New WSU head football coach Nick Rolovich hasn’t exactly gotten the start to his career in Pullman that he wanted. After officially taking over at the start of the year, Rolovich has yet to lead his team onto the field for a practice.

It’s an issue that every college football coach in the country is dealing with. That’s why the Pac-12 decided to get the coaches together this week for a series of Zoom “webinars” to talk about various subjects in the world of college athletics.

Rolovich took his turn earlier this week. He was joined by moderator Yogi Roth, USC head coach Clay Helton and Stanford head coach David Shaw to talk about everything from adjusting to the unique challenges this offseason to the possibility of playing this fall without fans.

One of the most memorable moments came when Roth asked the two veteran Pac-12 coaches what advice they would give to the conference’s rookie.

“I thought ‘what an unbelievable hire by Washington State,’” Helton said. “To have a Mike Leach that’s an offensive minded, brilliant guy with a big personality. As soon as Rolo was hired it was like, ‘wow, what an awesome fit.’ You’re talking about an extremely brilliant offensive guy that also has a personality that is extremely big and relates to kids. As soon as you saw that go across the wire you were like, ‘man that’s a really neat hire. That’s a good fit.’ So, Rolo, don’t change man. Be yourself. You got there for a reason, being you.”

“I would just say, go after all those records, all those Mike Leach records, break them all,” Shaw added. “Preferably against Clay and not me.”

The coaches tackled a lot of other serious topics during their conversation. If you’re interested, you can watch the “webinar” here.

Or, if you’d rather just read Rolo’s take on things, Theo Lawson of the Spokesman Review transcribed all of his quotes in the link below.

Transcript: Washington State’s Nick Rolovich talks about empty stadiums, state of college football during Pac-12 webinar | The Spokesman-Review
In the first of a three-part media webinar with head coaches from the Pac-12 , WSU’s Nick Rolovich joined Stanford’s David Shaw, USC’s Clay Helton and the Pac-12 Network’s Yogi Roth to discuss the current state of college football amid COVID-19, contingency plans for the 2020 season and the possibility of playing an 11-game conference schedule.

‘That’s a really good fit.’ USC’s Clay Helton, Stanford’s David Shaw praise Washington State for Nick Rolovich hire during webinar | The Spokesman-Review
Rolovich’s hire was, and continues to be a popular one among the people that will be buying tickets to watch his team play, but Monday’s Pac-12 media webinar, which also featured Clay Helton and David Shaw, indicated the new WSU coach has also been embraced by the men who wear the same hat, share the same duties and live through the same experiences as him.

More Links

Jervae Robinson: A Senior's Story - Washington State University Athletics
Check out this short feature on Jervae Robinson by Daniel Vazquez Pena.

Cougar Men’s Golf Recognized for APR Excellence - Washington State University Athletics
The honor is given to programs whose multi-year Academic Progress Rate scores are among the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports.