Jim Moore: I’m conflicted about WSU coach Nick Rolovich, but maybe Cougs should move on

Washington State shoots for its third Pac-12 victory in a row when the Cougs host Stanford Saturday at Martin Stadium, and win or lose, it could be Nick Rolovich’s last game as the head coach.

We’ve long known that Oct. 18th is the deadline for state employees, because of a mandate by Gov. Jay Inslee, to be vaccinated or have an approved exemption to keep their jobs. And Oct. 18th arrives on Monday.

For every one of you who is sick of reading and hearing about this topic, there are those of us in the media like me who are sick of writing and hearing about it too. What I’m sick of the most is how divided the Cougar fan base is on this issue. We’re usually all in on being Cougs, bonded by a loyalty to our school and athletic programs. It’s something that’s hard to explain, and I wouldn’t get it if I weren’t a Coug myself, but now we’re a fractured bunch with some of us thinking Rolovich is out of his mind and needs to get vaccinated and others who think he should just be left alone to make his personal choice.

I’ve gone from really liking him when he was first hired after hearing how well he understood the importance of the Apple Cup and then by getting the whole Coug thing by picking up the tab on rounds of beers for alums at Seattle-area bars. He seemed a little goofy and fun-loving too, more endearing traits.

But when he skipped Pac-12 media day because he wasn’t vaccinated and wouldn’t explain why, things started to switch from “Boy, I’m glad this guy’s our coach” to “Why’d they hire this guy anyway?”

And guess what? I’m conflicted again. When the Cougs lost their opener to Utah State and sputtered in subsequent games with their run-and-shoot offense, some fans piled on Rolovich, thinking he was foolish to not get vaccinated and risk losing his job, and maybe he’s a terrible coach too, so let’s just get rid of him, the sooner the better.

But after a strong defensive performance in a 21-6 win at Cal followed by an offensive eruption in a 31-24 win over Oregon State, I’m softening on a formerly hard-line stance that Rolovich needs to be fired.

I also stopped to consider how the players feel about all of this when quarterback Jayden de Laura spoke after the Beavers game and admonished reporters, saying: “The guys covering us, they’re trying to dig a hole on our Cougar football team. I thought you guys were supposed to be supporting us, and you guys are over here trying to take out our head coach.”

He’s wrong, of course, reporters have nothing to do with it — the head coach appears to be trying to take himself out. But the sentiment came through anyway. I’m concerned with how a Rolovich dismissal will affect those kids in the locker room and a season that’s starting to show promise. Should the former matter? Yes. Should the latter? Maybe not in the scheme of things.

So what if the Cougars have another bad season — in our history, that would be nothing new. Wouldn’t it be better long-term to have a vaccinated coach who understands the greater good during a pandemic, even if it means a poor second half of the season with an interim coach and players who are upset about Rolovich being fired?

I admit to thinking it’s crazy if anyone, not just Rolovich, chooses not to get vaccinated. That’s my personal choice to feel that way. But I also admit that if you told me the Cougs would win the Apple Cup with Rolovich as coach but will get their doors blown off by the Dawgs if he’s not, I’d lean toward keeping him. That’s how badly I want this eight-year streak of losing to the Huskies to stop.

I mean, even though Rolovich is not falling in line with what he is supposed to do to keep his job, it sure seems like this so-called distraction hasn’t impacted his ability to coach the team.

Yet the results on the field don’t matter in this case. It’s out of the university’s hands because it’s a mandate for state employees, of which he’s the highest paid at $3 million a year. And it’s pretty clear that WSU president Kirk Schulz wants him out of Pullman, telling the New York Times: “It certainly skews the perception of our message. At most universities, people pay attention to what the university president, the football coach, the basketball coach and the athletic director have to say. That’s just the reality. People look at them for leadership because they’re highly visible and highly compensated. It doesn’t help when you have people who are contrary to the direction we’re going.”

According to his former coach at Hawaii, June Jones, Rolovich plans to use a religious exemption to the mandate. It will be interesting to see how that goes. According to the New York Times, WSU has received 437 requests using a religious exemption, and 98 have been granted. So that’s about 4-to-1 odds against Rolovich getting his request granted, but those odds are better than I thought they’d be.

Former Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf said this week on Sports Radio KJR that he believes Rolovich will be fired on Sunday and encouraged his alma mater to pursue Chris Petersen among others as his replacement. I love the idea of Petersen on the Palouse, but that seems like a far-fetched possibility. But Rolovich’s dismissal certainly isn’t. I’m guessing that Leaf is intimately connected to athletic director Pat Chun when it comes to an issue like this.

The press conference after Saturday’s game should be a doozy. There will be more questions about Rolovich’s status than whatever happened in the Stanford game. It figures to be awkward and uncomfortable for all involved, just like this puzzling story with Rolovich featuring plot twists galore.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. You can find him on Twitter @cougsgo.