Nick Rolovich
Followed Mike Leach. Nick Rolovich held Washington State at National Program III for 2 seasons.
In his own words
Awaiting signal — no quotes collected from this staff yet this cycle.
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached National Program in his 5th career season — faster than 14% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #547 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
2–2 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Bryan Harsin.
Coaching career
18th-best California tenure of 19 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
A portal-built roster.
Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.
Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.
5 NFL Draft picks: Nohl Williams (2025), Craig Woodson (2025), Teddye Buchanan (2025), Marcus Harris (2025), Hezekiah Masses (2026)
8th-best Washington State tenure of 21 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
Followed Mike Leach (2012–2019).
| Season | 2020 | 2021 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||
| Record | 1–3 | 4–3 | |
| Postseason | — | L bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | #56 | #60 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||
| Pass rate | 58.0 | 52.9 | |
| Coordinators | |||
| OC | Brian Smith / Craig Stutzmann | Craig Stutzmann / Brian Smith | |
| DC | Jake Dickert | Jake Dickert | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||
| Offense | 28 | 70 | |
| Defense | 20 | 45 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||
| 1st-down pass% | 54.6 | 52.0 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 52.2 | 49.0 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 30.0 | 50.0 | |
Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.
Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.
Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.
3 NFL Draft picks: Dezmon Patmon (2020), Abraham Lucas (2022), Jaylen Watson (2022)
12th-best Hawai'i tenure of 12 by the numbers.
Outperforms his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
Followed Norm Chow (2012–2015) · succeeded by Todd Graham (2020–2021).
| Season | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||
| Record | 7–7 | 3–9 | 8–6 | 10–5 | |
| Postseason | W bowl | — | L bowl | W bowl | |
| Recruiting rank | #108 | #86 | #96 | #114 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||
| Pass rate | 47.9 | 50.2 | 56.7 | 60.2 | |
| Coordinators | |||||
| OC | Brian Smith | Brian Smith | Brian Smith | Brian Smith | |
| DC | Kevin Lempa | Legi Suiaunoa | Corey Batoon | Corey Batoon | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||
| Offense | 64 | 30 | 49 | 93 | |
| Defense | 11 | 5 | 18 | 19 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||
| 1st-down pass% | 41.4 | 44.6 | 56.3 | 63.2 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 37.1 | 46.1 | 58.8 | 53.5 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 48.3 | 48.6 | 55.1 | 39.5 | |
3 NFL Draft picks: Jahlani Tavai (2019), John Ursua (2019), Cole McDonald (2020)