FC/OT: Add Washington State to the HC vacancy carousel…
- Thread starter Midnighter2
- Start date
- Status
Because he was fired or because he was the highest paid public employee in the state by a wide margin?
WSU fires Nick Rolovich for cause
Failure to comply with the state’s Covid vaccination mandate results in his firing.By Jeff Nusser@PodvsEveryone Oct 18, 2021
Nick Rolovich has been fired as the coach of the Washington State Cougars because of his failure to comply with the governor’s Covid vaccination mandate for state employees, according to multiple reports. The news was first reported by John Canzano of The Oregonian.
Rolovich — a state employee who made $3 million per year — had been seeking a religious exemption with accommodations. Canzano is reporting the firing is for cause, meaning WSU would not owe Rolovich any of the remainder of his contract. He also is reporting that WSU’s unvaccinated assistants also have been fired, but it’s unclear who those are at this point.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura is reporting that defensive coordinator Jake Dickert is expected to be named the interim coach and lead the team for the final five games of the season (pending bowl eligibility).
Ever since Rolovich announced in late July that he was electing to not be vaccinated against Covid, the coach and his employers — who clearly were not supportive of his decision — have been on a crash course.
That confrontation escalated when Washington’s governor, Jay Inslee, announced in August that all state employees had until October 18 to either receive all doses of one of three vaccines or receive a religious or medical exemption with accommodations that allowed the employee to continue to do their job.
It culminated today with Rolovich being terminated before the end of his second season with a 5-6 overall record, tying him for the second shortest tenure in school history. Jackie Sherrill and Warren Powers also each only lasted 11 games.
Of course, Rolovich’s 11 games spanned two seasons, underscoring the bizarre end to this bizarre journey brought about by the planet’s first major pandemic in a century.
Rolovich was hired away from Hawaii after the end of the 2019 season, following Mike Leach’s departure for Mississippi State after eight successful seasons in Pullman. The move was roundly praised, as Rolovich was considered a bright offensive mind who was poised to build on the foundation left by Leach, who had led WSU to five consecutive bowl games — an unprecedented run in school history.
The turmoil for Rolovich started almost immediately — some of it out of his control, but most of it within — and would last through the entirety of his brief tenure.
Rolovich made a great first impression, buying beers for fans and connecting with them in a way that felt very ... WSU. But before Rolovich even made it to his first spring practice, Covid reached the shores of the United States and resulted in an unprecedented pause of American life. He navigated the shutdown as best he could, doing his best to recruit creatively and supporting local businesses with large-scale food purchases.
As what would have been his first season approached, WSU remained in a holding pattern with the rest of the Pac-12, which delayed the beginning of its season. But Rolovich found himself in the news in an unfortunate way: Wide receiver Kassidy Woods recorded a call with Rolovich in which the coach appeared to threaten the player if he continued to align himself with a player-empowerment movement. Woods transferred and has since filed a lawsuit.
Once the season finally started, things didn’t go much better. He debuted with an encouraging victory over Oregon State, but he got testy with a reporter who asked if the massive absences on the team for that game were related to Covid, stating, “No corona, ok?” It would foreshadow his attitude regarding Covid going forward.
The rest of the “season” would feature three more losses — including two in which the team blew halftime leads — interspersed with cancellations because of positive Covid tests and contact tracing. Additionally, a number of key players transferred out of the program, either before or during the season.
Still, there was a sense that the circumstances of the season were so unique, that there just wasn’t much to be read into the results. Many fans were optimistic about the team’s chances, pointing to exciting offensive talent led by promising young quarterback Jayden de Laura.
Then July 22 arrived, and Rolovich announced via Twitter that he had chosen not to be vaccinated for personal reasons and had been barred from attending Pac-12 media day in California. He was the only one of the 36 participating coaches and players to be forced to attend remotely via Zoom because of his vaccination status.
Rolovich’s announcement was left to stand for hours without a response from WSU’s administration, and when their terse statements eventually were released, it quickly became clear how at odds Rolovich and his employer were.
Asked to elaborate on his decision at media day, he declined, something that would become a recurring theme as everyone inched toward October 18. He would be asked about it countless times, and each time he would politely but firmly decline to comment.
The performance of the team on the field did him no favors out of the gate: The Cougars would lose three of their first four games, beating only FCS Portland State while coughing up leads to Utah State and USC. The loss to Utah State was particularly galling; beyond the fact that the Aggies are a Mountain West team, Rolovich made the call to start Tennessee transfer Jarrett Guarantano over de Laura, a decision that, in retrospect, was disastrously wrong.
With pressure mounting, the Cougs suddenly turned it around with three consecutive wins over Cal, Oregon State, and Stanford — three teams WSU has regularly beaten over the years, but also three teams it appeared were headed for walkovers against the Cougars. The offense we had been promised was finally taking flight, and the defense was making big strides. Along the way, the players expressed their support for Rolovich, taking a familiar Cougs Vs. Everybody attitude.
