From Pride Rock to Pullman: Nick Rolovich takes over at WSU

When Mike Leach surprised everyone by heading off to coach the Mississippi St. Bulldogs, all eyes turned to athletics director Pat Chun, who would be in charge of finding the next coach of the Washington State Cougars.

The search didn’t last long: Less than a week after Leach’s departure, Chun tapped Hawaii Warriors coach Nick Rolovich to be the next coach in Pullman.

Rolovich is a natural fit to succeed WSU’s most consistently successful coach. He runs the Run and Shoot offense, which is considered a close cousin of the Air Raid that Leach made so famous — and used to great effect while in Pullman, leading the Cougars to an unprecedented five consecutive bowl games.

The former Hawaii coach led his own team to three bowl games in four years, capping his run with 10 wins (including a bowl win) and the Mountain West Conference coach of the year in 2019.

Now, he’ll try to bring that success to WSU. Follow along here for all the news related to Rolovich’s hire.