The head coach’s salary is a decent indicator of investment in the program. I’d love to hear that our recruiting budget, assistant salary pool, etc. are going to be in the top 3 of the new pac-12. Doubt that I hear that.
What’s the consensus on the hire?
- Thread starter kougkurt
- Start date
I think this is my biggest concern. They were going to move forward to keep it like a P4 program, and this is waving the white flag directly in everyone's faces.
Rogers may be the right coach or he could flame out. I'm okay with savvy hires, if you're going to send a message to the conference, it's basically tells me they're only looking at the bottom line.
Now, I will give myself to the opportunity to change my thinking IF (and that's a big "if") the assistant and recruiting pool is large or expanded.
K. So would you suggest paying him $500K more just so we look competitive among our peers when it comes to HC salaries? If he’s your guy and that’s what the $ amount is that gets him, then that’s what you pay. Also doesn’t mean that if he obviously deserves an extension because of his performance that Cougs won’t make him the highest paid HC in the conference (not saying they will either).
Commentary: Is Jimmy Rogers the right coach for WSU? He certainly brings potential
By Matt Calkins
The Seattle Times
Dec. 29, 2024
Something we definitely don’t know: whether this Washington State coaching hire will be any good.
WSU announced Saturday that it is bringing on 37-year-old Jimmy Rogers as the new football coach, replacing Jake Dickert, who left for Wake Forest earlier this month.
In 2023, Rogers won an FCS national title with South Dakota State in his first season as head coach, taking over a Jackrabbits team that captured a championship the year before as well. He didn’t necessarily build that program, where he served as a defensive coordinator before becoming head coach, but he maintained a level of excellence in going 15-0 in 2023.
Still, there is never anything close to a guarantee that success at one program will translate to success at another. This is triply true when the coach jumps from the FCS to the FBS, where the nation takes notice of just about every game. Like grading draft picks or trades, it would be foolish to label this a win or a whiff, but …
Here are some things that we do know:
For starters – non-FBS hires have worked out. Often about as well as they possibly can. Former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer is the epitome of such division-jumping prosperity. The man who won three NAIA championships at Sioux Falls went 9-3 with Fresno State in his first full year in the FBS, then went 25-3 in his two years on Montlake. He’s now, as you surely know, the head coach at Alabama.
There is Craig Bohl, too. Bohl led North Dakota State to three straight FCS championships before being hired at Wyoming in 2014. His tenure with the Cowboys included six bowl games and a tie for the Mountain West championship.
Oh, and there’s Dickert. He only had three full years at Washington State, as he replaced Nick Rolovich in the middle of the 2021 season. Still, he led the Cougs to a pair of bowl games in those three years.
Here’s another thing we know: Rogers has a chance to market Washington State in a way we haven’t seen before. This doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a better way than in years past … but it could be.
Before the Pac-12 as we know it disbanded, Rogers’ predecessors could always tell prospective players that they had the chance to play in one of the nation’s top conferences. That likely sparked some dreams of Rose Bowl berths and a number of nationally televised games. But how often did the former happen? The Cougs haven’t had a Rose Bowl appearance since the 2002 season and have had just two since 1930. A good chunk of the time, their championship hopes have been crushed by the end of September.
That’s about to change, though. What the new Pac-12 – which will be expanded to eight teams in 2026 – lacks in prestige, it makes up for in opportunity. USC and Oregon may not be regularly locking horns with Washington State, but the chances for season after season to be relevant through December spike exponentially.
This is intriguing for a fan base, no doubt, but to players, too. Would an 11-1 Pac-12 champion likely make their way into the 12-team College Football Playoff? I mean … 11-1 Mountain West champion Boise State just got a first-round bye. Could an individual in the Pac-12 rise to national prominence? I mean … Boise State’s Austin Jeanty just finished second in one of the closer Heisman races we’ve seen.
Coaches seldom get into the profession to be salesmen, but that is one of the chief requisites of the job. Does Rogers have that skill?
If you watched the Holiday Bowl on Friday, you could see that there was still talent on that Cougs roster. Quarterback Zevi Eckhaus, stepping in for the departed John Mateer, finished with 363 yards on 31-of-43 passing. Washington State still suffered a 52-35 loss to 21st-ranked Syracuse, but it didn’t mean the game didn’t produce cause for some optimism.
It’s a whole new world out there in college football with NIL and the transfer portal. Maybe all of this comes down to who can shell out the most money, with lower-level schools knowing they can rarely hold onto elite talent.
But from where I sit, neither the Cougs nor the Pac-12 is dead quite yet. No opinion on whether this will be a good hire, but the potential is much higher than a lot might think.
Last edited:
Yes, it was a budget hire, but a good budget hire as Roger's is a good, semi great HC.
