Washington State introduces Nick Rolovich

Nick Rolovich officially became the 33rd Washington State Cougars head football coach today, with the school introducing him to the Cougar faithful. Rolovich joined WSU President Kirk Schulz and Athletic Director Pat Chun at the afternoon press conference.

Rolovich said all the right things, as is normal for these kinds of events. He thanked his former school in Hawaii, he praised Pat Chun and Kirk Schulz, and he tipped his cap to former WSU head coaches.

Notably, though, were the four individuals at the press conference who were clearly new to town. As Theo Lawson of The Spokesman-Review reported, Brian Smith, Michael Ghobrial, Jason Cvercko and Craig Stutzmann were present. Who are those guys, you might ask? They were on the Hawaii coaching staff and are joining Rolovich in Pullman.

Smith was Hawaii’s offensive coordinator and running backs coach, Ghobrial was the special teams coach, Stutzmann was the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and Cvercko was the team’s Chief of Staff.

Other highlights form the celebratory news conference:

• Rolovich knows exactly how many days there are until the Apple Cup.
• Max Borghi shared how much of a player’s coach Rolovich is, at least based on the first team meeting.
• The next phase of recruiting will focus on the defense. Good.
• Rolovich had this to say about recruiting, which will satisfy a certain segment of the fanbase.
• This was my favorite quote:

You can watch the whole thing here:

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find one of those cool bucket hats.