Now those players are left to pick up the scraps, and try to make one final push toward a sixth consecutive bowl game without their coach.
. . . story continues . . .
Last edited:
See the link below. From the article:
“Rolovich was seeking a religious exemption, but it is not yet clear how the university committee assigned to evaluate religious exemptions ruled.”
www.espn.com
“Rolovich was seeking a religious exemption, but it is not yet clear how the university committee assigned to evaluate religious exemptions ruled.”
WSU coach Rolovich fired after refusing vaccine
Washington State fired football coach Nick Rolovich and four of his assistants on Monday after they refused to comply with a mandate that all state employees be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Yes.
Rolovich, the state’s highest-paid employee at $3.2 million a year, had the highest profile among the other 10%, who were at risk of losing their jobs by not following the mandate.
Gotta say, I've never heard of Nick Rolovich. Now that I think of it, the only PAC coach I can name is Chip Kelly.
Speculation down in gator land is that the seat Mullen sits in is getting hotter and hotter and guess who is one of the five who is speculated as a replace? No kidding. Georgia is next and an embarrassing defeat could be the final nail although they should end up 8-4. Seems like losing to Kentucky is unacceptable in the SEC.
WSU fires Nick Rolovich for cause
Failure to comply with the state’s Covid vaccination mandate results in his firing.
By Jeff Nusser@PodvsEveryone Oct 18, 2021
Nick Rolovich has been fired as the coach of the Washington State Cougars because of his failure to comply with the governor’s Covid vaccination mandate for state employees, according to multiple reports. The news was first reported by John Canzano of The Oregonian.
Rolovich — a state employee who made $3 million per year — had been seeking a religious exemption with accommodations. Canzano is reporting the firing is for cause, meaning WSU would not owe Rolovich any of the remainder of his contract. He also is reporting that WSU’s unvaccinated assistants also have been fired, but it’s unclear who those are at this point.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura is reporting that defensive coordinator Jake Dickert is expected to be named the interim coach and lead the team for the final five games of the season (pending bowl eligibility).
Ever since Rolovich announced in late July that he was electing to not be vaccinated against Covid, the coach and his employers — who clearly were not supportive of his decision — have been on a crash course.
That confrontation escalated when Washington’s governor, Jay Inslee, announced in August that all state employees had until October 18 to either receive all doses of one of three vaccines or receive a religious or medical exemption with accommodations that allowed the employee to continue to do their job.
It culminated today with Rolovich being terminated before the end of his second season with a 5-6 overall record, tying him for the second shortest tenure in school history. Jackie Sherrill and Warren Powers also each only lasted 11 games.
Of course, Rolovich’s 11 games spanned two seasons, underscoring the bizarre end to this bizarre journey brought about by the planet’s first major pandemic in a century.
Rolovich was hired away from Hawaii after the end of the 2019 season, following Mike Leach’s departure for Mississippi State after eight successful seasons in Pullman. The move was roundly praised, as Rolovich was considered a bright offensive mind who was poised to build on the foundation left by Leach, who had led WSU to five consecutive bowl games — an unprecedented run in school history.
The turmoil for Rolovich started almost immediately — some of it out of his control, but most of it within — and would last through the entirety of his brief tenure.
Rolovich made a great first impression, buying beers for fans and connecting with them in a way that felt very ... WSU. But before Rolovich even made it to his first spring practice, Covid reached the shores of the United States and resulted in an unprecedented pause of American life. He navigated the shutdown as best he could, doing his best to recruit creatively and supporting local businesses with large-scale food purchases.
As what would have been his first season approached, WSU remained in a holding pattern with the rest of the Pac-12, which delayed the beginning of its season. But Rolovich found himself in the news in an unfortunate way: Wide receiver Kassidy Woods recorded a call with Rolovich in which the coach appeared to threaten the player if he continued to align himself with a player-empowerment movement. Woods transferred and has since filed a lawsuit.
Once the season finally started, things didn’t go much better. He debuted with an encouraging victory over Oregon State, but he got testy with a reporter who asked if the massive absences on the team for that game were related to Covid, stating, “No corona, ok?” It would foreshadow his attitude regarding Covid going forward.
The rest of the “season” would feature three more losses — including two in which the team blew halftime leads — interspersed with cancellations because of positive Covid tests and contact tracing. Additionally, a number of key players transferred out of the program, either before or during the season.
Still, there was a sense that the circumstances of the season were so unique, that there just wasn’t much to be read into the results. Many fans were optimistic about the team’s chances, pointing to exciting offensive talent led by promising young quarterback Jayden de Laura.
