After a three-year absence, Nick Rolovich has returned to college football coaching.
Rolovich, a former head coach at Hawaii and Washington State, joins Justin Wilcox’s staff at Cal as the lead offensive assistant. As an offensive coordinator and head coach, Rolovich favored the run-and-shoot and spread offense, often out of the pistol formation.
Football program officially announced the acceptance of Rolovič on Friday.
Rolovich and his four assistant coaches were fired by Washington State in 2021 for refusing to comply with Washington’s mandate for state employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. He said vaccination violates his religious beliefs.
He sued the university, then-athletic director Patrick Chun and Gov. Jay Inslee for wrongful termination.
In August, a federal judge in Spokane ruled that Rolovich could not sue Chun or Inslee, but allowed a lawsuit against WSU. The case was supposed to go to trial in December. But a judge took the trial date off the calendar when both sides asked for a settlement out of court, Spokane station KXLY-TV reported. There is still a hearing to be held.
In all, Rolovich coached 11 games at WSU and finished with a 5–6 record. In four seasons at Hawaii, he compiled a 28–27 record with three Hawaii Bowl appearances.
Jake Dickert took over for Rolovich as interim head coach and was hired permanently after the 2021 season.
Since being fired by WSU, Rolovich has coached as a volunteer at San Marin High School in Novato, Calif., and was hired as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Sea Dragons in the XFL before the team was shut down by a merger with the USFL. He reportedly spoke with Rice about his head coaching opening but never interviewed for the job, according to On3.
Rolovich, a Bay Area native, is the second former FBS head coach to join Wilcox’s staff at Cal. Earlier this week, former Auburn and Boise State coach Bryan Harsin was hired as the Bears’ offensive coordinator. Harsin has spent the last two seasons out of college football.