Washington State Cougars head coach Nick Rolovich Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
By Sean Keeley on

Nick Rolovich was fired by Washington State University in 2021 when he failed to comply with Washington state vaccine mandates related to COVID-19. He sued the school over the firing and remains in a legal battle with the Spokane-based university.

However, Rolovich has a new job on the other side of the state. According to reports, Rolovich will replace June Jones as the offensive coordinator of the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons.

Jones, who coached Rolovich as a player and later oversaw him as a coach at Hawaii, reportedly recommended his protege for the spot. Jim Haslett is entering his second season as head coach of the Sea Dragons, who went 7-3 and made the playoffs last season.

As head coach at Hawaii, Rolovich went 28-27 between 2016 to 2019 before leaving to replace Mike Leach at Washington State. He was 5-6 through 11 games before and four assistants were fired for not complying with the Washington vaccine mandate after a protracted back-and-forth over whether or not he would do so. Rolovich claims that the firing violated his religious beliefs, though a federal judge dismissed that aspect of his lawsuit, saying there was “no proof” that was the case.

Meanwhile, Rolovich’s return to the coaching world certainly got a lot of people talking.

[Football Scoop]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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