Commentary: Nick Rolovich is out as football coach at Washington State, along with four assistants, for their refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
You’re never going to convince guys like ex-Washington State coach Nick Rolovich to get the shot. It’s a waste of breath. The best scientists and all the evidence in the world couldn’t. Losing a $3 million-a-year job didn’t. Even public pleas from the likes of Alabama’s Nick Saban, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Georgia’s Kirby Smart – guys who command genuine respect in the business – failed to make a dent. Rolovich, who was hired in January 2020, was fired for cause by the university Monday after blowing through a deadline mandating that state employees get vaccinated against COVID-19. Despite being Washington state’s best-paid employee, he has yet to explain why. Four assistants who similarly refused the jab joined him on the unemployment line. If this was supposed to teach his players a lesson about personal responsibility, it backfired. Rolovich owns every bit of this. “This is a tough day for Washington State football,” Athletic Director Pat Chun said, announcing the firings at a news conference where he also said Rolovich’s request for a religious exemption was denied. “No one,” Chun added, “wants to be here.” Except that Rolovich did. He said in July he wouldn’t get vaccinated, and despite knowing it could mean he’d be forced to walk away from his team in midseason, he repeated it Saturday, not long after a win over Stanford. “I’ve been settled for a long time on it. I believe it’s going to work out the right way. If that’s not what Pat (Chun) wants,” Rolovich said, “then I guess I’ve got to move on. “But I like being here, I like being the coach here,” he added.
