Washington State

1-8

Program prestige

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program I#83 all-time– holding

Stature and coaches, 1936–2026

The program’s standing over time, with every coach’s tenure beneath it — read down to see who was there for each rise and fall.

Washington State is Regional Program today. Never reached Dynasty tier; National Program is its high, most recently in 2023.

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DynastyBlue BloodPower ProgramNational ProgramRegional Program

Run↔pass identity, by season

No play-by-play coverage before 2004more passmore run200420062008201020122014201620182020202220242026

Every coach, tenure by tenure, on the coaching page →

Program outlook

Program outlook

When the Pac-12 collapsed in 2023 and every program with leverage sprinted for richer leagues, Washington State stayed. Two years later, the orphan is the founder — anchoring a rebuilt eight-team Pac-12 launching in 2026, the conference the Cougars refused to let die.

Since Jun 14: L 16-17 at Utah State; L 30-48 at Oregon State; L 10-31 vs Boise State; L 20-26 at San Diego State. 1-8 this season.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The most isolated major-conference campus in the country — eight hours from Seattle, carved into the Palouse wheat country of eastern Washington — was also the last one standing. The schools that ran to the Big Ten and Big 12 calculated market size and TV footprints and decided Pullman didn't belong. Washington State and Oregon State were left holding the conference name and two available game slots. The story of what happened next is genuinely strange: rather than dissolving, the holdouts rebuilt. The 2026 Pac-12 is an eight-team league built almost from scratch, and WSU is its emotional anchor.

The 2025 season produced a 7-6 record and a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl win over Utah State — respectable, not transformational. First-year coach Jimmy Rogers then left for Iowa State after one season, adding another layer of instability to a program that has been navigating transition since 2023. His replacement is Kirby Moore, who comes from Missouri's offensive staff and carries the credential of being a Prosser, Washington native — a hire with geographic resonance in a program built on its rootedness. The Air Raid ghost of Mike Leach still haunts every offensive conversation in Pullman; Moore inherits the expectation that WSU passes first, always.

The 2026 question in Pullman is whether the rebuilt Pac-12 is a real league or a scheduling arrangement. Washington State beat long odds to survive the collapse. The season will answer whether survival translates to contention — whether Kirby Moore's offense can make Martin Stadium matter again in a conference that needs the Cougars to be good as badly as the Cougars need a conference to be in.

On the field

Air Raid at its core — Mike Leach installed it, and the expectation in Pullman is that WSU spreads the field and throws. Kirby Moore arrives from a Missouri offense that ran RPO concepts with spread spacing, so the DNA matches. The Cougars win by volume and by tempo, making Martin Stadium's small, loud environment a genuine advantage when the passing game is functioning. The chip is real: this is a program that measures every home crowd against the knowledge that bigger schools decided they weren't worth keeping.

Program outlook · as of Jun 14, 2026

Washington State has won 46% of its games since 1907 — 54% at home, 39% on the road.

517-571-38 all-time · 111 seasons · 1907–2026

Home 275-215-23
Away 231-345-15
Neutral 11-11
2 g 1900s
71% 1910s
54% 1920s
55% 1930s
43% 1940s
46% 1950s
34% 1960s
34% 1970s
47% 1980s
46% 1990s
48% 2000s
48% 2010s
47% 2020s
The era · 2014 through 2026

The CFP era

13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 82-72 13 seasons
Best season 11-2 2018
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality AP rank (inverted) CFP appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24Now

Swipe left for earlier seasons

Chapters · 13 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 3-9 '15 9-4 '16 8-5 '17 9-4 '18 11-2 '19 6-7 '20 — '21 7-6 '22 7-6 '23 5-7 '24 8-5 '25 7-6 '26 1-8

Washington State’s 2014–2026 record is 82-72.

Era win %
.532
Ranked seasons (AP)
7/13
Best AP finish
#12

Kirby Moore

Kirby Moore took over from Jimmy Rogers for the 2026 season.

Era Kirby Moore · 2026–presentPrev: Jimmy Rogers (2025)OC: Matt MillerPrev OC: Danny Freund (2025)DC: Trent BrayPrev DC: Jesse Bobbit (2025)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
1 year · era

Washington State and Washington, meeting by meeting

Washington leads the series 70-32-4 (since 1917); in the last 10 meetings, Washington State is 2-8

evenWashington State aheadWashington ahead192019401960198020002020

2026: Washington won 24-10. After this game, Washington led 70-32-4.

