A Grip on Sports: The reality of college athletics just can’t stop taking demoralizing bites out of Washington State

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Reality really does bite, doesn’t it? It certainly bit Washington State – the school, the football program, the alumni base, heck, most everyone in Pullman – right in the backside Friday. The Cougars are looking for a football coach again.

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• The reality of the situation is simple. In the new world order of college athletics, Washington State is a feeder school. A Double-A franchise. G-League. USL League One.

Not just for places like Tuscaloosa, Ala., or Starkville, Miss., or Winston-Salem, N.C., but for Ames, Iowa as well.

It doesn’t necessarily have to stay that way, but in early December, 2025, there is no other way to look at it.

Little of the Cougars’ current circumstances has been of their making. The earthquake that has torn college athletics apart has left them on the wrong side of the divide. Bridging the gap will take time. And money. Lots and lots of money.

Is it worth it? That’s a discussion for another day.

The discussion on this Saturday, the first in the post-Jimmy Rogers Era? It’s not the day to bury the Cougars. It’s the day to explain. To explain how they lost Jimmy Rogers to the Big 12’s Iowa State 342 days after former athletic director Anne McCoy lured him away from FCS power South Dakota State.

Turns out Pullman wasn’t Rogers’ forever home even then. It was just a step on his career path, despite an impassioned speech about loyalty he delivered his first day in town. Some folks pointed out at the time the irony of Rogers, who played or coached in Brookings for 17 years, talking so emotionally about loyalty so soon after leaving his alma mater in something of a lurch.

What none of us knew at the time was he already had picked out his next objective. Pullman was nothing more than a bus stop on his way to his preferred destination, Iowa State.

We learned that nugget Friday.

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard told us. It seems Pollard, having to pivot quickly after his longtime football coach Matt Campbell moved up the ladder – financially and in the college football hierarchy – to Penn State, already had Rogers picked out.

“The first time I met (Rogers),” the athletic director told his local media yesterday, “he was already at South Dakota State and already won a national championship, and he said to me ‘How do I become the head coach at Iowa State University?’

“And I told him, ‘If you want to become the head coach at Iowa State University, you’re probably going to need to go one more level (up) before you can get here.’

“And we stayed in contact. When I asked him why he was going to Washington State he said, ‘Because you told me I need to go to the next level.’ ”

Was that before or after Rogers’ loyalty speech? Who knows? It doesn’t really matter. They were just words.

The thrust, and reality, is clear. The Cougars were nothing more than a way for Rogers to impress the prettier girl at the dance. It worked.

Is there any way to keep such things from happening in the future?

Not really. X was flooded last night with suggestions from Cougs. Hire an alum. He’ll stay. No, hire Jonathan Smith, he can work cheap. No, poison the next coach’s contract with a huge buyout. Truth is, there is no right answer. No magic pill. No panacea.

Paul Wulff was an alum. Would have stayed in Pullman forever. He wanted to. But no one with a WSU sweatshirt in their closet wanted him around after four awful years.

Smith was an Oregon State alum. Was moderately successful. Loved Corvallis and the school. Michigan State called, offered life-changing money and Smith dumped his OSU gear at Goodwill on the way out of town.

For Washington State to win, it needs a coach with the talent to move up. It’s that simple. When they do, a huge buyout isn’t going to stop the Wake Forests – where Rogers’ predecessor Jake Dickert flew off to – and Iowa States of the world from hiring them.

The reality is such schools a few short years ago were considered, athletically at least, WSU’s peer institutions. They no longer are. They are richer. Not MLB rich, but Triple-A rich. That’s enough.

Money matters more than ever in college sports. From player procurement to fan experience to coaching salaries. Money is the gas that turns the engines.

Penn State goes after BYU coach Kalani Sitake. A billionaire alum with a cookie empire steps up. Sitake stays at his alma mater.

Dan Lanning needs to bulk up his defensive line. A billionaire alum with a shoe empire steps up. Oregon is better up front.

Washington State needs, well, many things. There is no cookie or shoe or tractor or whatever billionaire in the wings with an open wallet. Most everything, from NIL funds to capital improvements to, yes, coaching salary increases, needs to be funded through crowd-sourcing. That’s tougher.

And a reality that, once again, bit the Cougars on Friday.

• By the way, in the hours before it became clear Rogers was plotting his exit strategy even before he moved to Pullman, loyalty was a word I thought about a lot. And how it might have related to his departure.

I wondered if last month’s firing of McCoy, a 24-year Washington State employee, had anything to do with his decision. The person who hired him, who decided he was the right person for the job, was no longer in the big office. No longer was there to have his back. And the school’s new president, Elizabeth Cantwell, had just shown she was not averse to making a change.

