Washington State head coach Nick Rolovich fired in wake of COVID-19 vaccine fallout

Washington State head coach Nick Rolovich has not been vaccinated as of Monday, putting him in violation of the state of Washington’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Gov. Jay Inslee had set Monday as the deadline for all Washington state employees to receive the vaccination or show proof of an exemption.

Because he has not done either, Washington State has fired its second-year head coach. He finishes his time in Pullman with a 5-6 overall record and 4-3 in the Pac-12. The Cougars have also fired the unvaccinated assistant coaches on his staff.

Rolovich had previously applied for a religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The drama of when or if he would receive a vaccination started in the summer and has carried out throughout the fall. He was the only coach not to attend Pac-12 media days this summer, instead joining on a Zoom call to fulfill his media duties.

Following Saturday’s 34-31 win over Stanford, Washington State players dumped a bucket of Gatorade over Rolovich. The win marked their third straight win, but also the last game Rolovich will coach for the Cougars.

“I’m gonna come to work tomorrow. … I don’t think this is in my hands,” Rolovich said following the win over the Cardinal. “So I’ve been settled for a long time on it, and I just believe it’s going to work out the right way.”

Rolovich, 42, previously served as the head coach at Hawaii, where he had a 28-27 overall record in four years at the helm. He went 2-1 in bowl games and was named the 2019 Mountain West Coach of the Year. NFL and college assistants have lost their jobs over vaccinations, but this has proven to be the true case study in college athletics.

With roughly $9 million remaining on his contract, Washington State is not expected to pay him any of the remaining salary. The state mandate requires all employees to be “vaccinated against COVID-19 on or before October 18.”

COVID-19 vaccination impact on Nick Rolovich’s job status

It was made public earlier this month that Rolovich had applied for a religious exemption from the vaccination when his mentor, June Jones, spoke to USA Today.

Washington State’s athletic department has stayed silent throughout the process.

“Legally, we cannot comment on an individual employee’s medical status,” Washington State spokesperson Phil Weiler said to the USA Today.

Jones told USA Today that Rolovich chose not to share his reasoning to be unvaccinated in their private conversations. Jones was the quarterbacks coach at Hawaii where he coached Rolovich, who was a quarterback. The two stayed connected when Rolovich worked as a student assistant with the Rainbow Warriors offense.

“He and I have had six or seven conversations over the last 60 days, and my advice is for him to take the shot,” Jones said. “There’s too much at stake to risk losing his job, and it’s an unfortunate situation. It may be against what he believes obviously, but there are more people at stake – the university’s credibility, the lives of the assistant coaches and their families.

“There’s a whole bunch more at stake than just him, and that’s exactly what I told him.”