Then July 22 arrived, and Rolovich announced via Twitter that he had chosen not to be vaccinated for personal reasons and had been barred from attending Pac-12 media day in California. He was the only one of the 36 participating coaches and players to be forced to attend remotely via Zoom because of his vaccination status.
Rolovich’s announcement was left to stand for hours without a response from WSU’s administration, and when their terse statements eventually were released, it quickly became clear how at odds Rolovich and his employer were.
Asked to elaborate on his decision at media day, he declined, something that would become a recurring theme as everyone inched toward October 18. He would be asked about it countless times, and each time he would politely but firmly decline to comment.
The performance of the team on the field did him no favors out of the gate: The Cougars would lose three of their first four games, beating only FCS Portland State while coughing up leads to Utah State and USC. The loss to Utah State was particularly galling; beyond the fact that the Aggies are a Mountain West team, Rolovich made the call to start Tennessee transfer Jarrett Guarantano over de Laura, a decision that, in retrospect, was disastrously wrong.
With pressure mounting, the Cougs suddenly turned it around with three consecutive wins over Cal, Oregon State, and Stanford — three teams WSU has regularly beaten over the years, but also three teams it appeared were headed for walkovers against the Cougars. The offense we had been promised was finally taking flight, and the defense was making big strides. Along the way, the players expressed their support for Rolovich, taking a familiar Cougs Vs. Everybody attitude.
Now those players are left to pick up the scraps, and try to make one final push toward a sixth consecutive bowl game without their coach.
. . . story continue . . .
Thanks for the assist. 👍
I’d imagine that in the overwhelming majority of states, the highest paid public employee is a University football or basketball coach ….
Infographic: Is Your State's Highest-Paid Employee A Coach? (Probably)
You may have heard that the highest-paid employee in each state is usually the football coach at the largest state school. This is actually a gross mischaracterization: Sometimes it is the basketball coach.
www.google.com
Me too --- so many stupid, poorly informed people who refuse to get vaccinated (I'm sure that's what you were referring too --- right?)
Crazy. He should have just taken a saline or B12 shot on camera - like the politicians do.
Or, too many sanctimonious self-righteous judgmental know-it-alls who think they are smarter than everyone else.
Well, he stuck to whatever principles he has. Good for him.
However, it's not like the guy is an accountant or delivery guy - there are only so many jobs like his available and a good portion of them are at state supported institutions (not all, but a good many).
So....he would be wise to look for employment at a place that is not state supported (but may have it's own rules as a private entity), and see if he can land there and he can still maintain his principles.
Good luck to him.
BTW - what religion is he that he was counting on a religious exemption?
However, it's not like the guy is an accountant or delivery guy - there are only so many jobs like his available and a good portion of them are at state supported institutions (not all, but a good many).
So....he would be wise to look for employment at a place that is not state supported (but may have it's own rules as a private entity), and see if he can land there and he can still maintain his principles.
Good luck to him.
BTW - what religion is he that he was counting on a religious exemption?
And being a high profile coach instead of an accountant or delivery guy means he probably is wealthy enough to say F it, I don’t care.
I posted above from an article that Rolovich requested a religious exemption and it wasn’t clear how the school ruled on it. Did they rule on it or did they drag their feet, not rule before the full-vaccination deadline, and then fire him? If the latter, could Rolovich sue for wrongful termination?
OK. So, he made about $3 MM (before taxes). Leaving him roughly $1.5-2MM after taxes (give or take). I saw a report (not confirmed), that he is worth around $4MM. Bu t no idea if it's all cash or not.
He is 42 years old. So, if he says "F it I don't care", he will have to take the position that the $4MM he is worth will have to last him the rest of his life (and assumedly his wife and kids). If he can pull that off - great.
But, someone making that kind of money does not live like someone who makes $50K a year (house, cars, clothing, etc). The house costs more, the cars are more expensive (if he had a car deal with a local dealer that as probably part of his compensation so that is gone).
The only guy I can think of who lived exactly the same despite an increase in income was JVP. And frankly, JVP is an aberration, not the norm in part because his known compansation was not anywhere near what these guys are getting (although still pretty good).
So saying "F It" might sound great now, but given his age, family situation, probable lifestyle, he should expect to either have to re-evaluate his position on the matter, or re-evaluate his lifestyle.
But again - he stuck to his principles -good for him.
All good points. But it’s not like he is unemployable for the rest of his life. He may get a coaching job at a school that appreciates his skills plus his integrity. Maybe Liberty or some other religious school. Not the same pay scale but still pretty substantial.
And at some point this Covid crap will pass and he may be back in the big time game.
He could also go into public speaking, private training, tv gigs, write a book about it. Or even just get a normal job somewhere.
John Donovan is UW OC. I think he was their fourth choice. He's still awful.
Yeah, maybe Cal will have a chance in the future!!So glad they fired his ass.
- Status