It’s an old story. New boss wants their employees. Wants people who share their vision. Wants to put their stamp on the place.

Turns out that wasn’t in Rogers’ equation. What did matter was the school he had his eye on even before he headed west had an opening. And wanted the Arizona native to fill it. Now he’ll have a whole new place to call home.

And a whole new place to pledge his loyalty. Ya, reality really does bite.

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WSU: Of course Greg Woods has a story on Rogers’ departure. … Jacob Thorpe has a column on it as well. With some advice for the next guy. And the one after that. … Back to Greg. He already had put together a notebook when the Rogers news broke. It mentions recruiting. And the transfer portal. Ironic, huh? … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner has his Friday mailbag in the Mercury News. … This was in the running to be the column subject today, until the WSU news broke. Nevada coach Jeff Choate, a former WSU assistant, said the quiet part out loud this week when talking about recruiting to schools such as his. He is selling the chance to get better and then move on to a school that has more NIL money to hand out. … On the field today, the top two teams in the rankings are meeting in the Big Ten title game. How much does it really mean? It will not have much of an impact on the CFP participants. … Boise State said goodbye to Mountain West football with its third consecutive championship. The Broncos used their passing game to get past UNLV once again. … California introduced its new football coach, alum Tosh Lupoi, yesterday. Then the Oregon defensive coordinator headed back to Eugene, where his successor seems to have already been picked out. … John Canzano has some thoughts on Oregon as well. His column was triggered by some comments made by the Penn State athletic director. … He also sat down and talked with Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould. … If you are wondering how Washington used its freshmen this season, Christian Caple has you covered. … Recruiting never stops for Colorado. … And for Utah, though not in a good way today for the Utes. … The Rose Bowl’s lawsuit against UCLA has added another defendant. … The Holiday Bowl has its sites set on Arizona vs. SMU. … San Diego State does not know its bowl destination. 

• In basketball news, Washington is at USC today. The Husky men need a win in the worst way. … Reeling Oregon is at UCLA as well this weekend. … Oregon State is dealing with some adversity. … Our bad. Had the day wrong for Colorado’s trip to Colorado State. … Mick Cronin wants college basketball players to be employees. For good reason. … A trip to Hawaii helped Arizona State bond. … Auburn and Arizona meet today. … The Arizona State women started slowly but rallied to win against McNeese State. 

Gonzaga: If there hadn’t been such huge news out of Pullman, the Zags’ beatdown of Kentucky in Nashville – college basketball, circa 2025 folks – would have been the column subject today. We would have covered the bounce-back nature of the game. The early game blitz. The new lineup. All the key elements. Instead, we just have to send you to Theo Lawson’s reporting, with this game analysis and the recap with highlights, done in concert with the folks in the office. … Or we can call your attention to Dave Boling’s column. … Or Jim Meehan’s story on Graham Ike’s bounce-back game of his own. And Jim’s three takeways. … Or we can send you to visual reporting of Tyler Tjomsland. … Then again, we can also call attention to many national stories that focus on how awful Kentucky and its $22-million payroll have performed this season.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, today is the day. The FCS playoffs. Montana, Montana State and UC Davis are in action, all hosting games. … Despite not having a coach in place, Weber State added more recruits. … Northern Colorado is the right place for this Bear men’s basketball player.

Preps: Dave Nichols was out at Mt. Spokane High for the first night of the East vs West Preseason Shootout, a boys basketball tournament. He has this coverage of Gonzaga Prep’s and Mt. Spokane’s wins. … We can also pass along a roundup of Friday’s other action.

Velocity: Striker Anuar Pelaez was named the USL League One’s most valuable performer Friday.  

Seahawks: The Hawks are in Atlanta tomorrow to face the Falcons. … Did you know Jaxon Smith-Njigba improved his speed over the offseason? It shows. … Kenneth Walker III will be a captain this week. … Seattle will have a defense Sunday that is pretty much full strength. 

Mariners: The M’s still have some holes to fill. Adam Jude tries to explain how the team might fill them. And how they won’t. … The coaching staff will have a different look in 2026. 

Sounders: The World Cup draw was yesterday. What an extravaganza of, well, over-the-top pomposity. By everyone connected to the event. … The draw seems to be a good one for the U.S. … One Sounder is hoping to be part of next year’s matches.

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• I know I wasn’t alone when I laughed at texts from a friend Rogers was leaving Washington State. It had to be fake news. No way he was in Pullman for less than a year. Nope. Had to be a joke. It wasn’t. Not to anyone involved and not even to those of us on the periphery. I feel for my Cougar friends. For those folks who I know who work in the athletic department. One of them sent me a text yesterday that, sarcastically, perfectly encapsulated what everyone with the school was feeling. It read, simply, “I love college sports.” Until later …