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Washington State coach Jake Dickert agrees to contract extension through 2027 season

Washington State head coach Jake Dickert, middle, chats with athletic director Pat Chun, right, and former WSU quarterback Alex Brink before a Pac-12 game against Utah on Oct. 27 at Gesa Field in Pullman. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Colton Clark coltonc@spokesman.com

PULLMAN – Washington State football coach Jake Dickert agreed to a one-year contract extension that will keep him in Pullman through the 2027 season, the school announced Wednesday.

Dickert was named the Cougars’ head coach in November 2021 and signed a five-year contract. The former WSU defensive coordinator took over as interim coach midway through the 2021 season after the school dismissed coach Nick Rolovich for failing to comply with a state COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Dickert guided the team to a winning season and a drought-breaking road win over Washington. A day after the Cougars’ win in Seattle, Dickert was named permanent head coach.

The Cougars finished 7-6 last year in Dickert’s first full season and reached a bowl game for the seventh consecutive season, excluding the 2020 season affected by the coronavirus.

“We have watched Jake Dickert reset the foundation of WSU Football that prioritizes family, selflessness, toughness, leadership and the total development of young men on our football team,” WSU athletic director Pat Chun said in a school release. “Coach Dickert and the football staff strive to positively impact all those who come in contact with WSU Football. We are fortunate to have Coach Dickert leading Cougar football for many years to come.”

The Cougars have a 10-9 record under Dickert, who is the first coach in program history to lead the team to bowl appearances in each of his first two seasons. WSU lost to Central Michigan in the 2021 Sun Bowl and fell to Fresno State last month in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl.

“Our family is extremely proud to represent Washington State University, and (wife) Candice and I look forward to making Pullman our home for many years to come,” Dickert said in the release. “We love pouring our heart and soul into WSU and look forward to Cougs everywhere continuing to help us build towards a championship here on the Palouse.”

A first-time head coach, Dickert guided a defensive resurgence for the program in 2021, which continued in 2022.

Captained by senior linebacker Daiyan Henley, the first Butkus Award finalist in WSU history, the Cougars allowed 22.9 points per game – the fewest surrendered per game by a Cougars defense since 2003. WSU finished in the top five of the Pac-12 in several defensive categories, including tackles for loss, red-zone defense, scoring defense, interceptions and sacks.

Dickert rebuilt WSU’s staff ahead of the 2022 season. The Cougars won four of their first five games to open the season. Their most impressive win came in Week 2 on the road against No. 19 Wisconsin. WSU won three of its final four games of the season, including blowout wins on the road against Stanford and Arizona and a runaway victory at home versus Arizona State.

Dickert, a native of Wisconsin, played receiver at Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point before beginning his coaching career at his alma mater in 2007. He worked his way up the coaching ladder, making stops at six sub-FBS schools before landing an assistant job at Wyoming in 2017. He became the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator in 2019, then took the DC gig at WSU in 2020.

Under Dickert, 24 WSU players have received All-Pac-12 honors and 27 claimed academic awards from the conference. Last semester, the Cougars recorded their highest cumulative grade-point average in program history (2.95).

Dickert spent the past month filling holes on the Cougars’ coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Eric Morris and defensive coordinator Brian Ward left the program last month. Morris is the head coach at North Texas and Ward is the DC at Arizona State.

The Cougars hired 27-year-old Ben Arbuckle recently as their new OC. Arbuckle led Western Kentucky’s offense last year. WSU tapped Jeff Schmedding to be its next DC. Schmedding, a Spokane native and former longtime Eastern Washington assistant, was formerly the DC at Boise State (2019-20) and Auburn (2022).

WSU brought in Nick Edwards to mentor receivers. Edwards played and coached at EWU before stints at Cal and Cal Poly. He spent the 2022 season as an offensive assistant with the Atlanta Falcons. Edwards is replacing Joel Filani, who served as WSU’s receivers coach for one year.

The Cougars named Frank Maile as their new edge rushers coach, replacing A.J. Cooper, who left for a job at Arizona State after three seasons at WSU. Maile spent the past two seasons as Boise State’s defensive line coach after a long stay at Utah State.