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Commentary: With fire and tears, WSU’s Jimmy Rogers takes right approach

Washington State head football coach Jimmy Rogers sits next to athletic director Anne McCoy during an introductory news conference Thursday at Gesa Field in Pullman.  (Geoff Crimmins/For The Spokesman-Review)
By Matt Calkins Seattle Times

SEATTLE – I remember an interview I did with Cameron Dollar back when he was the men’s basketball coach at Seattle U. I asked him, eight seasons into his tenure, what he hoped the program might develop into one day.

The first school I mentioned was Gonzaga, which he dismissed as too ambitious. He flirted with the idea of Saint Mary’s but then said even that goal – a regular Top 25 poll resident – might be overly aspirational.

So he settled on Belmont, a school that was reaching the first round of the NCAA Tournament every other year or so, as a reasonable objective. It was about as honest as a coach could be, and certainly an upgrade Redhawks fans would have enjoyed.

He was fired a week later.

I’m not saying that Q&A-turned-column played a role in Dollar’s dismissal. But it might serve as a lesson for coaches that they’d be better off comforting their team’s more delusional die-hards than the realistic ones. Perhaps new Washington State football coach Jimmy Rogers understands that.

Or maybe, just maybe, he believes himself when he says the words “national championship.”

That was the ultimate target Rogers identified in his introductory news conference Thursday. Hey, he won one as the coach at South Dakota State of the FCS two seasons ago, so why not put that on the front of his mind?

It’s just … Washington State – which hasn’t even been to the Rose Bowl since 2002 – is now out of a power conference. The Cougs lost their final four games last season and haven’t totaled more than eight wins since 2018.

Regularly competing for a Pac-12 title when the two-team conference (WSU and Oregon State, currently) adds Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State for football in 2026 would likely be satisfying for the fan base. Reaching the College Football Playoff with a one-loss season would beget ecstasy.

But the pullout quote from Thursday was this.

“If you can’t envision yourself winning a national championship, you never will,” Rogers said. “I didn’t come here to lose. We’re gonna do everything we can to get on top of college football. I’ve been a winner my whole life, and I don’t plan to stop anytime now.”

Nobody here is faulting Rogers for dreaming big. In fact, selling prospective recruits on a potential college playoff bid – something that might actually become easier in a watered-down conference – could be crucial to program-building. But at this point, simply stringing together winning seasons – at least in conference play – will be challenging enough for Rogers and the Cougs.

There was a time when WSU could out-recruit schools such as San Diego State or Fresno State or virtually any midmajor simply because of the opportunity to play in a power conference. The not-so-clement weather of Pullman outweighed the geographical appeals of the lower-profile programs. And though there is still a relatively rich football history at WSU, those advantages disappear in this new college football landscape.

That doesn’t mean Rogers can’t exceed expectations. This state saw what former NAIA national-champion coach Kalen DeBoer did at Washington. Former FCS coach Craig Bohl reached a bevy of bowl games at Wyoming, too.

But when Rogers’ predecessor, Jake Dickert, left for Wake Forest – a school that doesn’t so much scream powerhouse – it suggested that Washington State isn’t the most attractive of jobs. The fact that Rogers is making far less than what Dickert was going to earn in Pullman buttresses that suggestion.

Still, as WSU athletic director Anne McCoy said last week, there is $4.5 million dedicated to the assistant coaching budget. More significant, WSU’s Holiday Bowl effort vs. Syracuse (a 52-35 loss played with half its starters out) reportedly generated waves of donations toward the Cougar Collective, the primary source of NIL money.

Did Rogers’ emotional news conference – a blend of fire and tears – inspire more? Will the next Pac-12 media-rights deal produce a financial windfall? Money seems to top tradition and even coaching in today’s college football world. Can WSU compete in that area?

The outlook isn’t particularly inspiring on that front, but who knows what will happen? Ten years ago, few would have guessed the sport would look anything like it does now.

Rogers could end up being an all-time hire like Mike Price – in attendance at Thursday’s presser – was for the Cougars decades ago. For now, though, the odds aren’t likely in his favor.

Even so, good on him for thinking big. Realistic or not, it’s the only acceptable mentality.