WSU interim AD Jon Haarlow says current football coaches will coach bowl game, no firm timeline on coaching search

PULLMAN – Washington State isn’t offering a public timeline on the hire of a new football coach, but the people leading the charge are operating with “a sense of urgency.”

That’s the word from WSU interim athletic director Jon Haarlow, who said on Sunday afternoon that he and school brass are working quickly to find a replacement for coach Jimmy Rogers, who decamped for the same job at Iowa State on Friday.

“We want to get the right leader in place, so we’re moving at an appropriate pace there,” Haarlow said in a Zoom news conference. “Understanding we’ve gotta have a sense of urgency. I’m not gonna necessarily pinpoint a timeline. But again, this is obviously high priority for us right now.”

In the meantime, WSU’s interim head coach is defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit, who is expected to coach the Cougars against Utah State in the Idaho Potato Bowl on Dec. 22, Haarlow said, adding that the team’s current staff is expected to stay on for the bowl game. Bobbit has been linked to Rogers at Iowa State, where he reportedly plans to join the staff as co-defensive coordinator, which would seemingly give him an opportunity to recruit players to ISU.

Rogers has already brought over chief of staff Jon Shaeffer and general manager Ricky Ciccone.

“There is ample opportunity to communicate with players, and obviously there’s existing relationships there,” said Haarlow, who is new to helping lead a coaching search. “There’s not a whole heck of a lot we can do with that.”

To assist with the coaching search, WSU is working with a consulting firm called College Sports Associates, which former AD Anne McCoy used to identify Rogers. In an interesting twist, on CSA’s website, former WSU President Kirk Schulz is listed as a senior consultant.

Who will the Cougs hire? A few possible candidates include Montana State head coach Brent Vigen, former Oregon State and Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith or maybe someone with name recognition like Ed Orgeron, unreasonable as it may seem. Longtime college head coach Rick Neuheisel is interested in the job, John Canzano reported on Sunday, indicating that veteran Chip Kelly could also be a name to watch.

On Sunday, former WSU QB Luke Falk announced on social media that he would like the job.

Whoever he and President Elizabeth Cantwell have in mind, Haarlow does have a set of criteria, too.

“One thing for certain that we do know that we need to find in this leader is somebody that understands the Xs and Os as well as be a total CEO of the program moving forward,” said Haarlow, who stayed mum on the salary pool allotted to the new coach. “Understanding that you’re setting these student-athletes up, not just for football, but the classroom and life beyond football as well. And so a complete, total characteristic approach, character-builder approach as well. Obviously there’s a number of different criteria that we want to focus on, but somebody that can lead these young men into multiple phases of life.”

Haarlow said he senses a “tremendous amount of interest in the job,” which he said “solidifies how important WSU is in the collegiate athletic landscape.” But will the Cougars look for a candidate who’s been a head coach before? Or will they take some risk in that department?

“We’re looking at all sorts of different criteria,” Haarlow said, “and making sure that we’re viewing this in a holistic approach, not necessarily one particular mold. The industry has changed at a pretty rapid pace, and so we need to be able to think creatively and lean on the experience that we do have.”

For WSU, there’s another side to the situation: The program does not have a full-time athletic director leading this search. In mid-November, when McCoy was fired, Haarlow was elevated from deputy AD to interim AD. That seems to leave a hole in the Cougars’ coaching search: Would candidates feel comfortable coming to a school without a full-time AD in place?

In a previous interview, Haarlow said the school was targeting April to hire a full-time athletic director. On Sunday, he said, “I think we’re still on the same timeline that we were previously.”