But WSU would have also gotten Vigen for semi cheap, about 1.85 mil too, but WSU, Schultz, Anne STUPIDLY turned down, rejected Vigen, who wanted the WSU HC job, who interviewed for the WSU HC job
So you would have also turned down, rejected Vigen, when Vigen wanted the Job, and interviewed for the job, and instead hire Roger's a lesser HC then Vigen.
That said Roger's is a good, semi great HC.
Vigen is a better HC.
He did very well at recruiting the transfer portal, according to TV announcers, experts, pundits, rumors, etc, and he has a 4, FOUR STAR, probably from the Portal(as I dont see him out recruiting blue bloods, etc, for a 4 star highschool recruit), and he had numerous ALL AMERICANS on his team. And LOTS of his players made the NFL, and were drafted into NFL. That probably means he recruited the transfer portal well.
Altho Roger's is a good to semi great HC, semi good, decent, ok, etc, hire, it's not understandable.
It's not understandable because Vigen a better HC, hire then Roger's, that wanted the WSU HC job, that interviewed for the WSU HC job, was STUPIDLY turned down, rejected by WSU, Schultz, Anne the AD, search firm, and instead hired Roger's over, instead of Vigen.
That is NOT understandable.
Couple things…how do you know these details Mik?
Also, we have no idea which coach is better positioned to succeed at WSU. If they both interviewed, maybe Rogers blew them away and Vigen didn’t. Way too soon to proclaim Vigen would be a better hire. If they felt Rogers was the guy and the price was lower, it’s a no brainer. As I said earlier if he blows us away in year one, back up the truck and extend him immediately. We can’t F around.
Brand X(Cougfan), and The Couch GM TM, are the ones who said, reported that WSU was looking seriously at Vigen(at least until Vigen's interview), and that Vigen wanted the WSU HC job, and that Vigen interviewed for the WSU HC job, and that WSU turned down, rejected Vigen, and chose Rogers instead.
Like I said Rogers is a semi good, semi great HC. Just that I think Vigen is better, and certainly has more experience, more years as HC, better results, better coaching staff, better players, better everything.
That said, I do think Roger's will do well at WSU.
But that said, if Rogers doesn't do well, doesn't work out at WSU, then Anne the AD should be fired for not hiring Vigen, and hiring Rogers instead.
1. Because Vigen has more experience, more year as HC at Montana St, then Rogers does at South Dakotah St.
2. Because Vigen has been even more successful, better results then Rogers at South Dojah St.
3. Because Vigen has a better coach staff, better recruiters, better recruits, better players then Rogers at South Daokah St.
4. Because Vigen is some older, but still young enough then Rogers.
5. Because Vigen is a better recruiter then Rogers.
6. Because Vigen is from Montana St, that is closer to WSU then South Dakotah St.
7. Because Vigen has more west coast connections, ties to recruits, recruiting, players, coaches then Rogers does.
8. Because Vigen has a bigger, better coaching tree, connections then Rogers does.
9. Because most to almost all of Vigen's, Roger's peers, coaches, experts, pundits, sports media, etc, think Vigen is even better then the good Rogers.
10. All those things combined probably means Vigen is better then Rogers and a better hire then Rogers.
But like I said, I think Rogers is a semi good to semi great HC, hire, that do well at WSU, work out at WSU.
But if he doesn't work out well at WSU, Anne the AD should be held accountable for not hiring Vigen, if Rogers does not work out well at WSU.
Wait a minute. Somewhere in these many threads I read that Rogers convinced ALL of his players to return for 2024. So who then did he recruit from the transfer portal if his team was intact?
Please provide empirical proof of #2, #3, #5, #7, #8, #9. Why does #6 matter and who even considers that?
Mik is lifting #6 from a post I made that pointed out that 1) SDSU has ONE West Coast (Ca/Or/Wa) player on its roster and MSU has 29; and 2) that Bozeman is 1,000 miles closer to Pullman than BFE South Dakota (forgot the town's name already so BFE must suffice for now). With MY point meaning that Vigen was much closer to our #1 recruiting base (CA) and assuredly had better connections on this side of the country. FWIW.
Although I will add that NUMEROUS publications, podcasters, broadcasters, coaches, sportswriters, pundits, players, recruits and my Aunt May out in Endicott don't think any of that matters.
Just because Dickert was over paid, based upon experience, does not mean we overpay the next guy. If you don't have 5 million plus in NIL money, paying a coach more than 2 million a year doesn't make sense. I'd like to think if Rodgers was coaching the team all year, with this personal, he would have found a way to win at least 2 of the 3 games between, New Mexico, OSU and Wyoming. Is Rodgers a good hire? Don't know the answer to that, however I do think he has the ability to put a better coached team on the field than his predecessor. Time will tell, we have to be patient, as Dickert inherited far more talent than he is leaving the next coach with.
Sorry, guess I slept in. When did we hire Aaron Rodgers as head coach? That aside, I concur with much of what you say.
