Jake Dickert leaves WSU to coach Wake Forest

Jake Dickert, Washington State’s football coach for the past three-and-a-half seasons, has left Pullman to coach Wake Forest (N.C.) of the Atlantic Coast Conference, both universities announced Wednesday morning.

Dickert, his family and several select staff members boarded a private jet at the Pullman-Moscow Reginal Airport bound for Smith Reynolds Airport in Winston Salem, N.C. on Wednesday morning, nine days ahead of WSU’s scheduled appearance in the Holiday Bowl.

Dickert was first rumored to be a finalist for the position on Tuesday following the resignation of Wake Forest’s 11-year coach Dave Crowley.

WSU athletic director Anne McCoy said that Dickert informed her at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday morning of his intention to leave, although he did call an hour beforehand. McCoy said she had heard “inklings” that Dickert would leave on Tuesday night.

Dickert updated his X (formerly Twitter) bio, profile picture and banner images to reflect his Wake Forest hiring on Wednesday morning.

“I cannot tell you how excited, proud, and honored I am to be the head football coach at Wake Forest University,” Dickert said in a news release from Wake Forest. “I want to express my deepest gratitude to the players, staff, and leadership at Washington State University. I will forever be thankful for their belief in me and the opportunity to lead a program that meant so much to my family and me. The relationships built there will remain a cherished part of our journey, and I am immensely proud of what we accomplished together both on and off the field.”

Dickert led the Cougars to a 23-20 record in three-and-a-half years on the Palouse. His tenure included two Apple Cup victories, two nonconference wins over the Wisconsin Badgers and three bowl berths.

The former Wisconsin-Stevens Point wide receiver moved nine times in 10 years, including a one-year stint as Wyoming’s defensive coordinator before arriving in Pullman as former coach Nick Rolovich’s DC in 2020.

Dickert took over as interim coach in 2021 when Rolovich was fired for failing to follow state COVID-19 protocols.

He rallied the Cougs to a victory over the rival Washington Huskies on Nov. 26, 2021, securing the full-time position in the process.

Over the next three years, Dickert led WSU through perhaps its most tumultuous stretch in school history. His teams saw the pandemic, the collapse of the Pac-12 and the rise of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness deals.

The Wisconsin native started all three of his full seasons with a 4-1 record and finished each of those seasons a combined 8-14. This included a 4-0 start in 2023 followed by a six-game losing streak and a 2024 season which saw WSU rise as high as No. 18 in the College Football Playoff rankings with an 8-1 record before losing three straight to New Mexico, Oregon State and Wyoming.

WSU lost three starting quarterbacks to the transfer portal during Dickert’s tenure. Jayden de Laura transferred to Arizona following the 2021 season, Cam Ward spent his fifth year at Miami where he was a 2024 Heisman Finalist and John Mateer, WSU’s breakout star in 2024, announced his intentions to transfer earlier this week.

Twenty-three Cougs, including 11 starters, have entered the NCAA transfer portal.

The Cougs are scheduled to face Syracuse in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl at 5 p.m. Dec. 27 in San Diego.

McCoy announced that assistant coach Pete Kaligis will serve as acting coach and that the team intends to participate in the Holiday Bowl.

“We are not pulling out. We are very committed to playing in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl,” McCoy said. “We stood before a room full of motivated football student-athletes who can’t wait to get on the field against Syracuse and represent Washington State University and to finish what they started, and to send those seniors off with the bowl game that they deserve.”

McCoy said that she had engaged with Dickert and his representation about a contract extension earlier in the season, but that he had expressed a desire to delay talks until the end of the season.

WSU has officially lost five coaches within the past two weeks as offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and quarterbacks coach John Kuceyeski took the same positions at Oklahoma, running backs coach Mark Atuaia joined Utah’s staff and Dickert fired defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding.

WSU’s Wednesday morning practice was canceled, however, linebacker Keith Brown posted on X that Dickert met with the team.

Both Palouse colleges were without head football coaches Wednesday morning until Idaho announced in the afternoon former Vandal assistant Thomas Ford Jr. as the program’s 37th head football coach to succeed his former boss Jason Eck, who accepted the opening at New Mexico on Saturday.