Cal adds former WSU coach Nick Rolovich as senior offensive assistant
The coach has not been employed in college football since being fired by Washington State for refusing to reply with a COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
Another controversial hire joins the Cal offensive coaching staff, as Nick Rolovich will be on the Golden Bear sidelines next year.
Travers Family Head Football Coach Justin Wilcox announced Friday that Nick Rolovich has been hired as a senior offensive assistant for the California football program.
Rolovich brings several years of offensive coaching experience with him to Berkeley, most recently serving as the head coach at Washington State (2020-21) and Hawai'i (2016-19). Prior to leading the Rainbow Warriors, Rolovich spent four seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Nevada from 2012-15.
As initially reported by Pete Thamel, the controversial former Hawaii and Washington State head man joins the Cal coaching staff as offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin’s senior offensive analyst. With his addition, Cal now has three former offensive coordinators (new wide receiver coach Kyle Cefalo also has previous OC experience) and two former head coaches involved in the offensive braintrust.
Rolovich is known to be a practitioner of the run-and-shoot but has shown the ability to adapt schematically.
It has to be noted that in 2021 his refusal to adhere to the State of Washington’s vaccine mandate was the cause for his firing for cause. He proceeded to sue the state for wrongful termination under discrimination, as of now the lawsuit is pending.
Cal fans, what are your thoughts on the hire?
Rolovich was brilliant at WASU before he was fired for ridiculous political reasons that had nothing to do with coaching football.
Wilcox is going to the Saban model. He brought in a great guy as the offensive coordinator, a great receivers coach with offensive coordinator experience, and brought in a former really good head coach who has fallen from favor as an offensive consultant. This reminds me of Lane Kiffin and steve Sarkesian under Saban. What it does is it gives us a back up offensive coordinator when Brian Harsin moves on to be a head coach in a year or two. We’ve got three really smart people that are also respected by players in the world of football. It also makes a big statement. I’m guessing Nando is kicking himself right now because Rolovich is every quarterbacks dream coach with his system.