Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich and four of his assistants were fired on Monday after they refused to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee set a deadline of Monday for state employees, including the coaching staff for the Washington State Cougars, to be vaccinated or risk losing their jobs. The four assistant coaches that were fired are Ricky Logo, John Richardson, Craig Stutzman and Mark Weber.
“The noncompliance with this requirement renders [Rolovich] ineligible to be employed at Washington State University and therefore can no longer fulfill the duties as a head coach of our football program effective immediately,” Washington State athletic director Pat Chun said during a Monday night news conference, per ESPN. “It is disheartening to be here today. Our football team is hurting. Our WSU community is fractured. Today will have a lasting impact on the young men on our team and the remaining coaches and staff.”
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Defensive coordinator Jake Dickert has been promoted to interim head coach, and his first game will be on Saturday when the Cougars face BYU. Rolovich, 42, said in mid-August he would comply with the vaccine mandate but then applied for a religious exemption, which was denied. Chun informed Rolovich that he is fired on Monday. Rolovich left after the meeting concluded and didn’t address the team. Chun told the players the news, which led to mixed emotions.
“Their responses were what you would expect out of a bunch of college-age young people that lost their head coach and a bunch of position coaches as well,” Chun said. “That’s a very close-knit group. They handled it maturely, but without a doubt there’s a lot of disappointment, sadness, anger. It’s a room filled with over 120 young people, so it’s going to be the full spectrum of emotions. But they listened and they were all there.”
Rolovich was hired by Washington State to be the head coach in January 2020 after former head coach Mike Leach left for Mississippi State. In his first season with the Cougars, Rolovich posted a 1-3 record. Through seven games of the 2021 season, Rolovich led Washington State with a 4-3 record. He was previously the head coach at Hawaii and posted a 28-27 record as well as winning two bowl games.
