backs Max Borghi and Deon McIntosh, the run game was average at best.
Moral of the story is that Rolovich couldn’t stop getting out of his own way. The offensive guru couldn’t put up the points while the defense played incredible. He didn’t adjust to Pullman and its environment, suffering in player moral and recruiting. Only time will tell if this was a one time blunder or will this be the thing that haunts his career.