Last 25 meetings: ▲ Washington State won, ▼ Washington won, by how much

2001: Washington won 26-142002: Washington won 29-262003: Washington won 27-192004: Washington State won 28-252005: Washington State won 26-222006: Washington won 35-322007: Washington State won 42-352008: Washington State won 16-132009: Washington won 30-02010: Washington won 35-282011: Washington won 38-212012: Washington State won 31-282013: Washington won 27-172014: Washington won 31-132015: Washington won 45-102016: Washington won 45-172017: Washington won 41-142018: Washington won 28-152019: Washington won 31-132021: Washington State won 40-132022: Washington won 51-332023: Washington won 24-212024: Washington State won 24-192025: Washington won 59-242026: Washington won 24-102015: by 3520012026

Each step is one meeting: up when Washington State wins, down when Washington wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1917. Tap the line for any season.

Washington State in History

Moments in Washington State history

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

The 1997 Rose Bowl run

A Pac-10 title and the program's most famous season behind Ryan Leaf

2018

The 11-2 Leach peak

Washington State wins 11 games and finishes ranked in the Air Raid's best season

2023

Left behind in realignment

The Pac-12 dissolves and WSU gets no Power-conference invitation, reduced to a two-team league with Oregon State

Wound

Moment of the year · 2026

Lost 10-24 at Washington

Week 1 of 2026. The single game that defined the season's arc.

Decisive marginvs AP #17
2022–2025

Washington State has sent 7 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.

Developing. Pipeline emerging.

7 picks · 0 in round 1
#69 Kyle Williams Wide Receiver · 2025 · New England Patriots · #7/466 final season
#72 Abraham Lucas Offensive Tackle · 2022 · Seattle Seahawks
#85 Daiyan Henley Inside Linebacker · 2023 · Los Angeles Chargers · #34/548 final season
#51 all-time · 13 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-8

Washington State is 1-8 — below .500 in FBS.

Below .500 in FBS play. The rebuild bar.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
ConferenceWhere this team sits in this season's conference standings.

Pac-12 standing · 2026

8th in the Pac-12

Washington State is 8th of 8 in the Pac-12 at 0-5. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.

#ProgramRecord
1Boise State4-0
2Oregon State3-1
3San Diego State3-2
4Fresno State2-2
5Texas State2-2
6Utah State2-2
7Colorado State1-3
8Washington State0-5
Coaching historyCurrent head coach Kirby Moore, hired 2026

Coaching history

  • Hired Kirby Moore2026
  • Hired Jesse Bobbit (interim)2025
  • Jimmy Rogers departs6-6, 1 season
  • Jesse Bobbit departs (interim)1-0, 1 season
  • Hired Jimmy Rogers2025
  • Hired Pete Kaligis (interim)2024
  • Jake Dickert departs23-20, 4 seasons
  • Pete Kaligis departs (interim)0-1, 1 season
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Washington State’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2015–2019 · Mike Leach2020 · Brian Smith / Craig Stutzmann (co)2021 · Craig Stutzmann (co) / Brian Smith2022 · Eric Morris2023–2024 · Ben Arbuckle2025 · Danny Freund2026 · Matt Miller
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Mike Breske2015–2017 · Alex Grinch2018 · Tracy Claeys2019 · Tracy Claeys / Darcel McBath (co) (interim) / Roc Bellantoni (interim; games 6–13) (co) (interim)2020–2021 · Jake Dickert2022 · Brian Ward2023–2024 · Jeff Schmedding2025 · Jesse Bobbit2026 · Trent Bray
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Mike Leach Air Raid Era (2012-2019)

since 2012

more

Mike Leach's tenure (2012-2019) defined the program — the Air Raid offense identity continued at Pullman after Texas Tech, multiple bowl appearances, and the 2018 11-2 + Alamo Bowl peak. Leach's 2019 departure to Mississippi State left the Air Raid legacy as permanent program DNA. Leach's 2022 death (at Mississippi State) was mourned as a WSU tragedy.

1997 Rose Bowl Run

since 1997

more

Mike Price's 1997 10-2 + Rose Bowl appearance + #9 final AP rank (Ryan Leaf QB before the 1998 NFL draft) — the program's only major bowl appearance since the 1930s. Leaf's #16 jersey + the Apple Cup victory route + the Pasadena trip became program canon.

Pac-12 Holdout (2024)

since 2024

more

Washington State + Oregon State were the two programs that DIDN'T leave for the SEC / Big Ten / ACC / Big 12 in the 2024 Pac-12 collapse. The 'Pac-12 Two' held the conference's legal entity + scheduled a 2024 season largely against Mountain West + non-conference opponents. The defiance + uncertainty + Mountain West partnership became permanent program identity.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsLast 5 bowls 1-4, 8-10 since 1981

Recent postseason (1981-2025): 8-10

Most recent: 2025 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl — win 21-34. Last 5 postseason: 1-4.

2025 W2024 L2022 L2021 L2019 L
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/CFB moments

734
[Postgame Thread] USC Defeats Washington State 30-14
Oct 2022 · r/CFB

All-time top community posts

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