And so is their paycheck. No buyout when fired for cause.
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You think an evangelical college will want to hire a catholic football coach?
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I feel like just one “that’s a shame” isn’t enough in this case. So…
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Very funny and always worth it to see a young Jami Gertz.
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As long as he’s that branch of Catholic that doesn’t like this Pope and rejects vaccines.
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Wasu: Go ahead, Coach, make my day. I’m sure the school loved firing this coach.
He could not have made it clearer to administrators that he is not desirable at a university.
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If the BYU/WSU game was played in Provo, half the crowd would be wearing red arm bands in honor of Rolovich.
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That few with arm bands!? Surely u jest
We never jest, and don’t call us Shirley.
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We all knew this was comiing. Rolovich had his lawyers ready long before he was fired.
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Pope Francis received the vaccine and called getting it “an act of love”. Rolovich claiming exemption because of his Catholic faith is bizarre
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Under the State of Washington rules, anyone whose job was public-facing and involved direct care or put them in close proximity to colleagues couldn’t be accommodated in their current position (including a religious exemption). Regular tests or wearing a mask didn’t matter under those guidelines.
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If it ever goes to trial will they call the Pope as an expert witness? 
It would be worth it just to see the Pope be sworn in.
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Canzano: No winners at Washington State in the Nick Rolovich saga
Oct. 19, 2021
By John Canzano | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Nick Rolovich didn’t give Washington State a choice this week. He lost a nationally publicized $3 million staring contest with his university on Monday. Those who know “Rolo” from his previous stops tell me they weren’t the least bit surprised.
Said a source from his playing and coaching days in Hawaii: “I think he doesn’t want anyone, particularly the government, to tell him what to do.”
Rolovich was terminated with cause early Monday evening along with four other assistants who also refused a COVID-19 vaccine. For those of you tempted to cast the fired football coach as a victim – stop. This is self-inflicted. Rolovich asked his players to sacrifice their own wants and needs for the benefit of the team. In the end, faced with his own opportunity to do so, he wilted.
Now what for WSU?
I watched the news conference where Cougars’ athletic director Pat Chun took full responsibility for hiring Rolovich and inviting this act. Chun looked as happy as a guy leaving Disneyland on the tram wiped out from a day spent standing in long lines. He explained that Rolovich was fired with cause because he was “unable to fulfill his duties.”
Added Chun: “To be at this juncture today is unacceptable on so many levels.”
I spent some time a couple of weekends ago in Pullman. I walked Martin Stadium during WSU’s win over Oregon State, visiting and talking with fans, donors and university officials. It was clear then that Rolovich was at the controls, careening toward a certain firing. The only thing more evident was the growing fracture in the fan base.
There are no winners at WSU here. The football program lost its momentum. Players lost their coach. High-level donors immediately banded together behind the scenes, picking sides. One of them told me he’s become so fed up with the politics and debate in the sports world that he’s resorted to watching “The Bachelor” series on TV.
Said the donor: “It’s the escape that sports once was.”
Pass the beer nuts, pal.
Rolovich did this. Be clear. Now, Chun is going to need to assemble all the king’s horses and all the king’s men to fix it. It’s going to be the challenge of his administrative career to galvanize and re-engage with his fan base.
Washington State did what it had to do with Rolovich. There just wasn’t a clean way out of this. The standoff became a massive distraction. But the hard work begins now, because what WSU especially can’t afford is to remain a splintered mess.
I’ve talked with Kirk Schulz, the president at WSU, a few times in the last year. He and Chun are aligned. That’s a good start. But Schulz told me something in January that I found myself thinking about this week. He talked about the power and influence of athletics on a college campus.
Schulz said he got good advice from a mentor early in his administrative career.
“He told me, ‘Every university president should have a good working relationship with the men’s basketball coach and their football coach,’” Schulz said. “That was 20 years ago. I’ve found it to be astute.”
A successful football program helps spark gift giving, increases enrollment and glues students and alumni to the university. It’s why Rolovich’s act is so disappointing. He’d won three straight conference games, was well positioned in the Pac-12 North Division, and should have been celebrated. Instead, his stubborn stance became a distracting national story and an ongoing regional joke.
“ Run-and-no-shot, ” Spokesman-Review sports columnist John Blanchett quipped in print.
Some in the donor world are annoyed that Chun and Schulz didn’t support Rolovich and come out in opposition of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s mandate. Others backed the decision to dump Rolovich with cause. Meanwhile, Washington State is staring down a $100 million deficit in athletics and the football program is off the rails.
No winners here, see?
Because what happens next is that Rolovich and his assistants lawyer up. The fans continue to debate at tailgates. Nobody really changes their mind while Chun and Schulz try to hold the community together in Pullman. Oh, and that WSU football team will try to pick up and play well in this weekend’s game against BYU.
Without its fired head coach.
Without four other assistants.
Amid the ongoing “outside noise” – caused by Rolovich and his merry band of unvaccinated men.
Those who know Nick Rolovich far better than I do insist he’s a good person. They tell me they’ve seen him do kind things for strangers, treat his players well, and they can’t figure out why this had to be such a circus.
“Can’t fix stupid,” those on the other side will tell you.
I wish Rolovich had done what he told his players to do. Put the team first. He preached it to his suspended star quarterback, who was arrested on a DUI charge. He sold it to recruits and their parents. Team first, always. Rolovich said it at practice and in meetings, just like every other football coach in America.
I wish he’d said it in the mirror, too.
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Represented by a solo practitioner in Kenmore. I’ve never heard of him. While Neuheisel was able to hire one of the best in the State, and won, this matter will be radioactive and I believe very negatively received by Washington judges and juries as well as the bar. Like Trump claiming the election was rigged; you saw the quality of his legal counsel. And t here is no constitutional right to not be vaccinated and Washington is very sophisticated about the religious exemption. Vaccine mandates and religious exemptions have been in statutes here for decades.
The fact that Rolovich is suing really confirms for me that the problem here is self-delusion.
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This right here is the problem with the anti-vax contingent in general. They are not team players. Whether it’s for an actual football team or their community and nation in general, they are selfish. It’s not about what’s best for the larger group, it’s about what’s best for them.
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Disagree. Washington State is the winner. It would have ended badly with this egomaniacal fool one way or another–and this way is less expensive. Apparently he doesn’t like Black players’ expressions of identity or solidarity either. Now he’s suing he’ll really be a pariah and blackballed out of the profession, I hope.
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And ironically, it’s not even best for them. They would be better off taking the vaccine.
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I don’t know why he just doesn’t come out and say he isn’t getting vaccinated for political reasons…stop trying to use religion as a shield for his actions.
I’m sure he will start making campaign appearances for a certain political faction as a defender of liberty and civil rights, being elevated on the Mount Rushmore of anti-vax celebrities along with Nicki Minaj, Kyrie Irving, and John Stockton.
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True. Here is the reasoning: Don’t like BLM, LGBTQ, Biden, not getting a vaccine.
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